Lado salvaje

I met Donald Cammell shortly after he finished production on "Wild Side" We were at director Martin Donovan's house in Los Angeles. It was one of those eclectic memorable evenings in front of the fire in that fabulous Italian villa of Whitley Heights. Johnny Whitworth and Liv Tyler were there, so was Renee Zellwegger with her director Dan Ireland, Valeria Golino and Benicio del Toro, Shirley Knight and even Fabrizio Mioni with Faith Domergue, yes the legendary Faith Domergue, Howard Hughes's protègè. Donald Cammell dominated great part of the evening, exhausted but bursting with energy. So excited about his new film, about Joan Chen, Steven Bauer and Christopher Walken's performance. Editing with his long time collaborator, Frank Mazzola. It was a dangerous movie, it walked a very thin line, but he trusted his abilities as an tightrope walker. Years of experience. A few weeks later I was invited to see his cut of the film. I must admit, It took me by surprise. The darkness of the film didn't seem to match the lovely, kind, gentle Donald. The film was also brutally funny. A very individual, frightening, fascinating vision of the world. Shortly after I found out the film had been taken away from him and re edited. I saw Donald Cammell a couple of times after that, he smiled, he was charming and kind as usual, but in his eyes you could see his sadness. The next time I went back to Martin Donovan's house was to attend Donald Cammell's memorial service. He had killed himself, leaving a tangible, painful, tragic void. That day was also memorable, to be part again, with China, Donald's wife, of an eclectic group, from Drew Hammond and Bud Cort to Ken Russell and Cassian Elwes, to pay tribute to Donald Cammell the man, the artist, the friend. The other version of "Wild Side" hit theater for a second and disappeared without a trace. Frank Mazzola, the original editor, has restored it since, with love and for love of an unforgettable friend.

Ok, so it's a trashy soft-porn B-flick. I still like it. I got my first eyeful of Anne Heche (full frontal and backal--thx, Dilbert) plus more of Joan Chen, a fave since Twin Peaks. What more could you want? Walken gets a little weird...surprised? Isn't that why we love/hate him so? And Steven Bauer sure can play a jerk, the big hunky galoot. I've liked him since "Thief of Hearts."

The soundtrack is a bonus with a lush groove to it. I'd love to see the director's cut which sounds much more divine than the somewhat annoying cable version, but until then I'll have my finger poised confidently over my remote's FF button so I can get to the good stuff. Btw, Anne's performance reminds me of a young Bette Davis with her nervous fidgeting and self-conscious sashaying. Anyone else see it besides me? Just curious...maybe <grin>.

Intriguing, eye-opening thriller this, featuring an outrageous, insane and over-the-top performance from Christopher Walken even compared to his usual crazed output. Essentially a romance between the two leading ladies, Walken is the central figure and catalyst of all events as his loopy as hell gangster feller messes around with some women, is picked on by some dodgy coppers, and generally acts like a total loon. Joan Chen and Anne Heche are good as, respectively, his longtime girl and partner in crime, and his newest conquest and hobby, both putting in subtly sensual and remarkably sympathetic performances, and Steven Bauer is impressive (in the first role I've really noticed him in since Scarface) as the totally twisted, corrupt undercover cop on Walken's back, but this is really all Walken's show, as he chomps at the scenery with massive gusto. The atmosphere is dark and warm and a little steamy, there's plenty of expensive looking whisky about the place and people leading lives on the edge of sanity; the tragic Cammell's last film is a dark, intense, often inspired and occasionally hilarious gaze into the wilder side of sexuality and empowerment. Definitely one to watch with an open mind.

Donald Cammell's final film, the censorious treatment of which, probably drove him to take his life, is a stupendous tour de force, the likes of which you are unlikely to have seen before. Steven Bauer is scarily violent and believably ruthless. Joan Chen is beautiful and commanding while Anne Heche is astonishingly effective in a complicated and ever changing role as she interacts with the other three main participants. Christopher Walken allows his character to take him over almost completely and occasionally seems to struggle to stay this side of sanity. This is a nightmare of a performance in which he turns himself inside out to portray the true horror of ultimate power and greed. I will not divulge the simple plot as Cammell tells it so well it is far better that this terrible tale unfold as he intended. Suffice to say, the aforementioned acting is faultless, the direction sure footed and the editing an object lesson and for once the word 'sensational' is most apt.

I remember reading a review of this in one of those phone book sized movie guides you can get at a book store. They gave it their lowest rating, saying that it looked like it was all improvised in a series of motel room and apartments.

Yea, I can kind of see it.

Anyways, Wild Side is an OK noir film of sorts about a bank worker by day, high class prostitute by night (Heche) who gets involved with a crime boss (Walken) and his sexy girlfriend (Chen). Heche and Chen end up falling in love, and concoct a plan of sorts to get away.

The film probably would have faded away if it wasn't for the scorcher of a love scene between Heche and Chen. With an agonizingly erotic set up (a long dinner date between the two, followed by a first kiss in the womens bathroom), the actual love scene is allowed to play out nice and slow, in a big bedroom with the summer light and breeze blowing in. Seriously guys (and girls, I guess) this is everything you could want in a scene like this.

I wish I could say the movie around it was memorable enough to live up to that kind of glory, but it really doesn't. I'm sure Donald Cammell was a great director, and it's probably real sad that the film was chopped up before he could finish it to it's satisfaction. But I've got a feeling that whatever state this movie was supposed to in, it would have turned out the same.

Eroticism aside, the lesbian scene is asthetically like a breath of fresh air. It's bright, and wide open in the way it plays out across the screen. Compared to that, the rest of the movie really does play too dark; It really is kind of like sitting with your legs crossed on the floor in the corners of dark apartments while listening to other people talk. Dreary, in other words.

By the way, check out the Canadian video cover for this one compared to the static "3 portraits" cover we got in America. A classic example of how just how puritanical our culture can be sometimes.