A couple things:
1. The Manhattan in 9 1/2 Weeks is one that I recognize, and that is not always the case when it comes to the representation of my fair city in film. I am thinking of Unfaithful, another of Adrian Lyne’s films, where the streets of Soho look art decorated to death, an idea of itself, rather than the genuine article. Perhaps that was appropriate for Unfaithful, but here in 9 1/2 Weeks, we can see the Manhattan of Midnight Cowboy and other gritty 1970s films. Perhaps not quite as disgusting as the Manhattan of Taxi Driver, but still: the greyness, the random glimpses of humanity, the long long vistas of crazy avenues, the cabs that barrel along looking just as ready to kill you as pick you up … and the general frenetic air of things like Chinatown and street fairs … all of this ring true. The opening section of the film, as the beginning credits start, shows Kim Basinger strolling through the streets of New York to her job (at the Spring Street Gallery which means Soho) … and seriously this woman must have the longest walk to work since my great-great-grandpappy struggled through 10 feet of snow to get to school every day and he liked it. Hasn’t she ever heard of subways? She appears to live on the Upper West Side and so she walks 70 odd blocks to work? Also, she strolls under grimy overpasses, walks down roads that look like Broadway, crosses over on side streets, narrow and wet … Does she cover all 5 boroughs in her morning commute or what exactly is going on here? Maybe that’s how she stays so slim. She walks 20 miles to work every morning even though Manhattan is only 13.4 miles long. Anyway. Ridiculousness of her morning walk aside … Lyne takes the time to show a New York that appears to not have a mask on. A woman with curlers stands on the sidewalk, waiting for her dog to pee, looking annoyed – but not at all concerned that she is out in public in her curlers. Garbage men hoot and holler at Basinger as she walks by. Things are seen and then vanish – which is just what it is like when you walk through Manhattan on any given day. I liked that part of the film … that even with all its sexual shenanigans – it seems place-able. It seems like it happens in the real world – not some Art Deco soft-core version of New York. (There are a couple of exceptions to this in the film which I’ll get to later in some other post. This is just a preliminary post.)
2. I liked how – in the first half of the film – both Rourke and Basinger are, more often than not, filmed from at a distance, with things passing in front of their faces, or a pane of glass in between them and the camera, reflections going by … Basinger strolls through a street fair, and we see glimpses of her – through the displays of scarves and necklaces, and the bubbles floating through the air. We see Rourke too, and he is also partially hidden by foreground objects or people. It gives a voyeuristic feeling to the film – and yes, I do think that was deliberate – BUT – more than that, it dovetails with what I observed in my first comment: This is New York City, a crowded metropolis. You rarely look at anything without other things in the way. You look up at the spire of the Empire State Building, and there are 10 buildings in between you and it. You look at a sign across the street, and it comes to you in flashes because of passing busses, or garbage trucks, or just the throngs of people. It is a city that seems to keep you at a distance – but at the same time, it beckons you, “Come closer … come closer … the only way you will ever really get to know me is if you come really close …” 9 1/2 Weeks captures perfectly that distant yet intimate feeling in the streets of New York … and places its characters firmly in that environment. It is not just about them. It is about them navigating their way through the world, with all kinds of things in the way – even just things like a display of necklaces – so that whatever it is that is facing them cannot, yet, be seen directly. Nothing comes off as whole. You have to make sense of the fragments.
This is not wholly successful in the film and there are times when it flat out does not work … but if you notice by the end of the film – when Basinger finally cracks – we see her head-on. We see him head-on. She stands in his main room, looking at him. Nothing in the way. And he stands in the doorway looking at her, nothing in the way there either. And it’s unbearable. They can’t be with it – neither of them can … and so it ends.
I may be reading more into this than is there, but I don’t think so.
Some screenshots illustrating all of this below.
Wow, all those red lights in the first shot. Foreshadowing?
