review of body double by special request
This has been on my list to watch ever since Brett sent me this trailer for a Neon Noir (yes, I said "Neon") series at The Silent Theater (I don't know what's up with the failed embed, but follow the link and watch it!).
Neon Noir (Cinefamily Trailer) from Cinefamily on Vimeo.
They're all movies I hadn't seen before, and that I now want to see. I've already watched The Driver (ultracool) and American Gigolo (fine but forgettable), and De Palma's name was tantalizing me.
De Palma can be pretty hit-or-miss with me. His films span movies that are some of my favorites (Phantom of the Paradise, Carrie) to admirable flicks (Blow Out, Scarface) to stinkers (Black Dahlia, anyone?) to a bunch that are forgettable or that I just have no interest in ever seeing. Body Double seemed promising, especially as it was a part of this seemingly well-cultivated series.
It was pretty awesome. Typical noir style set-up (femme fatales, double-crosses), and lots of trademark De Palma flairs (voyeurism, the business of movie-making/showbiz/entertainment, one man putting a case together to solve a crime). Huge nods to Hitchcock (Vertigo, Rear Window). Also features a bad guy in a mesh shirt, and the vampire character our hero plays in a B-movie looks an awful lot like Beef from Phantom of the Paradise.
The basic plot is that this underemployed actor starts peepin' on his neighbor as she does a little sexy 80's lady dance every night. He's staying in a borrowed sex-party-lookin' flat after finding his girlfriend in bed with another guy (and the face she makes when caught is amazing). Then he sees some situations that make him think she's in peril, and starts following her, and he just can't seem to help but do creepy things like steal her panties. Eventually, he witnesses her murder, which is straight out of a giallo, and he's getting pressure from the cops since he's such a peeper and creeper. He starts working some stuff out and gets involved with a porn actress (a delightfully crass Melanie Griffith!) to try and solve the case, and things get even weirder from there.
Some of the film stuff that De Palma always pulls is just so him, and so excellent. I just love things like split screens, cool traveling shots, shooting scenes in mirrors, and details like gazing into a background only to realize it's a painted façade being wheeled away on a film lot, little visual pranks like that. It also doesn't hurt that there's some straight-up dirty stuff, including a rather tender sex scene (on the set of a porno no less!). In fact, here's a clip of it - dig those leather gloves!
Click to view"Where's the cum shot??" It's kind of weird that this clip cuts off several seconds of nuzzling and smooching. Must've been edited by a guy, ammirite, folks?? Cuz men are like THIS, and women are like THIS. Ha ha haaaa.
This is the best of the series so far, although The Driver had it's charms, such as Isabelle Adjani and the very Jean-Pierre Melville-esque, aloof, je ne sais quoi atmosphere. I'm excited to watch more, although there might be a few girtty Australian thrillers that I need to tend to first.