In the ongoing series where writers celebrate their most rewatched comfort films, one picks the 1996 romantic thriller Bound as a revealing and relatable feelgood movie.
While not typically inclined towards what is often dubbed 'feelgood', the writer admits to a soft spot for the Wachowski sisters' directorial debut. The film revolves around an opposites-attract scenario: plumber Corky and mafia moll Violet, whose eyes meet across an elevator, creating thick sexual tension.
Chemistry and Cinematography
The palpable chemistry between Gina Gershon's slick masculinity as Corky and Jennifer Tilly's ultimate sex pot prowess as Violet makes the film work. Shot with the conventions of the sapphic gaze, closeups of Corky's hands wrestling with pipes and unscrewing things are shown in languorous detail.
Despite starring two ostensibly cis, straight female leads, the film is a masterclass in lesbian eroticism. The actors seamlessly embody a masc/femme dynamic without the try-hard didacticism of later attempts, creating a relationship that feels oddly real and much hotter.
Performances
Gina Gershon, having just starred as Cristal Connors in Showgirls, undergoes a dramatic gender transformation to play butch pin-up Corky. Her sly smirk and shaggy hair no doubt served as the blueprint for The L Word's Shane. Jennifer Tilly delivers a complex performance as a porcelain doll whose sex appeal is painted on the surface, but underneath she has a strong and stony demeanour. She explores the double life of a straight-passing lesbian with astute depth.
Plot and Relatability
After Corky gets out of prison, she is vulnerable to Violet's high-femme charms and agrees to help steal $2m from the mob. The writer finds the crime plot inconsequential, but notes tired overnotes where Corky doubts Violet's lesbian identity. However, they get a happy ending.
The plot draws an equivalence between Corky's prison time and Violet's years as a clandestine lesbian in straight relationships for financial survival. At the end, evading prison with a stack of cash, both are free: Corky from the criminal justice system, and Violet from cis-heterosexual society.
Legacy
Released about 30 years ago, Bound remains the most convincing depiction of dyke sexual dynamics on screen. The Wachowski sisters, both trans lesbians though not out at the time, depicted the cheek, mischief, and pleasure of sapphic relationships. The writer, of a different generation with access to more queer representation, credits this film as cinematic proof of their own sexuality.
Bound is available on Kanopy or to rent digitally in the US, UK, and Australia.