This reminds me of what Lileks mentions often about movies being an inadvertent time capsule – the stuff in the background going on that nobody notices at the time, but which change in twenty years and suddenly their details leap up at you… the way things used to FEEL, unnoticed until well after they change. I can kind of remember that NYC from visiting relatives while I was on the Island – those cars, the old Ma Bell color scheme on the van, the general haze over the streets, the ads and the hairstyles…
Ooh, I didn’t notice until you mentioned that all the lights were red in that first photo. Cool! I love it when you look down one of the avenues and you see that endless line of lights change – it’s pretty cool (and also pretty scary because you had BEST get out of the way!)
I love the time capsule of films too. One of the things about the films from the 80s is that the style is so distinct that it sometimes can pull you out of it. All you can see are spritzed bangs and shoulder pads. Ha. There are a COUPLE of outfits in 9 1/2 Weeks that pull attention to the era (she has one truly dreadful sweater – a long sweater that remains loose and flowing until it cinches in at the bottom – so it is just designed to make your ass look big – and if Basinger, who has NO ASS, looks like she has a big ass in it – then you can imagine the grief of the regular populace). … but in general, the styles are pretty classic and simple. He’s in a trench coat and a suit, and she wears a black dress, or a grey business suit – and her hair is pretty natural, no spritzed bangs (thank goodness).
But I had forgotten the street scenes in 9 1/2 weeks and how yeah – it captures that New York that you used to know, that I used to know … its energy and grit.
So wait… you actually sat on a donkey while dribbling a basketball? And the donkeys cooperated? Did they start to kick? I have so many questions. I am in awe of Donkey Ball.
Curly – the fact that you put your comment in the wrong post – and that it is THIS PARTICULAR POST about 9 1/2 weeks – has somehow struck my funny bone so hard that I am literally guffawing out loud and making a spectacle of myself.
But back to your question – yes! Teenagers would ride donkeys and dribble basketballs. And poop on the gym floor. Or, er, the donkeys would anyway. The donkeys were NOT happy about it but you know, they’re workhorses – probably once a year they all were muttering to each other, “Oh shit, it’s donkey ball season again …”
Donkey Ball was a huge event in our school. And obviously, uhm, yeah, I was really into it.
God, member that hawt hawt sex scene where Mickey Rourke and Kim Basinger played donkey ball?
I’m sorry. I can’t stop.
I love the strip scene, with Joe Cocker singing “You Can Leave Your Hat On” in the background, and donkeys dribbling basketballs in the foreground.
OMG! HA HA HA HA HA HA HA! I need a minute to recover from my giggling fit.
I still can’t stop!! The possibilities are endless!!!
Now I’m picturing donkeys eating all of the food in that infamous scene. Complete with chomping sounds.
Eeyore being sprayed by the seltzer water and his ears going flat and angry.
I wish I had the technical know-how to digitally insert donkeys into select clips from the film. If so, my weekend would be shot and I’d have quite the reel to show you on Monday!
Dude, I’M DYING!!! “digitally insert donkeys” oh my god … we are grownups … and yet …
I am shaking with laughter …
I just laughed so hard, it sounded like a whinny… which is appropriate, I think.
Oh man, I needed that. I can’t separate the thought of donkeys now from 9 1/2 weeks and that is beautiful to me.
My coworkers can totally hear me laughing. I really hope none of them ask me to explain. On second thought…
Yeah really. To explain the confluence of DONKEY BALL and 9 1/2 weeks would be very very difficult.
Donkey ball?? What???
This really is a YouTube mash-up just waiting to be created.
Ah, a good Friday afternoon laugh. I too needed it!
I love your blog, by the way.
Thanks for pointing out the cinematic virtues of the story. I thought that the story and script itself was a bit flat. I guess maybe I was expecting a really sexy movie, and spent half the movie yelling at Kim Basinger for not giving into Rourke’s sexiness (hey, it was good while it lasted)…
Josie – I know, right?? Sexiness doesn’t come along like that every day, girl – just jump on it, for God’s sake! So he’s a little weird – aren’t we all??