Fatal Attraction

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Fatal Attraction
Directed by Adrian Lyne
Produced by Stanley R. Jaffe
Sherry Lansing
Written by James Dearden
Starring Michael Douglas
Glenn Close
Anne Archer
Music by Maurice Jarre
Editing by Michael Kahn
Distributed by Paramount Pictures
Release date(s) September 11, 1987 (premiere)
September 18, 1987 (wide)
Running time 119 min.
Language English
Budget $14,000,000 (estimated)

Fatal Attraction is a 1987 thriller film about a married man who has a weekend affair with a woman who refuses to allow it to end and who becomes obsessed with him. It stars Michael Douglas, Glenn Close and Anne Archer. It was directed by Adrian Lyne. The film was adapted by James Dearden and Nicholas Meyer from an earlier short film by Dearden for British television Diversion (1980). The movie closely follows the plot of Play Misty for Me (1971).

Fatal Attraction was a smash hit, becoming the second highest grossing film of 1987 in the United States and hugely popular internationally. Critics were enthusiastic about the film, and it received six Academy Award nominations, including that for Best Picture. The character of Alex Forrest has been cited as a notable film example of a person with borderline personality disorder.

Contents

[edit] Plot

Daniel Gallagher is a successful, happily married New York attorney living in Manhattan when he meets Alex Forrest, an editor from a publishing company, through business. While his wife and his daughter are out of town for the weekend, Dan has a brief affair with Alex. What Dan thought would be a simple fling turns into a dangerous sequence of events when Alex begins to obsessively cling to him.

Alex Forrest's mental instability first surfaces when she attempts suicide after Dan explains to her that he must go home and get on with his life. Dan thinks the affair is forgotten, but Alex begins to show up at various places to see him. She is waiting for him at his office one day to apologize and invite him to the opera Madame Butterfly, but he turns her down. She then begins to call Dan's office until he tells his secretary he will no longer take her calls. Alex then starts calling Dan's home at all hours and then informs Dan that she is pregnant and planning to keep the baby. Although Dan wants nothing to do with her, she argues that he must take responsibility. Alex then shows up at Dan's apartment (which is for sale) and meets his wife, Beth, feigning interest as a buyer. Later that night, he goes to her apartment to confront her about her actions. In response, she replies, "Well, what am I supposed to do? You won't answer my calls, you change your number, I'm not going to be ignored, Dan!"

Dan moves his family to the New York village of Bedford (which was actually filmed in Mount Kisco). However, this doesn't deter Alex, who continues to fervently stalk him. She has a voice recording delivered to Dan and follows him home one night to spy on him, his wife Beth, and their daughter Ellen from the bushes in his yard; the sight of their family life literally makes her sick to her stomach. Alex's obsession, which grows stronger as time goes on, eventually turns into madness. Dan approaches the local police to apply for a restraining order against Alex (lying that it is "for a client"), to which a police lieutenant claims that he cannot violate Alex's rights without cause and that the adulterer has to own up to his free love attitude (arguably one of the few men to confront Dan about "what goes around comes around").

Alex's rage eventually escalates into madness, slowly exposing her severe mental illness

At one point, while the Gallaghers are away from home, Alex kills Ellen's pet rabbit, and puts it on their stove to boil.

After this, Dan tells Beth of the affair and Alex's pregnancy; Beth becomes angry with Dan and asks him to leave. Before he goes, however, Dan calls Alex to tell her that Beth knows all about the affair. Beth then gets on the phone and warns Alex over the phone that if she persists, Beth will kill her. Alex kidnaps Ellen from school, though she brings Ellen home unharmed (after taking her to an amusement park and buying her ice cream). Meanwhile, Beth is injured in a car accident while searching in a panic for her child. Dan once again approaches the police about having Alex arrested. The police still say they lack cause to take action against her, although they can drive by his residence to watch for any intruders. Beth is briefly hospitalized and soon released. By this time, Beth has forgiven Dan and he returns home.

Finally, Alex becomes determined to eliminate what she sees as her main obstacle: Beth. While Beth is in the bathroom, Alex suddenly appears behind her. As she attacks Beth with a chef's knife, Dan hears the screaming and runs in, wrestles Alex into the bathtub and seemingly drowns her. She suddenly emerges from the water, swinging her knife. Beth, who had gone in search of Dan's recently-purchased gun, appears in the doorway and shoots Alex in the chest, killing her.

[edit] Production

The script and screenplay was written around 1985, and many studios were offered the screenplay, which proved lucrative for many studios. It was eventually purchased by Paramount Pictures. James Dearden wrote the script.

The initial title was called Affairs of the Heart but was later changed to Fatal Attraction.

