Blue: L'orchidée sauvage II

The story is about a young girl named Blue (Siemaszko) who takes a job in a brothel after her Jazz playing father (Skerritt) dies as a result of drugs. She later decides to leave and finds it difficult because of the dictator like headmistress (Hughes). The story is really weak and prevents the film from being any good. Then there is a lot of nudity and sexuality but it is not strong enough to keep the voyeurs attention either. Top it all off with poor acting and no imagination and you have "Wild Orchid II: Two Shades of Blue." So the film fails all around. The story has absolutely no similarity or connection to the original "Wild Orchid" starring Mickey Rourke which isn't much better.

This film hit theaters in 1991, and played to empty houses. I was actually one of the few that saw "Wild Orchid II" in the theater. I wasn't expecting such a somber, downbeat movie, considering how the first "Wild Orchid" and "Two Moon Junction" were so much more lighthearted, sexy entertainment. Well it seems that director Zalman King wanted to create a serious film that would be respected as more than just erotic fluff. It does succeed in the fact that it is technically, a very well-made film; truly lovely cinematography/photography, stirring musical score, impressive editing, lighting etc. Even the performances were mostly good, most notably Wendy Hughes as the sinister Madam "Elle," and also Nina Sziemasko in the title role who, compared to Carre Otis, was on the level of Meryl Streep! Art direction was also excellent, with impeccable attention paid to cars and clothing of the 1950's, which is when the story takes place. The 4 star rating here is utterly ridiculous and inaccurate. The main problem with "Wild Orchid 2" is that there isn't a very large audience for a strange film like this. Fans of erotic/softcore sex films will most likely be bored with the dramatic, and depressing tale of an innocent girl losing herself in the sordid world of prostitution. And fans of drama will most likely be put off with all the sex and nudity on display, and in this film there is a LOT of that on screen. So much in fact, that the film had to be cut by almost 5 minutes to receive an R rating and play in theaters. When released on VHS it appeared uncut, and there is one sequence in particular that would NEVER have gotten past the censors. On a side note, I'm wondering if director King was at all influenced by David Lynch's "Blue Velvet," when he created this one; the two films have a VERY similar story arc, taking the viewer through a dark, sinister, seedy world of evil, corrupt people, and ending in the daylight, morning sun streaming through the trees as the two main characters find an idealistic "return to innocence." Both films take place in the 50's, and have a very similar aesthetic, and the lead character's name is "Blue." At times depressing, and surprisingly sleazy, but it does have an optimistic conclusion, and it's a film that is hard to forget.

Zalman King is an actor and scriptwriter who expanded his capabilities in mid career to include both producing & directing (more recently he has also very successfully tried his hand at cinematography, to complete what today has become a rare fivefold). In 1986 the success of the strongly erotic film '9 1/2 weeks', for which he was both a co-writer and the producer, drew a great deal of attention and gave him a chance to build a reputation as the best known North American Producer/Director of erotic films. He accepted this challenge by co-writing and directing another very successful film 'Two Moon Junction', released two years later. Another year on and the first 'Wild Orchid' film with a script attributed totally to ZK was released. Its claim to be a true erotic film became widely accepted - largely on the strength of its last very intense love making scene between Carre Otis and Mickey Rourke. (They were married soon afterwards, and background publicity fostering an unlikely rumour that this scene was not simulated probably helped this) Two years later came 'Wild Orchid 2 - Two Shades of Blue', released in 1989. This featured another original film-script written by Zalman King, and its name was not derived from any previous literary or dramatic work, but was clearly intended to exploit the reputation which WO-1 had earned - no doubt its sub-title was also selected with the same objective. It has only achieved a relatively low approval rating from IMDb users, however as far as I am concerned it is a fine work that, despite some flaws, is the nearest approach to a true erotic film with which Zalman King has so far been associated.

Unfortunately most of his more recent works have been directed more towards television presentation than to the cinema and do not provide a lot of competition. His company has created two different sets of short films for television both comprising independent episodes based on a longer feature film that provides a more detailed background for the complete series. The best known of these is probably the Red Shoes Diaries series. It started with a 1992 feature film of the same name which explained the significance of both the red shoes and the diaries. This has spawned an ongoing series of about fifty short TV episodes that have been continuing ever since. The very similar Chromium Blue series featured fantasies associated with the visit of a billionaire's private cruise ship to various exotic Mediterranean resorts, and probably had a higher unit budget. For me, most episodes from both these series were partly spoiled by the use of cinematographic techniques that are usually regarded as associated more with music videos than with the cinema; in addition their short running times makes it difficult for them to convey any meaningful message.

