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Fatal Attraction
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"Fatal Attraction" is a film about the fear of sex and how terrible sex can be. The sex scenes in ther movie are tinged with horror. In the famous scene between Douglas and Close, which begins in the kitchen sink, there's a sense of foreboding. The Village Voice's critic Jim Hoberman noted, "Just below the surface, "Fatal Attraction" illustrates the bleak wisdom of popular songs and the craziness implicit in the idea of `love at first sight' or `it had to be you.' The film is compelling because, ultimately, there's no such thing as safe sex." This may be the reason why "Fatal Attraction" became the definitive film of the year.
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The first great shock of Fatal Attraction is how effortlessly the affair begins. Alex seduces and Dan accepts, without a blink, as if that is simply what rising lawyers with idyllic family lives are supposed to do. As in his profession, Dan is not so concerned with what is right and wrong, but rather what course is available and can be reasonably pursued. He is a morally blank slate, all action and mitigation but no contemplation or reflection. It's a difficult moment for the audience when Dan blissfully cheats, not so much because he is carelessly striking a blow against his wife and daughter, but because he does not do it with malicious intention or under any weight of consequence it is difficult to hate him for doing it. He is like a child, simply oblivious.
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"Fatal Attraction" had an important effect on Hollywood for it was a successful rearrangement of familiar conventions, as in the feminized male and in the masculinized female character. The picture's general success can be attributed to the multiple identification figures, offered by Alex, Dan, and Beth. Since its release, "Fatal Attraction" has been imitated to death and it launched a whole cycle of erotic-psychological thrillers.
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Released today in 1987, Fatal Attraction set the bar for the “sexy thriller.” Michael Douglas stars in the movie as a married New York attorney who has a casual fling with an acquaintance, played by Glenn Close. When he tries to end the relationship, trouble begins and Close’s character reveals that she will do anything to prolong the affair. The storyline has been duplicated--see the 2002 movies Unfaithful and Swimfan--but with far less punch than this classic. Close, in one of her most memorable roles, was nominated for a Best Actress Oscar for her portrayal of Alex Forrest. The actress begins the movie with the audience on her side, but drives them further and further away as she refuses to let Douglas break off the affair. The movie was nominated for six Oscars, including Best Picture and a Best Director nod for Adrian Lyne.
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Condemned by feminist groups upon its release, Fatal Attraction actually delivers a severe indictment of men: for their selfish sexual exploitation of women, their ignorant emotional neglect of their wives and children, and their emasculated detachment from their duty to protect. Dan is sexually dynamic and yet impotent in all other facets. Despite the searing critique, Fatal Attraction never comes off as a polemic. Lyne exploits these flaws dramatically, astutely turning the cad into the hero and the victim into the villain, blurring the lines of melodrama and creating strong emotional tension. Alex is both empathetic in her needs and repulsive in her actions, and Close, an odd casting choice (rather than vampishly sexy, she looks more like a disco-era Gibb brother), is brilliant in tiptoeing the line between aggrieved and aggro. Douglas is ... superb as aloof Dan faces the harrowing consequences of his pathetic actions with a newly realized sense of conviction and being, and Ellen Hamilton Latzen is refreshingly subtle for a child actor.
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Fatal Attraction was given its North American premiere in 1984, three years before the film of the same name with a different story line (no rabbit in the pot!). Come and enjoy the dresses and slang of a bygone era!
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Fatal Attraction