Review by Ben Bussey
What a difference eighteen years can make. Widely dismissed on release as little more than a spoke in the 90s erotic thriller cycle (which, by 1996, was rapidly losing momentum in the wake of Showgirls and Striptease), I think it’s fair to say Bound has since become something of a cult classic, and a pivotal film for Hollywood in several respects. A twist on a classic film noir set-up which casts both the femme fatale and the tall, dark and handsome stranger as female, Bound arguably represented a significant breakthrough for representations of lesbianism in mainstream cinema.
Bound is of course also very noteworthy for being the directorial debut of one of the most significant filmmaking duos of the past two decades, the Wachowskis – or, as they were then, the Wachowski Brothers. Naturally, cinephiles may be on the lookout for themes and motifs that would come up again in The Matrix et al, and absolutely their stylistic roots can be identified – but, as I can’t be the first to note, Bound is particularly open to new readings today given that in the intervening years Larry Wachowski has become Lana Wachowski. Back in 1996, it was easy to assume the film was simply the fantasies of a couple of fanboy pervs who liked watching a bit of girl-on-girl; now, it’s hard not to consider whether there might be at least a dash of autobiography in there.
Gina Gershon is Corky, an ex-con hired to do some redecorating in an upmarket Chicago apartment building (in this much, at least, the film is autobiographical: not so much the ex-con bit, but the Wachowskis were reportedly working as house painters when they wrote the script). In a quirky twist of fate, she finds herself working on the apartment next door to Cesar (Joe Pantoliano) and Violet (Jennifer Tilly). While at a glance Violet might appear the textbook gangster’s moll, it quickly becomes clear there’s a little more to her than meets the eye – and it’s even more obvious that she and Corky are hugely attracted to one another. Sparks fly, juices flow, and we can all agree it’s pretty damn beautiful. However, contrary to what some might think, there’s a bit more to Bound than that. Violet wants out of the mob life, to say nothing of the straight life, and sees her opportunity when Cesar comes into possession of a suitcase full of mob money. Putting their heads together (I’m sure I could make an innuendo out of that if I tried a little harder), Corky and Violet hatch a plan to steal the money, frame Cesar, and get away clean. What could possibly go wrong…?
In a sense, I get a similar feeling today watching Bound as I get watching The Terminator or Aliens, Braindead or Heavenly Creatures: the lower-budget, less self-indulgent early work of filmmakers who have since moved on to almost exclusively make expensive large-scale blockbusters. In every instance, these films leave me wishing their directors would try their hand at something on a smaller scale again. With its minimal cast, limited locations and ostensibly simple story, there’s an intimacy to Bound which I don’t think we’ve seen again from the Wachowskis, and a level of tension I don’t think they’ve ever topped. There are no CGI moneyshots or explosions here: every limited resource is used to its fullest, the key special effects being the artistic eye of the directors, and the superlative work of their actors.
It may well be career-best work all around for this cast. Gershon and Tilly both give extraordinary performances, with a tremendous chemistry which utterly sells them as lovers. However, particular praise should also be reserved for the often overlooked Joe Pantoliano. While essentially the villain of the piece, Cesar does become the central protagonist to a certain extent once Corky and Violet’s plot gets underway, and despite the character’s inherent ugliness, it’s hard not to feel some compassion for the bastard as he bit-by-bit loses the plot, missing the truth when it’s right under his nose. It’s a magnificent performance which surely helped Pantoliano land his role in The Sopranos, and it’s a shame it tends to be forgotten about. Indeed, many of us seem to forget just how rich in drama and suspense Bound really is; appraisals of the film tend to focus so heavily on the lesbian sex, even though beyond the first half hour this element pretty much disappears into the background.
This is not to suggest, of course, that the lesbian sex scenes are not a vital part of what makes Bound so very memorable. Hell no. Once again, the chemistry between Gershon and Tilly is remarkable; the early seduction scenes alone, with the underplayed back-and-forth flirtation and lingering looks between Corky and Violet, are pretty hot stuff. Once they actually get down to business – good grief, they blow the roof off. The pivotal single-shot sex scene, with its immaculate lighting, fluid camera movement, and – oh yeah – two smoking hot busty brunettes grinding their naked bodies against one another… I daresay that’s one of the most iconic, unforgettable moments from 90s cinema. The only thing that sours it just a little to my mind is Don Davis’ music; the insistent drum beat and hyperactive strings feel a little too reminscent of the kind of thing that typically played in the background when Sharon Stone got down to some horizontal athletics. Shame, as this is one of the few things that really dates the film to the mid-90s; well, that and the mobile phones which looked so state-of-the-art at the time (another thing Bound has in common with The Matrix). Still, aside from this Davis’ score is terrific, lending a sense of dramatic crime epic which makes the whole enterprise feel so much bigger than it might have otherwise.
It’s easy to imagine how Bound could quite easily have been reworked into just another crime story, with Corky rewritten as a man; and who knows, perhaps it would still have been a perfectly good movie that way. However, I don’t think we can write off the lesbian elements as nothing more than a gimmick. Almost two decades on, mainstream movies with central gay characters are still relatively rare (though I’m sure we could list countless gay best friend characters), and Bound deserves to be applauded for this. As to whether this was intended more to titilate the male audience than to promote a progressive stance; I think Bound does a pretty good job of having its cake and eating it too (yes, I said cake). Absolutely it’s titilating, but when all is said and done it is the script, the performances and the direction that makes Bound so compelling, not just the fact that its lead actresses make out a few times. Although, once again, that certainly can’t hurt.
Finally – in what must be one of the most commonly used phrases in our DVD/Blu-ray reviews – it’s another awesome job from Arrow Video. The film looks great, and the extras are also very nice, boasting new interviews with Tilly, Gershon and Pantoliano, plus Christopher Meloni (Cesar’s nemesis Johnny), and a featurette on the technical aspects of the film with composer Don Davis, cinematographer Bill Pope and editor Zach Staenberg, all of whom are quite rightly very proud of their work on the movie. (Fascinating tidbit gleaned from these: can you believe that they weren’t always sure which actress would play which role, and that at one point it might have starred Tilly as Corky and either Rosanna Arquette or Linda Hamilton as Violet?!) No new interview with the Wachowskis, although they do feature on the audio commentary (note: this is from an earlier DVD edition, as evidenced by Lana still being Larry).
Bound is out now on Blu-Ray from Arrow Video.