The arrival of November has brought with it a multitude of new movies to the Amazon Prime Video catalogue. Of all of them I would like ‘Basic Instinct’, one of the best erotic movies of all time which also meant a revolution in Hollywood 30 years ago.
Why is it essential?
The truth is that in Hollywood they already smelled that ‘Basic Instinct’ could be a bombshell, so there was a whole war to get hold of the script of Joe Eszterhas. And they were not wrong, because it ended up sweeping the box office with worldwide receipts of almost 353 million dollars against a budget of 49. That led to high-voltage sexual thrillers becoming fashionable, but at the moment of truth none could repeat the impact that now concerns us.
The story of ‘Basic Instinct’ revolves around the investigation of a crime and the fascination aroused by the main suspect (Sharon Stone) in the homicide detective in charge of the case (michael douglas). His twisted -and quite controversial- script helps grab our attention, but nothing would be the same without such a talented director as Paul Verhoeven Behind the cameras.
To be fair, ‘Basic Instinct’ might have ended up being some kind of version trash of Alfred Hitchcock’s cinema, but Verhoeven helps to give a playful touch to that hyperviolent and sexual aspect of the film that has its best support in an excellent stone in the role that changed his career forever. Then the relationship between filmmaker and actress has been far from the best in the world, but here you can see that she gives herself body and soul, while he integrates that into the film to elevate her above the real interest of the story.
Obviously, the strong sexual component was decisive in its success, but it would be a mistake to reduce everything to that, since the suspense part, although with certain weaknesses, is an essential base to turn it into a unique and unrepeatable film. The multitude of imitators and the unfortunate sequel released in 2006 confirm this.
In Espinof: