Monday 8 June 2009

Body Heat


I love film noir and Body Heat, starring William Hurt and Kathleen Turner, is one of the best movies in this genre. Made as long ago as 1981, Turner plays Matty Walker, a ruthlessly ambitious woman, a femme fatale in the most complete sense.

A married woman, she becomes sexually involved with Hurt, who plays Ned Racine, a small-time lawyer. Their original meeting seems entirely coincidental but, bit by bit, as the story unravels, it becomes clear that Matty has deliberately chosen Racine in an elaborate plot to murder her wealthy husband, played by Richard Crenna. Matty behaves with complete ruthlessness, ensuring the murder is carried out and ensuring that Racine alone will stand blame. In the end she is seemingly killed in an explosion in a boat house, and Racine is arrested for the murder of her husband. But, you see, Matty is not Matty after all! Oh, to be rich and live in a faraway land!

5 comments:

  1. I enjoyed the sex scenes but not much else. I found her wickedness and depravity two-dimensionial. I am going to interpret your last sentence as a joke, as I have no wish to scold you.

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  3. I thought Matty was clever and calculating, not wicked or depraved; I really identify with her!. Zaki, it's a bad mistake to underestimate me or always take a reading at face value. The last sentence is actually a quotation from the movie, from the school year book that Racine orders while he is in prison, when he finally discovers who Matty really was.

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  4. Ah! So it was a kind of in-joke, although I was unfortunately not one of the insiders.

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  5. Well, I'm guessing you saw it a while ago. I only got the DVD at Christmas and I've watched it several times since. It's a minor but crucial scene, where all of Racine's suspicions are confirmed. The words are under the picture of 'The Vamp.' The very last scene is of 'The Vamp' herself, clearly rich and living in a faraway land. :-))

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