Bound (1996 film)
From The Art and Popular Culture Encyclopedia
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Bound is a 1996 neo-noir crime thriller film directed by the Wachowski Brothers. It is about a woman (Jennifer Tilly) who longs to escape her relationship with her mafioso boyfriend (Joe Pantoliano). When she meets the alluring ex-con (Gina Gershon) hired to renovate the next-door apartment, the two women begin an affair and hatch a scheme to steal $2 million of Mafia money.
Bound was the first film directed by the Wachowskis, and they took inspiration from Billy Wilder to tell a noir story filled with sex and violence. Financed by Dino De Laurentiis, the film was made on a tight budget with the help of frugal crewmembers including cinematographer Bill Pope. The directors initially struggled to cast the lesbian characters of Violet and Corky before securing Tilly and Gershon. To choreograph the sex scenes, the directors employed sex educator Susie Bright, who has a bit part in the film.
Bound received positive reviews from film critics who praised the humor and style of the directors as well as the realistic portrayal of a lesbian relationship in a mainstream film. Detractors of the film criticized the excessive violence and superficiality of the plot. It won several festival awards during 1996 and 1997.