Unlike these later short productions, Wild Orchid 2 succeeds in involving the viewer in a story that is sufficiently disturbing to provide genuine emotional impact. The film is best described as a movie equivalent of the 'bodice ripper' paperback romances which appeal most strongly to the fair sex but men often also enjoy, and when televised they provide ideal entertainment for a couple. For me Wild Orchid 2 remains far the best of the many works with which Zalman King has been associated. Although the story is rather far fetched the film has an excellent cast and is very well acted, so most of its viewers probably enjoy it. (Some IMDb users have criticised the acting of its star, Nina Siemaszko, but this performance successfully established the foundations for her very productive acting career which has covered numerous TV productions as well as significant feature films - so enough said). The films ending is rather prolonged and is also somewhat weak, this is particularly noticeable because of the strong meat which preceded it, but Zalman King does deserve credit for ensuring that it was not made glaringly obvious long in advance. Watching it, I wished at times that he had had the training as a cinematographer which Russ Meyer received in the U.S. army. The modern cine camera is a technological marvel, capable of providing clear easily viewed images of even the most complex scenes. Unduly short sequences handicapped by excessive or inadequate contrast are used today by too many directors when attempting to create atmosphere or mood; ignoring the fact that this mood can be irretrievably lost once the audience starts wondering what they missed in the lost parts of the screen image. Despite these criticisms, Wild Orchid 2 is a fine film which successfully captured the trauma faced by a young girl being reluctantly but irretrievably drawn into a life of prostitution, whilst lacking the courage to break away and face the world on her own. It provides viewers with much more 'meat' than any of King's other recent films (except perhaps for his own performance in St Francis - another noteworthy film, but a serious study of the drug culture rather than an erotic work.)

I believe WO-2 deserves a far higher rating than it has currently been given by IMDb users, this rating seems to be the victim of what appears to have become a double standard, the upgrading of any excessively violent films (even those showing scenes of torture) because they display the freedom of film to uncover aspects of society which are normally kept under the carpet; but the downgrading of any showing intense sexual situations because they might unduly influence young people.

I noticed that the overall IMDb rating for this film was a lowly 3.2. This seems a bit unfair. The story is good, not great, and may at times be bit predictable. But the acting is quite good with a very sympathetic performance by Tom Skerritt. Robert Davi shows a warm side in much contrast to the "heavy" he played in a James Bond Film. Wendy Hughes couldn't have been more cold and calculating in much contrast to the warm and loving character she played opposite Peter Falk in "Happy New Year" or the playful character she played opposite Pierce Brosnan in "The Heist." Lastly, Zalman King as a filmmaker has tried to elevate the adult genre to an art form. If not familiar, try to see his most successful series: "Red Shoes Diaries." Sometimes you can catch an episode on late night Showtime.

It might be said that not every film is meant to be "Gone With the Wind" or "Citizen Kane." There's nothing wrong about a shoot-em-up western where the gunfighters never seem to run out of bullets. And although "The Fast and the Furious" may never make IMDb's top 250 list, it was a good enough film for the producers to make two sequels.

It's all about entertainment and since the world's population is so diverse, we all like different types of movies. One could guess that some viewers who are offended by nudity may have been "turned off" by this film, which also may account for the low 3.2 rating. But the film is worth a watch.

Finally, Nina Siemaszko is excellent in this film. She brings across her vulnerability, frustration, disappointment, etc. Her performance must have been good, because other producers noticed and she had a nice supporting role in "The American President" and a recurring role for 3 or 4 years on "The West Wing." On a personal note, I would urge all of us to respect the IMDb and the lengths they go to provide this forum. Let's give fair comments to all films we view. We may actually affect the careers of some of the industry people.

I was a little kind of disappointed when I watched the normal version of this as it feels like it teases so much more. Luckily I was able to track down the unrated cut and it offers some extended dialogue scenes and more "steamy" content.

That being said, its still not great. Nina Siemaszkos character is not very likable but this is probably a part of her situation in the film. Its got a pretty decent cast all in all but Robert Davi and Christopher Macdonalds characters could have used more time.

I like the filmography, soundtrack, overall setting, and costumes for the actors which is where this movie scores points in my opinion. If it was named something else it would probably score better.