They Kill for Love
2001; Linguagem: Inglês
ISSN
2562-2528
Autores Tópico(s)Literature, Film, and Journalism Analysis
ResumoDefining the Erotic Thriller as a Film Genre Within the last decade or so, a number of films have appeared in which desire and death interpenetrate, as is often indicated by two-word titles linking a sexy adjective with a deadly noun, or vice versa: Bodily Harm, Carnal Crimes, Dangerous Indiscretion, Mortal Passions, Obsessive Love, Sexual Malice, and so on. These films' taglines, used for newspaper ads, movie posters, trailers, and video boxes, also tell the same story of potentially lethal love: Sex. Greed. Power. Murder; Flesh seduces. Passion kills; the heat of desire love can turn to deception; There's a fine line between passion and pain; and, with connect-the-dots explicitness, Red hot passion. Cold-blooded murder. One things leads to another. When these kinds of films first started appearing in the late eighties, they were often dismissed by critics as mere imitations designed to cash in on the surprising success of Fatal Attraction (1987). But it soon became clear that something more important was happening, as the number of l ow-budget films of this type began to grow exponentially, and as Hollywood began to produce a series of A-list films in this category, many featuring major stars: Sea of Love (1989; Al Pacino, Ellen Barkin), Consenting Adults (1992; Kevin Kline, Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio), Final Analysis (1992; Richard Gere, Kim Basinger), Body of Evidence (1993; Madonna, Willem Dafoe), Color of Night (1994; Bruce Willis), and Never Talk to Strangers (1995; Rebecca DeMornay, Antonio Banderas). If Fatal Attraction started the trend, the even-more-controversial Basic Instinct (1992) solidified it, and the fact that Carl Reiner named his spoof Fatal Instinct (1993) after these films is strong indication that a new genre exists and that these two films can be taken as paradigmatic of it. Another sign that these kinds of films have achieved genre status is that Stanley Kubrick, who with each seemed to put his imprimatur on a different genre, released in 1999 a that, whatever its actual type, was at least marketed as an thriller--Eyes Wide Shut, starring Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman. Finally, unlike the term film which was not used by makers or marketers of the forties' and fifties' films to which French critics later attached the label, erotic has been in widespread use by directors, audiences, and reviewers since the early nineties. If it is a marketing gimmick exploited by advertisers, it is also a generally recognized new category for films. [1] The word new, of course, is relative. The genre didn't spring from nowhere, and one can see its roots and affiliations in the categories critics used for these films in the late eighties before erotic became common parlance: noir, mystery, horror, melodrama, and pornography. A hybrid form (as even its title indicates), the thriller combines traditional generic elements into a new mix. If it owes much to previous genres (sometimes to the point of being mistaken for them), it also presents an innovative conjunction of prior generic strands in a form that is specific to contemporary social issues. As the thriller extends generic lines in new directions and intertwines formerly separate strands, it does so in response to changing social concerns. Generic transformation and social change are interrelated, and the birth of a new genre from older forms is a social-historical event as much as it is a moment in film-aesthetic history. In this essay, I shall consider the form and ideolog y of the thriller in relation to those of pornography, mystery, and horror, leaving discussion of the links to melodrama and noir for another time. Pornography The thriller's strong link to pornography is certainly one reason for its popular success--and probably one reason for its critical neglect as a genre. Porn is usually decried by mainstream reviewers and, until recently, by scholars, who have traditionally seen their role as attempting to elevate the popular taste above base pleasures. …
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