Basic Instinct
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Basic Instinct (released March 20, 1992) is an American erotic mystery film directed by Paul Verhoeven and written by Joe Eszterhas. It stars Sharon Stone, Michael Douglas, Jeanne Tripplehorn and George Dzundza. When released the film was highly successful, being one of the highest grossing films of the 1990s.
Plot summary
Nick Curran (Michael Douglas) is a San Francisco homicide detective investigating the murder of rock and roll musician Johnny Boz. Boz, a respected member of the community, was brutally murdered in bed after a night of torrid sex. Curran knows that the murderer has stabbed Boz to death repeatedly with an ice pick and his girlfriend, the last person who was with him, is a suspect. He meets with Boz' girlfriend, Catherine Tramell (Sharon Stone), and Curran becomes suspicious of her, yet, he also becomes attracted by her overt sexuality. Making him more suspicious is her lack of sorrow for his death and her acknowledgment that she used him entirely for her sexual pleasure. She is a trained psychologist turned multi-millionaire author who penned a book which parallels the exact crime. She also befriends murderers. Curran is easy to entice as his life is under stress due to having shot many people in the line of duty and being involved in alcohol and drugs. This has him at odds with the police psychologist with whom he had had a previous affair. He quickly regresses back to a dangerous life and becomes intrigued by the danger this femme fatale represents. The two soon begin an illicit affair as the investigation continues and more bodies start to pile up.Controversy
Portrayal of homosexuals
The film was controversial due to its overt sexuality and graphic violence—a characteristic found in many of Verhoeven's movies—and was protested by gay rights activists who felt that the film followed a pattern of negative depiction of gay and lesbian people in the film industry. It has also received criticism from those who feel it portrays bisexuals as insatiable, untrustworthy, and homicidal (in the film, Tramell is an openly bisexual woman). Outspoken lesbian writer/activist Camille Paglia, however, has not only defended Basic Instinct, but called it her "favorite film", even providing an audio commentary track on the DVD release.NC-17 rating
The film was nearly assigned an NC-17 rating by the MPAA; this was again because of the nudity, overt sexuality and graphic violence. One scene in particular was cited as the reason for the rating. At one point in the film, Sharon Stone's character is interrogated by a panel of police officers, all of them male. During the scene, Stone uncrosses and then re-crosses her legs. The camera angle allowed the audience to briefly get a glimpse up Stone's skirt, which showed that she was not wearing any underwear. The lighting setup allowed the audience to get a reasonably clear view of Stone's genitalia.
Stone has often stated that she did not know that the camera would be able to see up her dress and claims to have slapped Paul Verhoeven and insisted that he remove the shot from the film. Verhoeven has denied that the confrontation ever took place.
The movie was eventually edited to receive an "R" rating for its U.S. release with other sex scenes in the film also edited to reduce the level of explicitness. In the end, 42 seconds were cut. The unedited version was released in the rest of the world. Years later, the "Unrated" edition of the film was released in VHS and Laserdisc, then later in DVD in the U.S., with the removed images restored.
Trivia
- Sharon Stone, still a relative unknown until the success of this movie, was paid only $500,000 for her role as Catherine Tramell.
- The unidentified blonde in the opening scenes of the movie is actually Sharon Stone and not a body double or another actress. She was identified by name by Paul Verhoeven in the audio commentary track of the DVD.
- Paul Verhoeven initially fought for a lesbian love scene to be added to the script over the objection of Joe Eszterhas, who thought such a scene would be gratuitous. Verhoeven eventually agreed with Eszterhas and apologized to him for forcing the issue.
- According to initial storyboards of the love scene between Nick and Catherine in Catherine's apartment, the scene would have been even longer and more explicit than the version finally shot and included in the movie. The stars and director thought the sexual acrobatics were too long and extreme to be believed and the scene was scaled back to the existing version.
- The unrated laserdisc edition released by Pioneer has a different commentary track from Paul Verhoeven than the unrated DVD released by Artisan/Lions Gate, due to licensing issues.
- Sharon Stone claims that she was unaware of the position of the camera during the infamous "leg-crossing" scene during the interrogation scene. She says that Paul Verhoeven "tricked" her into removing her underwear before re-positioning the camera.
Spoofs & References
- The interrogation scene is parodied in The Simpsons episode #2F20, "Who Shot Mr. Burns? Part Two." The Springfield Police Department was asking Groundskeeper Willy if he shot Mr. Burns, or knew anything about the case. After he told them no, he uncrosses and re-crosses his legs. Unfortunately, the police see his groin area due to the fact he is wearing his kilt.
- In 2005, World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) made a commercal for Wrestlemania XXI that parodied the famous interrogation scene. It featured Stacy Keibler, Chris Benoit, Chris Jericho, and Jason Reso (Christian).
- In an episode of The Nanny Fran Fine is interrogated, and is dressed in the same clothes and has the same hair style that Sharon Stone wore in the famous interrogation scene.
- The National Lampoon film Loaded Weapon 1 contains a similar interrogation scene. As Kathy Ireland uncrosses and re-crosses her legs, she is replaced by a beaver with the caption "Gratuitous Beaver Shot".
- The 1994 French comedy La Cité de la Peur also features a spoof of the interrogation scene.
- In the 'Miss Galaxy' episode of Tripping the Rift, Babette and T'nuk both did the interrogation scene for the talent show portion of the Miss Galaxy contest.
- In an episode of The O.C., Julie Cooper is on a date with Dr. Neil Roberts, dressed identically to Sharon Stone in the famous interrogation scene. She also crosses and uncrosses her legs, however the camera is placed high enough to conceal her femininity.
- Late comedian Bill Hicks discusses the film in his 1997 album, Arizona Bay. During this segment Hicks calls the movie a "piece of shit", but comically admits to watching it numerous times.
- The 1996 horror film Scream features several references to Basic Instinct.
- In the opening movie for the Playstation version of Tekken 2, Nina Williams, in what looks like a police station interrogation room, is seen crossing and uncrossing her legs. Nina is a killer, much like Sharon Stone's character, and would probably do something like this to get out of trouble.
Sequel
After many years of false starts and legal battles, in April 2005 production began in London on a sequel to Basic Instinct, (Basic Instinct 2). None of the original cast and crew returned except for Sharon Stone and Mario Kassar. This film was released on March 31, 2006. It was [widely panned] by film critics and was a [box office flop].External links
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