Movies - Basic Instinct

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	Movies - Basic Instinct

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.

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 affair. 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 multi-millionaire author who penned a book which parallels the exact crime. 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. 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.

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 censored 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 initally 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.

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.

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.

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