Tough ex-con Corky and her lover Violet concoct a scheme to steal millions of stashed mob money and pin the blame on Violet's crooked boyfriend Caesar.Tough ex-con Corky and her lover Violet concoct a scheme to steal millions of stashed mob money and pin the blame on Violet's crooked boyfriend Caesar.Tough ex-con Corky and her lover Violet concoct a scheme to steal millions of stashed mob money and pin the blame on Violet's crooked boyfriend Caesar.
- Directors
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- Awards
- 8 wins & 13 nominations total
John P. Ryan
- Mickey Malnato
- (as John Ryan)
Kevin Michael Richardson
- Cop #2
- (as Kevin M. Richardson)
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Featured reviews
Let's get one thing straight at the start - the Brits aren't very good at sex. Obviously we're good enough to procreate and what have you, but when it comes to movies, we don't have a clue. What's more, we still have a strong streak of the Victorian puritan ethic running through us. This accounts for the fact that, in the period running up to Bound's cinema release, certain British newspapers hyped up the explicit lesbian content with a kind of outraged glee.
And, of course, when someone says "Disgusting - it ought to be banned!" then you want to see it all the more, don't you? So there I am, looking forward to a little girl on girl action (and it's there alright, filmed in tasteful arty stark contrast), and what do I get? A bloody good crime thriller, that's what.
There are many comments here, so I'll just say two things.
One, this is not the outrageous lesbian free-for-all which it was made out to be by certain elements of the British press. The relationship between the two women is absolutely essential to the credibility of what follows.
And, two, this is a film which you watch for the first time in a state of almost unbearable stress. I do not recall ever seeing another film in which extreme tension is maintained so well for such a sustained period.
And, of course, when someone says "Disgusting - it ought to be banned!" then you want to see it all the more, don't you? So there I am, looking forward to a little girl on girl action (and it's there alright, filmed in tasteful arty stark contrast), and what do I get? A bloody good crime thriller, that's what.
There are many comments here, so I'll just say two things.
One, this is not the outrageous lesbian free-for-all which it was made out to be by certain elements of the British press. The relationship between the two women is absolutely essential to the credibility of what follows.
And, two, this is a film which you watch for the first time in a state of almost unbearable stress. I do not recall ever seeing another film in which extreme tension is maintained so well for such a sustained period.
I watched this because I'm a big fan of the Wachowskies, and after watching their first movie(Assassins, which they only wrote) I hoped to see another masterpiece from the makers of The Matrix that had nothing to do with it. It's no wonder the producers let them direct aforementioned sci-fi/action masterpiece after they did this. For such a little amount of money, they really made the most of it. Few characters, sets and occasionally limited camera-work is easy to look past(hard to notice, in fact). The movie is breathtaking. For the entirety of the last half I was literally at the edge of my seat, extremely excited and couldn't wait to find out what happened next. The first half is mostly a setup for the last half, but it isn't boring, and is well worth watching, as it makes the second half near-perfect in suspense. The lesbian subplot might throw some people off, and will definitely offend some people, but if you're aren't one of them, then you most likely will enjoy it, if you're into thrillers. The plot is very well-written, and with twists and turns thrown in every so often, it keeps you watching closely. The acting is mostly good, especially from the three leads. The characters are great... diverse, interesting and credible. The cinematography contains several of the same things later made famous in The Matrix... anyone who's seen both movies can tell that it's the same people behind the cameras. The action is really well-done. The story-telling is just slightly experimental... reminiscent of various heist flicks. This also contains some quite stylish visuals, though not as many as the brothers' later works. All in all, just works really well and keeps you entertained throughout. I recommend this to any fan of the Wachowski brothers, thrillers and/or the actors in it. 8/10
I didn't really love the plot because sometimes it felt like they were hanging on to one part of the story for too long. However, there was a good amount of tension and thriller in this film which made it enjoyable. Also, the main character was HOT ngl.
Bound is a film for which I have mixed feelings: it looks and feels amazing, the cinematography, acting, directing, costumes, wardrobe, props, colors, moods, etc. feel like a graphic novel brought to life. Yet on the other hand there is something that smacks of "aren't we cool for doing x?" - I guess the lesbian scenes and camera work were what did this so as to give it a punk/hip feel (then again, this is not long after Pulp Fiction came out so everyone was doing it).
Having seen the Matrix 1-3 I can understand and appreciate the camera work on second viewing, but it feels like the Wachowski brothers were pushing the lesbian eroticism for the sake of shock and males in the audience. It definitely seems to be directed by males insofar as the sex scenes go (the female body is both fetishist and problematized as a threat to men throughout the film too, but that's a different subject altogether), but these are more artsy than "Skinemax" night flicks in that there is very little nudity, it was tastefully shown for the most part and a lot was told with sounds and shadows. (Personally, I think the lesbians were there for shock since a male lover would have worked just as well, but in general I think some more subtlety could have been used in the sex scenes myself since imagining it is sexier IMHO).
That said, the first half, which establishes character, does seem to drag quite a bit, but once the caper gets going it never stops. You also feel for all of the characters - surprisingly, I felt the most for Cesar, the "villain" of the piece (perhaps because of an amazing shot when he opens the briefcase and then the world seems out of whack as we look up at him).
I can't really find anything "wrong" with this film per se and it is a good film although I could have easily fast forwarded the first half and got roughly the same effect. Still I could watch this film over and over again for the way it was shot since it is amazing and there are a lot of techniques and style one can learn from it, plus the story is great too. So for this I give the film
8 out of 10 stars. Definitely worth a watch, although some of you more conservative folks might be a little put off by the lesbian scenes.
Having seen the Matrix 1-3 I can understand and appreciate the camera work on second viewing, but it feels like the Wachowski brothers were pushing the lesbian eroticism for the sake of shock and males in the audience. It definitely seems to be directed by males insofar as the sex scenes go (the female body is both fetishist and problematized as a threat to men throughout the film too, but that's a different subject altogether), but these are more artsy than "Skinemax" night flicks in that there is very little nudity, it was tastefully shown for the most part and a lot was told with sounds and shadows. (Personally, I think the lesbians were there for shock since a male lover would have worked just as well, but in general I think some more subtlety could have been used in the sex scenes myself since imagining it is sexier IMHO).
That said, the first half, which establishes character, does seem to drag quite a bit, but once the caper gets going it never stops. You also feel for all of the characters - surprisingly, I felt the most for Cesar, the "villain" of the piece (perhaps because of an amazing shot when he opens the briefcase and then the world seems out of whack as we look up at him).
I can't really find anything "wrong" with this film per se and it is a good film although I could have easily fast forwarded the first half and got roughly the same effect. Still I could watch this film over and over again for the way it was shot since it is amazing and there are a lot of techniques and style one can learn from it, plus the story is great too. So for this I give the film
8 out of 10 stars. Definitely worth a watch, although some of you more conservative folks might be a little put off by the lesbian scenes.
It is hard to accept the fact that I haven't ever heard of this great Neo-Noir, written and directed by the acclaimed Wachowski Brothers (Lana&Lilly) in the early stages of their career which reached its peak with ''The Matrix'' (1999). ''Bound'' is an absorbing crime/mystery with dashes of Hitchcockian suspense, having a solid plotline and great cast such as Joe Pantoliano and Jennifer Tilly who both deliver tremendous performances in their roles of a husband and wife, the former being a made mafioso and the latter a typical 'Damsel in Distress' who searches for a safe exit from the Mob's violent characters and proceedings, while becoming infatuated with her new neighbor (Gina Gershon's character). Tilly's character, acted with a mischievous- almost manipulative- sexiness and cynical determination, hatches a plan to rob her husband of mob money, with the guidance and support from her new lover. But, as always, reality doesn't follow the plan and things spiral out of control with a high body count and Caesar (J. Pantoliano's character) on the verge of a complete breakdown as he finds himself owing to his own mob family a sum of 2.000.000 dollars. The main theme of ''Bound'' is trust between humans and the risks that people are taking, based on the trust to a closely related person. The movie, apart from its references to classic Film-Noir, brought to my mind the early Joel&Ethan Coen pictures and plotwise it will somehow remind you of the superb ''Shallow Grave'' by Danny Boyle. This is a little-known gem that is certainly worth spending the approximately 100 minutes of your precious time and it will leave you wondering why it is so hard to find similar productions in the contemporary era.
Did you know
- TriviaIn a 2014 interview for Vulture, Jennifer Tilly talked about the sex and nudity in this film, and how filming a sex scene and being naked with another woman was less stressful than with a man. "Actors are always saying, 'Oh, sex scenes are so technical. Everyone's standing around and watching.' It is technical, but there is something about being naked with a member of the opposite sex that you still want them to think that you're hot. There's a reason why people are always having affairs with their leading men. With Gina it was really relaxing, because you could say things to her that you wouldn't say to other people. Like, 'Can you put your hand on my thigh here so my butt doesn't look so big? Can you hold my breast up so it looks more plump and juicy?' You would never, ever say those things to a man. Between takes, I would say, 'Gina, there's a shoe sale at Barneys. If we finish early, we should go over to Barneys and shop for shoes!' So it was surprisingly unsexy, but then when you saw it on screen, I was blown away. Violet and Corky have chemistry. They have it in buckets." She then added "We were a little bit worried because Dino De Laurentiis was a producer, and we were worried that after we finished shooting the scene, they would send it off to Italy and insert some breasts and buttocks shots. The Wachowskis said that was a concern of theirs, too, so they decided to shoot that love scene in one long, continuous shot. They said, 'That way he can't cut into it without it looking really obvious and intrusive. So the day we were supposed to shoot the love scene, it was a closed set. But there were monitors in the hallway, and everybody was clustered around the monitors watching. So the Wachowskis put the camera on a crane, and there were all these elements that they wanted to capture. They wanted to start out on a safe and get the side of my back, and they wanted to pan down to the toes, and they would be yelling through a megaphone, telling us what different parts were onscreen. They would yell, 'Toes!' and Gina would curl her toes like she was about to come. Then they would say, 'Hand!' and my hand was on her crotch, and I would kind of move my fingers a little bit. And then they would say, 'Face!' and it would be on Gina's face, and Gina would 'come.' So it was very, very technical, and we did eight takes."
- GoofsWhen Corky kicks the gun out of Caesar's hand, she is wearing socks, having removed her paint-stained boots. But as she follows through with the kick, she is wearing boots.
- Alternate versionsThe Criterion 4K Ultra HD release changes the credits of the Wachowskis to remove any references to their deadnames.
- ConnectionsEdited into The Matrix Revisited (2001)
- Soundtracks(Chicago Is) My Kind of Town
Written by Jimmy Van Heusen and lyrics by Sammy Cahn
Sung by Jennifer Tilly and Gina Gershon
Details
- Release date
- Country of origin
- Languages
- Also known as
- Lazos ardientes
- Filming locations
- Production companies
- See more company credits at IMDbPro
Box office
- Budget
- $4,500,000 (estimated)
- Gross US & Canada
- $3,802,260
- Opening weekend US & Canada
- $900,902
- Oct 6, 1996
- Gross worldwide
- $3,803,441
- Runtime1 hour 49 minutes
- Color
- Sound mix
- Aspect ratio
- 1.85 : 1
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