Erotic melodrama " 9 and a half weeks " was released in the mid-eighties and gained popularity among millions of viewers. This film has become a classic of world cinema. The names of the leading actors are known to all. How was the legendary picture created? Who wrote the music for the movie " 9 and a half weeks " ?
Plot
Elizabeth McGraw is a young, lonely woman. Not so long ago, she divorced. Elizabeth works in an art gallery. Once met in New York with John Gray - a charming young millionaire. Quite strange relations are struck between them.
The various erotic fantasies that John realizes with the help of Elizabeth are not always to her liking. But she can’t refuse him. The film "9 and a half weeks" is filled with metaphors and symbols. Many scenes from the melodrama are repeatedly used by other directors, including as a parody. Exactly 9 and a half weeks, the relationship between Elizabeth and John continues. Hence the name.
The plot of the film may seem straightforward. But when creating this picture, new techniques were used for that time. Her success is due to excellent acting , quality directorial work and camera work.
From the history of the film
Erotic melodrama was released on February 14, 1985. The film " 9 and a half weeks " for obvious reasons can not be attributed to the paintings intended for wide viewing. You can’t call this film a regular melodrama either. Compared to most erotic films that have been released in recent years, the 9 and a half weeks storyline is somewhat chaste even. But American critics in the 80s were of a different opinion. Recall the story of the creation of the film.
In the seventies, a novel by Elizabeth McNill appeared on the shelves of US bookstores. He was translated into Russian much later. And when this happened, I did not gain much success in our country. The book " 9 and a half weeks " was published under the pseudonym. The authorship belongs to the editor-in-chief of a famous American magazine with a feminist touch. The novel caused a resonance in society. This work, as is often the case in such cases, was instantly interested in Hollywood filmmakers.
Main roles
Adrian Line, after reading a book, decided to make a film that would tell not about people with a perverted imagination, but about rather complicated personalities . Perhaps he succeeded. Later, other directors tried to repeat Lyne’s feat, but did not achieve much success. Actors and roles in the film " 9 and a half weeks " , as well as in other films, which are destined to become classics, have been selected for quite some time. Andy MacDowell and Sigourney Weaver claimed the main female role. As for the image of a millionaire with indefatigable imagination, a completely different actor could have embodied it on the screen.
Strangely enough, Mickey Rourke got into this film by accident. Before that, he played completely different heroes. On the set of the film “ 9 and a half weeks ” , the actor faced a difficult task: to create the image of a person with unlimited charm, bordering on magnetism, but at the same time prone to sadism. They say that the producer insisted on inviting Mickey Rork to this role. The main character, as you know, was played by Kim Basinger.
Filming "9 and a half weeks"
The work on creating images was not easy for the actors. In particular, the performer of the main female role . The film was created in chronological order . The director insisted on this scheme, believing that the only way to show the psychological experiences of the main character. In order to make the Bay Singer enter the image, Lyne sometimes had to unbalance her. For example, the director announced one day that Mickey Rourke allegedly spreads unpleasant rumors about her .
Filming ended in 1984. How did American viewers react to this film? Surprisingly, according to the request , most of them did not like the picture. During the premiere, approximately half of the audience left the room before the start of the final shots. The film could fail at the box office. But the unexpected happened. And for the director, and for the producer , and for the American public. The picture unexpectedly gained crazy popularity in Europe, and above all in France, Italy. In Paris, it was demonstrated for five years.
Mickey Rourke
This actor has a rather interesting biography. Once in his youth, he was digging ditches and selling drugs. But there were problems with the law. Rourke , who had been dreaming of becoming an actor since childhood, borrowed a small amount from his sister and went to New York. Success did not come right away. Mickey Rourke stubbornly attended castings, but the directors did not see him as an artist, even an insignificant, secondary role. He again had to get an unskilled low-paid job.
The first films in which this actor played are little known. Success came to him after the release of the film " Fighting Fish " . And this happened two years before the start of filming " 9 and a half weeks. " Erotic melodrama made Mickey Rork a world-famous celebrity. Since then, he has not acted in films of base ones. Rourke refused many roles, including the main one in the film Rain Man, which he later regretted.
Today in this actor it is difficult to recognize a millionaire with a charming smile and bizarre fantasies . Mickey Rork's appearance has changed beyond recognition with age. In the nineties, he played more and more in action films , while several times starred in erotic films . But the previous success is not achieved.
Kim Basinger
The name of this actress is associated with the film " 9 and a half weeks. " After all, the project was the most successful for her both in terms of career and from a financial point of view . In the early eighties, Kim Bey Singer played in a film from a series of films about agent 007. She took part in the filming of several comedies. The 1985 melodrama made her , like Mickey Rork , a world celebrity.
Line's film, as already mentioned, was rather coldly perceived by American viewers in the 80s. Critics have devoted many angry reviews to the film . It went to the actors, and the director , and screenwriter. Kim Bey Singer received the Golden Raspberry. The screenwriter was also " honored " with antiprescriptions.
Music "9 and a half weeks"
After the release of the film, popularity came not only to the actors . The songs that sounded in this film also became real hits. Today, few people know that the famous song, to which the heroine Kim B neasinger dances striptease in " 9 and a half weeks, " Joe Cocker wrote for this picture . The low hoarse baritone of the British singer sounds in many films. Once Joe Cocker was even awarded the Oscar for the best composition for the film. The song from the movie " 9 and a half weeks " for known reasons was not noted by critics. But she has become in some ways a classic.
Brian Ferry and Jean-Michel Jarre
To the erotic melodrama B. Ferry wrote the song Slave To Love. The British singer and musician began his career in the sixties. Then he formed the band The Banshees. In the early seventies, Brian Ferry began his solo career, and around this time he wrote several compositions for films, including the film, which is discussed in this article.
In the final shots of the melodrama, the heroine Kim B neasinger , after breaking up with John, wanders in tears along New York streets. And then a lyrical melody sounds, which did not become a hit, but is very loved by the audience, especially women. Who wrote this song?
Its author is Jean-Michel Jarre . This man began to learn piano at the age of five. After graduating from high school, he entered the Paris Conservatory. In addition, he played the guitar in various groups. In the sixties, J en-Michel J arr became interested in electronic music and released a single in this genre. He wrote a huge number of compositions for television and cinema and is the winner of several prestigious music awards.
In the film " 9 and a half weeks " (in the photo above you can see shots from the film strip), the music of Stuart Copeland , Corey Hart, John Taylor , Brian Eno also sounds.