Bound (1996 film)

Plot

Corky, a lesbian ex-con, is hired as a painter and plumber at a Chicago apartment building. She encounters Violet and Caesar, the couple who live next door to the apartment she is renovating. While Caesar is gone, Violet seduces Corky. They are interrupted by Caesar and Corky returns to work. When she leaves for the day, Violet follows Corky to her truck, and they have sex in Corky's apartment. The next morning, Violet tells Corky that Caesar is a money launderer for the Mafia and that they have been together for five years.

Later, Violet overhears Caesar and his mob associates torturing Shelly, a man who has been embezzling money from the business. Upset, she confides to Corky that she wants to make a new life for herself, but that she needs her help. Knowing that Caesar will bring the nearly $2 million that Shelly skimmed back to the apartment, the two women hatch a scheme to steal the money. Johnnie, the son of Mafia boss Gino Marzzone, kills Shelly, angering Caesar, who returns to the apartment with a bag of bloody money. Caesar washes, irons and hangs the money to dry.

Violet explains to Corky that Caesar and Johnnie hate each other, and that Gino and Johnnie will be coming to pick up the money from Caesar. Corky devises a plan: when Caesar has finished counting the money, he will shower to unwind. While he does, Violet will purposely drop a bottle of Glenlivet scotch that Gino prefers and tell Caesar that she is going to buy more. As she leaves the apartment, Corky will enter, steal the money from a briefcase and leave. Violet will then return with the scotch and tell Caesar that she just saw Johnnie leave. Suspicious, Caesar will check the briefcase, find the money gone and assume Johnnie has taken it. Corky and Violet think Caesar will be forced to flee because Gino will assume he has been robbed by Caesar, not Johnnie.

When Caesar finds the money gone, he realizes Gino will think he stole it if he runs and decides to retrieve the money from Johnnie. Panicking, Violet threatens to leave, but Caesar forces her to stay, suspecting she and Johnnie may have stolen the money and framed him. Corky waits next door with the money while Gino and Johnnie arrive. After Johnnie flirts with Violet and taunts him, Caesar pulls out a gun and tells Gino that his son stole the money. He kills Gino, Johnnie and Roy, Gino's bodyguard. Caesar tells Violet that they must find the money, dispose of the bodies and pretend Gino and Johnnie never arrived lest their mob associates discover their absence. Unable to find the money at Johnnie's apartment, Caesar telephones Mickey, a mob buddy, telling him that Gino has yet to arrive.

After discovering Corky and Violet stole the money, Caesar ties them up, threatens to torture them and demands to know where it is. When Mickey arrives at the apartment, Caesar makes a deal with Violet to help him stall. Violet calls their landline from Johnnie's cell phone and convinces Caesar to feign a conversation with Gino explaining that he and Johnnie are in the hospital after a car accident. The ruse fools Mickey, who leaves for the hospital. Corky tells Caesar she has hidden the money in the next-door apartment, and he goes to retrieve it. Violet escapes and calls Mickey, telling him that Caesar stole the money and forced her to keep quiet. Corky tries to stop Caesar from taking the money, but he assaults her. Violet arrives and holds Caesar at gunpoint; she informs him Mickey is coming and that he should run while he can. When Caesar refuses, Violet kills him.

Later, Mickey, who believes Violet's story, tells her that he will find Caesar. Mickey wants Violet to be his girlfriend, but she tells him that she needs a clean break—which she makes by driving off hand-in-hand with Corky.

Cast

Themes

The Wachowskis describe several themes present in Bound. They say that the film is about "the boxes people make of their lives", that it is not only gay people who "live in closets". They wanted to define all of Bound characters by the "sort of trap that they were making out of their lives". They had the idea to write a story about how one might see a woman on the street and make assumptions about her sexuality, but how those assumptions might be wrong. They wanted to play with stereotypes and make an entertaining film that contained sex and violence, because those are the kinds of films that they like to watch. Dino De Laurentiis, the executive producer on Assassins, offered to finance Bound and his company produced it, giving them "free rein" with regard to the story. The film's budget was $6 million. When the part of Violet became available, and Gina Gershon came in to read for Corky, Tilly agreed that Gershon would make a better Corky. She realized that she identified with the character of Violet, a woman "underestimated by all the men around her" who has to "play the game". She describes it as the best role she had ever had. It was his first lead role in a film, and he describes it as his favorite.