Before Michael Douglas was cast as Dan Gallagher, Tom Hanks, Kevin Costner, Kevin Kline, Jeff Bridges, Mickey Rourke, Steve Martin, Sylvester Stallone, Dan Aykroyd, Richard Gere, Paul Reubens, Patrick Swayze, Bill Murray, Bruce Willis, Mel Gibson, Christopher Reeve, Rick Moranis, John Malkovich, Pierce Brosnan, John Candy, Harrison Ford, John Travolta, Jon Voight, Jack Nicholson and Chevy Chase were considered for the part.

More than 20 people were passed to direct the movie, including Brian de Palma, Ridley Scott, John Carpenter, David Cronenberg and Martin Scorsese, before setting on Adrian Lyne.

James Dearden originally recommended Mia Farrow for the part of Alex Forrest, however, Farrow declined. Other actresses who turned down the role of Alex Forrest included Rosanna Arquette, Christine Baranski, Candice Bergen, Kate Capshaw (whose popularity was boosted when she played the lead role in Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom), Cher, Geena Davis, Ellen Barkin, Kim Basinger, Farrah Fawcett, Melanie Griffith, Linda Hamilton (who gained notoriety playing Sarah Connor in The Terminator), Daryl Hannah, Goldie Hawn, Barbara Hershey, Anjelica Huston, Amy Irving, Diane Keaton, Jessica Lange, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Heather Locklear, Lena Olin, Annette O'Toole, Michelle Pfeiffer, Miranda Richardson, Susan Sarandon, Sissy Spacek, Mary Steenburgen, Kathleen Turner and Debra Winger. Meryl Streep also turned the part down because she felt offended by the graphic sexual scenes and the nudity. Sharon Stone, nearly five years before she became famous portraying a similar role in Basic Instinct, auditioned for the role of Alex, but was passed over. The role went to Glenn Close, a relatively unknown actress until the success of the movie.

Filming began on September 29, 1986 and ended on October 31, 1986. The ending was reshoot between June and July of 1987.

This section requires expansion.

[edit] Reaction

After its release, Fatal Attraction engendered much discussion of the potential consequences of infidelity. Feminists did not appreciate the depiction of Alex as a strong career woman who is at the same time profoundly psychotic.[1] Feminist Susan Faludi discussed the film in her book "Backlash", arguing that major changes had been made to the original plot in order to make Alex wholly negative, while the carelessness and the lack of compassion and responsibility shown by Dan raised no discussion, except for a small number of fundamentalist men's groups who said that Dan was eventually forced to own up to his irresponsibility in that "everyone pays the piper".

The film has also had an effect on men. Glenn Close was quoted in 2008 as saying, "Men still come up to me and say, 'You scared the shit out of me.' Sometimes they say, 'You saved my marriage.'"[2]

The film grossed US$156.6 million and was the 2nd highest grossing film of 1987 behind Three Men and a Baby.[3]

Much of the movie's plot was spoofed in the 1993 comedy Fatal Instinct.

The movie is referred to in the 1993 romantic comedy Sleepless in Seattle. Jonah Baldwin wants his widowed father Sam, played by Tom Hanks, to go to New York to meet Annie (Meg Ryan), but Sam refuses because he has weekend plans with another woman (whom Jonah dislikes). In a heated argument, Sam tells Jonah there is no way he will fly to New York to meet a woman who could be a "crazy, sick lunatic". Sam then asks Jonah if he saw Fatal Attraction, to which Jonah replies, "You wouldn't let me!" Sam then continues, "Well I saw it! It scared the shit outta me! It scared the shit outta every man in America!"

[edit] Similarities to Play Misty for Me

Many critics, including Clint Eastwood himself, felt that Fatal Attraction followed the story of Play Misty for Me so closely that it was essentially a rip-off of the 1971 film.[4]

In both movies, a man has what he believes is a one-night stand with a mysterious woman. Afterward, the woman repeatedly shows up and contacts the man after he has made it clear that he is not interested and her efforts to get his attention become increasingly irrational and violent. She attempts suicide by slashing her wrists, forcing him to stay and care for her. When even this doesn't work, the woman vandalizes the man's property. The man first confides in a friend then confesses to his girlfriend/wife. The woman finally takes the girlfriend/wife hostage. All of these plot elements appear in both movies and in the same chronological order.

John Carpenter and Brian De Palma were each offered to direct Fatal Attraction and both passed, largely due to their belief that the movie was too similar to Play Misty for Me.[5]

[edit] Alternative ending

Alex Forrest (Glenn Close) was originally scripted to commit suicide at the end of the movie by slashing her throat, and make it look as if Dan (Michael Douglas) had murdered her, for which he would subsequently be arrested. Although Beth does save the day by finding the tape that Alex sent Dan and brought it to police after listening to Alex's blatant threats of suicide if Dan decided not to be with her, test audiences did not respond because Beth did not get the revenge that was believed to be deserved considering what Alex had done to her family. Especially after Beth tells Alex, "If you come near my family again, I'll kill you."

