Several years before taking us down the rabbit hole in the SF classic The Matrix, the Wachowskis made their directorial debut with Bound, a movie that would become known as the ‘sexy lesbian noir’. Starring Jennifer Tilly and Gina Gershon, the erotic crime film centers around the relationship between Violet (Tilly), the live-in girlfriend of money launderer Caesar (Joe Pantoliano), and their new neighbor, ex-inmate Corky (Gershon). Desperately wanting a new life, Violet views Corky as a potential way out—but can the seductive Violet truly be trusted? When the Wachowskis offered their script to studio executives, they were told to make Corky a man, something the siblings respectfully declined.
Subsequently, Bound was financed by Dino De Laurentiis, who had already worked as executive producer on Assassins, the Wachowskis’ first screenwriting credit. Bound has a lot going for it—not only is the script arguably one of the Wachowskis’ finest when it comes to dialogue, but the movie is also exceptionally well shot, courtesy of cinematographer Bill Pope. Film critic Roger Ebert described it as “a caper movie, a gangster movie, a sex movie and a slapstick comedy”, all rolled into one, while the directors themselves claimed that Billy Wilder served as inspiration for their sex-and-violence-filled noir.
In 1972 a neophyte Spanish media company created a rare platform for artists to explore classic genre imagery with a sophisticated cinematic sensibility.
After Peter Hyams made a successful TV movie called "Goodnight, My Love", producers Robert Chartoff and Irwin Winkler approached him with the desire of...
