Bound (1996): Retro Review

A stellar debut film

Bound is an absolutely monumental debut film in every sense of the word. It not only manages to show the incredible future that filmmaking would hold for the Wachowski sisters as it oozes with style in seemingly every single frame, but also provides us with a perspective with queer characters that we truly had never seen before in the crime genre until this film broke that barrier. Nailbitting tension and pay off, and a still to this day unique spin on the expressions of being queer. It's on another level. Our setup invloves Corky (Gina Gershon) an ex-convict coming to an apartment complex to work on its renovation and meets Violet (Jennifer Tilly) and Caesar (Joe Pantoliano) in the room next door. Its clear from the start that Violet is extremely attracted to Corky and tries to seduce her throughout the first act of the film and the movie does such an excellent job at making an audience feel every bit of tension and the sexual chemistry between the two when Violet comes up with excuses to get Corky into her apartment. Like for instance, the scene where she purposely loses her ring in a sink and Corky is called over to get it out of the pipes, we get the famous shot of Jennifer Tilly’s thighs framed right next to Corky under the sink, the movie couldn’t make it more obvious that these two are an item, however this isnt what the whole movie contains.

 The second two acts of the film surround a heist where Corky hatches a plan to steal Ceasars monkey that he plans to deliver to Gino Marzzone (Richard C. Sarafian) but of course as always with these films, the heist goes off the rails. The lesbian relationship at the core of Bound is also really what ties all of these events together even though it might seem like they aren’t at first glance. When the Wachowski’s were first making this film, a lot of studios were saying that they would be willing to make the film if it ended up not being a lesbian relationship like the final product. They stated back then that they wouldn’t want to make that film at all, because they’ve seen that type of film so many times, and this is where the purpose of the film truly lies. A film about lesbians being treated as a regular part of the film’s story and regaining power from the abusive. This anyalsis can be supported from one of the film's most famous exchanges of diouloge, “You know what the difference is between you and me, Violet?” “No.” “Me neither.” The connection between these two obviously wouldnt work nearly as well if it were from the anchoring performances from Jenifer Tilly and Gina Gershon. They are huminzed through their deepening sexual connection which even seeps into the heist portion of the film which is just incredibly enthralling thanks to the miracle of filmmaking that is the Wachowski sisters. 

The technical aspects of bound are mainly used to set a lot of the mood and tone of scenes, there is specifically a change in shot composition when you compare the movie's more intimate and seductive first half to the thrilling crime caper that is the second. A lot of the close zoom-ins, moments of cg, and match cuts are aspects of the Wachowski’s film making that we would soon become more familiar with in some of their other great features like obviously the Matrix series but also a film like the underrated Speed Racer. Like every good heist film it gives you several moments of showing off what occurred previously and how it will relate to a later scene that will make things even more stressful for our lead characters, even Joe Pantoliano gives an incredibly manic energy to the situation that the film needs to raise its stakes as he gets closer and closer to just going off the deep end and digging a deeper and deeper hole for himself.

Bound is an absolute expertly crafted action thriller filled with all the sex, crime elements that any fan of the genre would want in spades, but it not only also gives us a different perspective of what surrounds these elements and the issues that follow through when it comes to the power of those abusive towards you but Manages to have some of the most evocative and refreshing depictions of a lesbian relationship seen on screen. An unbelievably amazing first feature from the Wachowski sisters and one of their best films period which is saying a lot.