On Criterion: Erotic Thrillers
This month’s focus on The Criterion Channel is erotic thrillers. ThatShelf is covering the month’s best selections, including Body Heat, Basic Instinct, Body Double and many more. I would like to place the spotlight on the Wachowski Sisters’ debut, Bound.
A film that succeeds as a crime thriller as well as it does an erotic thriller, Bound isn’t as famous as the Wachowski Sisters’ other 90s film (The Matrix), but it should be. Corky (Gina Gershon) and Violet (Jennifer Tilly) are neighbors in a Chicago apartment complex. Violet, the girlfriend to paranoid mobster Caesar (a magnificently brash Joe Pantoliano), is intrigued by Corky, a tough ex-con renovating the place next door. As Bound sets the stage for a vice-grip second half, the film surreptitiously plays on notions of identity for both women. Corky lashes out against notions of who she’s supposed to be, but Violet uses assumptions about her intelligence to her benefit. If men see a ditzy bombshell, she can use that to get what she wants.
The Wachowskis showcase an element of sexuality that isn’t represented often in Hollywood — especially in 1996. Corky and Violet’s relationship unfolds without exploitation, creating fully-realized characters trapped in your classic noir scenario. Three people who can’t trust each other must cooperate to survive a breathless third act that you can’t take your eyes off of.