Filming

Bound was filmed over a thirty-eight day period, in Santa Monica, California. Pope was heavily involved in creating the visual noir style of the film. He and the Wachowskis drew inspiration from their love of comics and were particularly influenced by Frank Miller's neo-noir Sin City series. The film features the songs "I Never Loved a Man the Way I Love You" by Aretha Franklin, "Hallelujah I Love Her So" by Ray Charles, "She's a Lady" by Tom Jones, and "Hopeless Faith" by the riot grrl band The Hail Marys.

Release

Rating

Bound was rated by the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) as R for "strong sexuality, violence and language." To achieve that rating, the directors had to cut part of the first sex scene between Corky and Violet. It was rated R in Australia, R18 in New Zealand and 18 in the United Kingdom. In Canada it was rated as R in Manitoba and Ontario, 18 in Nova Scotia and 16+ in Quebec.

Distribution

The film premiered on August 31, 1996, at the Venice Film Festival and in September went on to play at the Toronto International Film Festival. It opened in U.S. theaters on October 4, 1996, distributed by Gramercy Pictures, showing in 261 theaters. It closed after three weeks. It opened in the United Kingdom on February 28, 1997.

Reception

Box office

Bound grossed $3,802,260 in the United States and $3,209,057 from other territories, for a worldwide total of $7,011,317. In its opening weekend, showing at 261 theaters, it earned $900,902, which was 23.7% of its total gross. Metacritic gave it a score of 64/100 based on 19 reviews, signifying "generally favorable" reviews. The Wachowskis' direction was praised, being described as clever, sophisticated and stylish. Roger Ebert said that their skillful film making showed virtuosity and confidence. Marjorie Baumgarten writing for The Austin Chronicle called it an impressive debut saying that the Wachowskis have "style to burn". James Kendrick called it a darkly comical and stunning film, saying it signalled the arrival of the Wachowskis on the film scene. Detractors of the film included Todd McCarthy for Variety, who said that the directors had no sense of humor and lacked depth, that the film was pretentious, superficial and heavy-handed.

On the release of Bound, the Wachowskis were compared by many to the Coen brothers. Bryant Frazer for Deep Focus called it an "obvious precursor". Critics noted resemblances to the films of Quentin Tarantino and Alfred Hitchcock.

Janet Maslin for The New York Times said that the grisly violence in Bound would likely limit its audience and Ebert said that its shocking violence would offend some audiences. Some critics said that the violent behavior of the characters had no moral justification. Rita Kempley for The Washington Post called it "well-nigh unwatchable cruelty for its own sake". Despite the presence of "unapologetically gay" lead character Corky, it is not commonly considered a "lesbian movie". Emanuel Levy said that this is a weakness, that mainstream films with broadening storylines "do not necessarily represent a positive development in the making of gay and lesbian films" and that Bound has "little, if anything, to do with lesbian cinema". Sarah Warn for AfterEllen.com called Corky "the closest thing to a realistic and sympathetic butch lesbian we've seen in a mainstream movie". The sex scenes, described as explicit and steamy, were admired for being tasteful, discreet and realistic.

Accolades

Bound won the Grand Jury Award—Honorable Mention at the 1996 L.A. Outfest, and in the same year won an Honorable Mention at the Stockholm International Film Festival. At the 1997 Fantasporto festival in Portugal, the Wachowskis were awarded the International Fantasy Film Award for best film, and Jennifer Tilly picked up the award for best actress. Bound won the 1997 GLAAD Media Award for Outstanding (wide-release) Film.

Home media

Bound was released on Region 1 DVD on November 12, 1997, by Republic Pictures. It featured the original theatrical trailer and an audio commentary by the directors and stars. It was released on Region 2 DVD on August 25, 2003, by Pathé featuring original theatrical trailers, audio commentary by the directors and stars, cast and crew biographies and a production featurette. Its Region 4 DVD release, distributed by Reel and featuring an audio commentary, came on August 14, 2006. On June 18, 2024, The Criterion Collection released the film on Blu-ray, based on a 4K restoration supervised by cinematographer Bill Pope. The restored film also re-credited the duo's names as The Wachowskis in the directing section and Lana and Lilly Wachowski in the executive producers section.