"Basic Instinct"

The original is one of my fav's. I shot a scene for a directing class a few years ago at UCLA. It's a lot more complex than it seems. A lot going on under the surface.

It really shows what good actors Michael Douglas and Sharon Stone are.
 
The writing is friggin' deep, IMHO. A lot of psycho-analytical layers lie beneath the surface... and A LOT is being expressed... without being said...

Sharon Stone's appearance AND performance are pure magic. Combined with the depth of her character, the visual style of Verhoeven\De Bont and the score of Goldsmith it makes a completely mesmerizing cinema-alchemy. They just got it right, didn't they? :)

However, I believe the script has some minor inconsistencies. Nevertheless, it's so smart and original as a whole that I just forgive these...

Here's a link to an interesting 1 h. discussion with the writer:

http://fora.tv/2006/09/26/Joe_Eszterhas

Quite a character!
 
It's a favorite of mine. I love that Sharon Stone had the "man's part" as the
bad guy - she had nearly all the good lines/quips throughout the film and played
Catherine Trammel with such a swagger. One of the best, most daring roles offered
to a woman in years. Watch the film with the director's commentary, Paul Verhoven
explains something about her character that made so much sense after I heard him
say it. He talks about how Sharon Stone wasn't really "getting it" during the early
days of shooting and he was a little concerned about her. Basically he told her that
he really thought of her character, Catherine Trammel as the Devil. It sure looks it!
 
I'd heard Joe was paid 3 big ones for this script (the BIG ones), although, frankly, I can't see why.

Maybe I just don't "get it."
 
The script "hit" at the right time/right place. Joe E. had done Jagged Edge, which
was a bit of a success with it's twists, turns, crazy plot. Timing was everything.
I guess the same question should be asked of Shane Black, who's was paid even
more I think for "The Last Boy Scout". There was a bidding war for that one...

Douglas and Stone are very good in the film. Stone had been trying for years to
break through into that "upper area" and away from the "B" roles she'd been
doing: Like Action Jackson and some others. She was coming off of Total Recall
and she was just fearless, or maybe the word should be relentless. A lot of other
actresses wanted the part but didn't want to do the nudity. Good for her.
 
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Mr. Eszterhas said that same thing in the interview. The companies just kept outbidding each other and so came the three ones.

Doesn't hurt.
 
What I like the most is the (supposed) transformation of "the Devil" in the end. The script is woven in such a way that it tells us - everyone of us has these basic instincts, everyone has the Devil within, more or less.

But even the consummate psycho-monster can be transformed... by love.

And so can everyone else..

"Sympathy for the Devil" by the Stones in the beginning - nice musical metaphor of the whole story, and well hidden too.

Cause that's exactly what the Devil really needs - sympathy.

And that's exactly what turned him\her into a Devil - lack of sympathy.

This is just an interpretation. It might be a little soapy, but it definitely works for me and transforms the story into something more than a nude-and-violence mystery-detective chase... Nudity and violence are in the film for a good reason and not only to make scandals and attract mass audiences' attention.

It is a deep and frank study of the dark aspects of our nature... and whattodo with it?

You think - this has nothing to do with me - .. think again...

Very, very good script and film.
 
Good points! I thought the same thing when I realized the song was "Sympathy
for the Devil", very telling. But I was drawn in by the idea of temptation rather
than sympathy for what changed both characters. The dark sides of each wondered
about "getting away with it". Although sympathy could be a strong factor.

The nudity and the violence didn't appear sensationalist to me in the least, in fact
it plays perfectly in terms for the story.

The film's ending brought a lot of speculation/criticism from people, but I thought
it was great - my first thought exiting the theater was pretty much the same as
it is now when I watch the movie: If Catherine Trammel stops loving Nick Curran,
stops having that mind-blowing sex - she's going to kill him.
 
MOVIE STUNTS said:
I would rather not picture a "man" in the interrogation scene thank you very much!:nads:
Click to expand...

Now how good can a scene be? Gorgeous stuff! And I'm not talking about Sharon Stone alone [I'm insanely in love with her :)]. Look at the shots... ligthing, composition, movement... the overall atmosphere... this is a true modern film noir.

Wonder what uncle Hitch would've thought of the movie? There are references to his work all over the place.
 
Good point on the interrogation scene - how it's shot.

that kind of gets overshadowed by Stone's ... er ... part.

But yeah it's a brilliantly shot scene on all levels which is why it can brook such a "in your face shot" ... the scene's done so well we're seduced by it much like we are by Stone's character.

Imagine the money shot of that scene if the rest of the scene sucked. Yikes.
 
It's one of the few movies that really makes me envious of its makers. :violin:

They have created something lethally beautiful...

Catherine Trammell and that tune... Man, I'm mesmerized for life :).
 
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Verhoeven is brilliant. His movies are always on that line of parody vs serious. He plays the Hollywood game with a very foreign eye. I also love Robocop and Starship Troopers. Sarcasm, kitch action. Those films are much much more than what they were credited for.

And Showgirls deserves a second look- really! :)
 
Basic Instinct is one of the best films Verhoeven ever did. And as has been rightly observed, it's a tribute to Hitchcock.

I really like some of his Dutch movies, like Turkish Delight and Spetters. Btw., he's the guy who really made Rutger Hauer (who in turn did a great job acting in Blade Runner).

And BI is the best work Sharon Stone ever did. And come to think of it, I think of all of the acting Michael Douglas ever did, this is his most real and gritty performance.

No doubt a great film - so much has gone right with it. Isn't it funny to think that all the principal folks who were responsible for the success of this movie are still alive (except for Goldsmith) - and yet, somehow I feel strangely certain that none of them will ever do better work than they've done on BI... no matter how long they live. When a movie succeeds on such a scale, when there's just such an inherent magic to it, something that's so much more than the sum of its parts, it becomes an icon. And something one can watch over and over again and never get tired - everybody there was at the top of their game. Sort of reminds me of Body Heat. Also a great iconic film with that special magic... and best work, never to be exceeded by Kasdan and Kathleen Turner (though one can argue about Hurt - he was pretty damn good in several movies since then).
 
Sometimes there seems to be a kind of spirit or flow that grabs everyone on the crew, puts them all together and drives them to make something more than just a "good" film.

It's a kind of magic... and I think this is beyond everyone - writer, director, actors, etc.

Sometimes, when something has to happen, it simply happens.
 
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