Yesterday I got around to watching the movie Bound from 1996. Not a lot of people have heard of this movie, which is surprising considering that it was made by the Wachowsci sisters who made The Matrix.
What is it about?
In my own words, Bound(1996), is about two women who fall in love, except that one is involved in the mafia and wants to escape and start fresh. It is up two the two lovers to work together and execute an elaborate plan of her escape without catching the attention of the mafia.
The offical plot summary: Sparks fly when Violet (Jennifer Tilly) sets eyes on Corky (Gina Gershon) in an elevator. Violet is the girlfriend of a violent gangster, Caesar (Joe Pantoliano), while Corky is fresh out of prison and doing renovations on the apartment next door. As the two women launch into a passionate love affair, they assemble an intricate plan for Violet to escape from Caesar, with two million dollars of the mob's money -- but the important part is to make it out alive.
My thoughts
I had been meaning to watch this for a while, and I'm not sure why I was putting it off but I'm so glad that I was able to get around to it. So, our main characters are Corky and Violet, with Corky being butch and Violet being femme, which I love because I personally don't see this representation very often. So many times in media that depicts a lebsian couple, both of them are usually femme, and I think part of the reason is that butch lesbians aren't as appealing to many people becaue they break the gender norms and therefore aren't as appealing to a straight audience. So it was nice to see that this movie didn't shy away from making Corky very butch. (Nice name by the way).
I'm usually not the type to watch like, dramatic mafia movies. Most of the time it's hard to keep up with all of the characters and everything that's going on, but this movie manages to find a balance between high-stakes action as well as coherency in the plot. With this movie, you will be introduced to quite a few mafia characters and their names, but don't worry about having to memorize them because it's not crucial that you remember all of their names to understand what's going on. If they want you to remember a characters name, then you will.
It's hard to explain, but basically the more dangerous or relevant to the plot that a character is, the more they will be spoken about. And then by the time that they appear on screen, you will already know the gravity of the situation. Which is really nice because it creates immersion.
Usually when I'm watching a movie and I see an unfamiliar face it's like, "who's this guy? how is he relevant? where did he come from?" but since they introduce you to these characters so early on, even if they're not relevant to the story yet, you'll know so much about them that by the time you next see them on screen it'll be like you're in the room with them and it's just as dreadful to see their face as it is to everybody else that has to interact with them.
There are some scenes at the beginning that don't affect the plot any, but rather help build your understanding of our characters; a "show not tell" kind of deal. So at the beginning I thought that the scenes were kind of strange cause it's was like "why are you showing us this stuff?", but in the end it ends up helping us understand our protagonists (as well as antagonists) better, so I'll let it slide.
Over all
I would definitely recommend giving it a watch, because the story is fantastic and the ending is very satisfying with no loose ends (and yes, it's a happy ending). Just a heads up, this movie is a mafia movie so there is going to be a lot of blood and violence. Also, I would advise you to watch this when you're alone instead of in front of your parents, as there is a lesbian sex scene with no censors. But if none of those things are an issue for you, and if this sounds interesting to you, then you have nothing to lose and everything to gain from watching it.
Also, a little piece of trivia I found out before I watched is what apparently the Wachowsci's were offered more money to have the movie depict a straight relationship, but they refused and for that I am forever grateful.