Horror Actressing: The Women of "American Psycho"

by Jason Adams

I don't think there's any good faith argument to be made that Mary Harron's American Psycho, which turns 20 today, is not Christian Bale's movie. His serial killing investment banker Patrick Bateman, now an icon for the ages for better or for worse, is in very nearly every scene -- Harron cuts away from his perspective only twice (both pointed moments I'll dig into below). We are, terrifyingly, trapped inside this most beautiful madman for every dissection and Whitney Houston diatribe -- it's much like Bret Easton Ellis' book that way.

But Harron, bless her, found ways to make the experience survivable, hell even somehow giddy and a deranged sort of fun, whereas Ellis' book is an undertaking swathed in ugliness and despair I've had no desire to revisit since my one and only traumatic read-through a good 25 years back. Harron navigated a supernaturally exquisite balance between her satire and horror, a vital "looking in from the outside" set of eyes that escaped the burden of Ellis' prose. And I think the key to it, besides Bale's brilliantly sweaty bananas work of course, is the vibrant gallery of women that Harron surrounded Bateman with...

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10th Anniversary: “An Education”

By Cláudio Alves

An Education tells the story of Jenny Mellor, an English schoolgirl who, in 1961, falls into the trap of an older man’s affections. In the process, she almost squanders away her dreams of Oxford, thinking she’s trading a hopelessly boring life for one of excitement. After all, if the years slaving over books are the best of one’s life, why bother? 

One of the loveliest aspects of the film is how it refuses to offer easy answers to its dilemmas. Throughout, we see many women who chose different paths and, thanks to director Lone Scherfig and screenwriter Nick Hornby, all of them are humanized and sympathetic. There are no villains in An Education, no one is wrong or completely right. These are people and not mere plot points or narrative mechanisms. We can imagine all of them living their lives, being the protagonists of their stories.

It’s not surprising that An Education has lived on as an actors’ showcase above all else. Many of its performers would go on to greater fame, though the star has arguably not yet reached these heights again...

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Women's Pictures - Mary Harron's American Psycho

Anne Marie continues a special horror month on "Women's Pictures"

Fun fact: American Psycho was the single most voted for film for the horror edition of Women's Pictures. Despite that, I almost didn't include it. This isn't because of some sudden onset of squeamishness on my part, or dislike of the film. American Psycho simply isn't a horror movie, at least not by conventional standards. American Psycho is director Mary Harron's dark Juvenalian satire of American consumerism, materialism, and the crisis of masculinity in the turn of the 21st century.

Though set in the 1980s, American Psycho is one of a handful of films from the late 1990s and early 2000s that violently pokes at the concept of modern masculinity. Like American Beauty and especially Fight Club, American Psycho confronts the idea of modern man chained to a desk, unfulfilled and overburdened by contemporary consumerist definitions of success. The titular Psycho is Patrick Bateman (Christian Bale), a music-obsessed Wall Street broker in the decade where everything, from hair to shoulder pads to paychecks, was bigger. Bateman has all of the plastic markers of success: trendy apartment, good haircut, designer cloths, WASP fiance, the right friends, and a killer business card. But under his flashy, fake veneer, Patrick is all id. He wants to kill. He wants to fuck. He wants to possess. [More...]

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ICYMI: Cara Seymour and More and More

Before we get too far ahead of ourselves into Halfway Mark Festivities and Emmy Nomination Balloting Week (that's next week!) I want to take this time to thank Cara Seymour ("The Knick") for her guest-blogging. She shared a great portrait her acclaimed photographer husband shot of her on the set of An Education, she let us into her research process on one of her most indelible characters yet (Sister Harriett on "The Knick"), shared a few movie and music recommendations, and she even interviewed her American Psycho director Mary Harron! Thanks again to a wildly underrated actress for taking a small break between filming The Knick's second season and a new movie, to visit us.

Other June Highlights...
Tony Award Fashions bold colors + giddy showoffs
1979 Smackdown Kramer vs Kramer holds up beautifully but how about Breaking Away and Manhattan?
Best Original Songs of the 1990s - a movie list whim 
Silence / Silencio - two new movies from top auteurs
Best Supporting Actress in a Drama - your most competitive Emmy race 
MacBeth - the new trailer

Coming in the Second Half of June
Kate Winslet Corseted, Pixar's Inside Out, A 1948 Retrospective including Hamlet, Key Largo, I Remember Mama, The Red Shoes and the next Supporting Smackdown, the Halfway Mark "Best of" 2015 (thus far) lists, and Oscar Chart Updates...

And our next Fabulous Actress Guest!

The awesomely gifted Ann Dowd (Compliance, Garden State, Masters of Sex, True Detective) who malevolently stared Justin Theroux down so memorably as The Guilty Remnant's leader on The Leftovers this past year. She'll be taking over the reins of The Film Experience for one day next week - one day only! It'll be Tuesday or Wednesday so don't miss it. 

Farewell & A Few Favorite Things

The Film Experience is thrilled to have Cara Seymour taking over the blog for the day. Here's her final post! - Editor

A Favorite Actor
I took this picture of the brilliant Patrick Fitzgerald in Dublin when we were performing "Gibraltar," his adaptation of James Joyce's "Ulysses". He worked on that novel, with the devotion of a monk and discovered things that no other academic had found. The greatest acting challenge I ever had was performing the Molly Bloom monologue, which was, even edited, forty minutes of stream of consciousness.  Patrick coached me every step of the way. The great Terry Kinney went on to direct a production with us, at The Irish Rep. We also performed together in Mike Leigh's "Ecstasy" in 1995, the first big hit for The New Group. We have had extraordinary moments together on stage.  He's one of my favorite actors.

A Favorite Song
Philip Chevron singing "Thousands are Sailing"

One of my favorite songs about Irish immigration. I used to go and see The Pogues. He performed this song in a spotlight, I remember him sparkling in the light, not sure if that was his jacket or his soul.

A Few Favorite Films
Martin Scorsese's King of Comedy (1983) and Abbas Kiarostami's Close-Up (1990). Love these movies, they feel like cousins. Something about class, fame and delusions and wanting to be someone else. And, of course, Robert DeNiro is just magical. I'd love to watch these movies together one night...if I ever got my son to bed early. 

Mama Roma (1962). I've watched this so many times.  I love Pasolini movies. Anna Magnani's performance is just brilliant. That laugh. That twinkle. And pain. There's a couple of seconds in that movie that just rip me apart.

There are many, many reasons to be a fan of Steven Soderbergh, who I've been working with on "The Knick," and one of them is that he used footage from one of my favorite English films, Poor Cow (1967) directed by Ken Loach in his haunting movie, The Limey (1999).  Terence Stamp was magnetic in both movies. Carol White was the lead actress in Poor Cow.  Carol White was really something. Ahead of her time.

"Poor Cow" with Carol White and Terence Stamp
love this clip

My takeover of The Film Experience is now just love notes. I could go on and on... so I better sign off! Thanks for reading. 

The Knick is back in October.  I start work next week on Elisabeth Subrin's film A Woman, A Part with Maggie Siff and John Ortiz. Check out Subrin’s blog, Who Cares About Actresses?

- Cara Seymour