This resulted in a three-week reshoot for the action-filled sequence in the bathroom and Alex's death by gun. Her shooting by Beth juxtaposes the two characters, with Alex becoming the victim and Beth taking violent action to protect her family.[1] The apparent death in the bath device was inspired by the French film ‎Les Diaboliques (1954).

Glenn Close comments in the 2002 Special Edition DVD that she had concerns at the time about re-shooting the movie's ending because she believed, and was backed in this by psychiatrists, that the character would "self-destruct and commit suicide."[1] She gave in on her concerns, however, and recorded the new sequence after having fought for two weeks not to change it.[1] The movie was initially released in Japan with the original ending. The original ending first appeared on a special edition VHS and LaserDisc release by Paramount in 1992, and was included on the film's DVD release several years later.

[edit] Blu-ray Release

Paramount released Fatal Attraction on blu-ray on June 9, 2009 with several bonus features including commentary by director Adrian Lyne, cast & crew interviews, a look at the cultural phenomenon of the movie, a behind-the-scenes look, rehearsal footage, alternate ending (in HD) and original theatrical trailer (in HD).

[edit] Awards

The film was nominated for 6 Academy Awards for Best Actress in a Leading Role (Glenn Close), Best Actress in a Supporting Role (Anne Archer), Best Director, Best Film Editing, Best Picture and Best Writing, Screenplay Based on Material from Another Medium.

[edit] Psychiatric diagnosis

The film's main character has been discussed by psychiatrists and film experts, and has been used as a film illustration for the condition erotomania. As referenced in Orit Kamirs' Every Breath You Take: Stalking Narratives and the Law, "Glenn Close's character Alex is quite deliberately made to be an erotomaniac". Gelder reports that Glenn Close, "consulted three separate shrinks for an inner profile of her character, who is meant to be suffering from a form of obsessive condition known as de Clérambault's syndrome (Gelder 1990, 93 - 94)".[6] It is also noted she displays characteristics of a psychiatric condition known as borderline personality disorder.[7] The character displays the behaviors of impulsivity, emotional lability, fear of abandonment, idealization/devaluation and self-mutilation consistent with the diagnosis, although generally aggression to the self rather than others is a more usual feature in borderline personality disorder.[8]

[edit] Cast

[edit] Reunion

In 2009, Michael Douglas and Anne Archer reunited in roles for Ghosts of Girlfriends Past, a film about a man's fear of getting married.

[edit] Recognition

The film was listed at #28 on the American Film Institute's 100 Years... 100 Thrills in 2001 and the character of Alex Forrest was listed as the seventh greatest movie villain on AFI's 100 Greatest Movie Heroes & Villains in 2003. The film also appears at #59 on Bravo's 100 Scariest Movie Moments for the moment where Glenn Close suddenly rises from the bath tub.

[edit] Influence

Fatal Attraction has been said to have started the wave of psychopathic "Villain From Hell" thrillers that peaked around the mid 1990s. These films include The Hand That Rocks The Cradle, Unlawful Entry, Swimfan", Single White Female and Basic Instinct which also starred Michael Douglas.

The most recent one is the 2009 non-erotic thriller film Obsessed starring Idris Elba and Beyoncé Knowles as Derek and Sharon, a married couple who's life is thrown in danger when Derek's co-worker becomes attracted to him and starts stalking him.

[edit] See also

[edit] References

  1. ^ a b c d Remembering Fatal Attraction 2002 DVD Special Features
  2. ^ Close says boiling that bunny saved marriages
  3. ^ Fatal Attraction at Box Office Mojo; last accessed August 5, 2007
  4. ^ The DVD Journal | Quick Reviews: Play Misty for Me
  5. ^ Comment - Fatal Attraction: AIDS Parable, Women, and Family
  6. ^ Orit Kamir. "Every Breath You Take: Stalking Narratives and the Law" 2001, University of Michigan Press, ISBN 0472110896, 9780472110896
  7. ^ Robinson, David J. (1999). The Field Guide to Personality Disorders. Rapid Psychler Press. pp. 113. ISBN 0-9680324-6-X. 
  8. ^ Wedding D, Boyd MA, Niemiec RM (2005). Movies and Mental Illness: Using Films to Understand Psychopathology. Cambridge,MA: Hogrefe. p. 59. ISBN 0-88937-292-6. 

[edit] External links


Preceded by
Stakeout		 Box office number-one films of 1987 (USA)
September 21, 1987 – November 8, 1987		 Succeeded by
The Running Man
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