In the Cut

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Horrorphile - August 2008

In the Cut

August 20th 2008 01:45

Call me morbid but I much prefer Susanna Moore’s original novel ending to the compromised Hollywood ending of Jane Campion’s film adaptation of In the Cut (2003). There is a powerful, disturbing sense of poetry to the novel’s dénouement that is completely stunted by the movie’s ending, but more on that later.

I’m not a fan of everything that accomplished ex-pat Kiwi director Jane Campion has made. I enjoyed her first feature Sweetie, and her television mini-series re-cut as a feature, An Angel at my Table, was a vivid account of the life of New Zealand writer Janet Frame. The Piano is my favourite film, but the dramatic stylistics and artful intentions in that movie tends to polarise audiences and critics.

Meg Ryan as Frannie

There is similarity between The Piano and In the Cut; both films play with conventions, but one is more successful than the other. The Piano subverts the dysfunctional marriage with the child caught in the crossfire drama, whilst In the Cut attempts to subvert the erotic thriller. Both films employ a heavy artistic license; a bold and incredibly stylish visual narrative.

Mark Ruffalo as Det. Malloy

In the Cut is the story of Frannie (Meg Ryan), a writing professor, living above a strip joint in the heart of East Village, New York City. It is a sweltering summer and there’s a serial killer on the loose, who likes to cut the heads off co-eds. Frannie’s somewhat reckless sister Pauline (Jennifer Jason Leigh) is staying with her, but the two have a close bond.

Jennifer Jason Leigh as Pauline

Nick Damici as Det. Rodriguez

Frannie is fascinated with semantics and the power of poetry. She’s working on a dictionary of street slang and one of her students, Afro-American Cornelius (Sharrieff Pugh), is assisting her. There is sexual tension between them, and Frannie is acutely aware of her own emotional fragility, yet she desires a kind of physical abandon.

After accidentally witnessing the act of fellatio between a young woman and a man obscured by shadow within the basement confines of a bar she is fascinated by the 3 of spades tattoo she noticed on the inside wrist of the man. Later she learns that the woman she saw was murdered, no doubt by the serial killer.

Kevin Bacon as John

A homicide detective, Malloy (Mark Ruffalo), interviews her, and there is an immediate, but unspoken attraction between them. Soon they embark as lovers; however Malloy is pre-occupied by his pursuit of the serial killer, whilst Frannie becomes pre-occupied with the false intimacy of their sexual relationship. It is liberating however, just like her obsession with finding new phrases of the English language, often within advertising banners on the subway train.

A small tattoo can disguise an evil truth

Meg Ryan (in a role originally cast with Nicole Kidman, who stayed on as co-producer) brings a an intriguing sense of subdued sassiness and naïveté to the role of Frannie. Ryan was in her early 40s, yet she looks so young that in certain scenes she could even pass as a teenager (!), which only heightens her vulnerability. Yet Frannie is unmistakably a woman, and the sex scenes between her and Malloy are refreshingly frank and genuinely erotic (more so than most Hollywood movies). Mark Ruffalo plays the charismatic cop with an authentic edge; slightly arrogant and off-hand, yet endearing in his nonchalance.

Of note are the supporting roles, Jennifer Jason Leigh and (an uncredited) Kevin Bacon as Frannie’s nutcase ex-boyfriend John, also Nick Damici as Malloy’s detective partner Rodriguez. It’s not surprising the performances are solid as director Campion is renowned for eliciting excellent work from her cast. But the real star of the movie is the cinematography of Australian Dion Beebe.

Frannie finds temporary relief from all the heat

Beebe’s extraordinary manipulation of focus and the densely vivid colour palette (as if the movie was shot on slide reversal film) is richly evocative. Lower Manhattan has never looked so vibrant and exotic. There is also a creeping sense of claustrophobia that permeates the frame, the stifling heat closing in on the characters and the narrative. Not since Spike Lee’s Summer of Sam has the Big Apple sweat so sexily. Beebe won the Australian Cinematographers Society Golden Tripod Award for his work on In the Cut. He should’ve been nominated for an Oscar.

WARNING! CONTAINS SPOILERS OF NOVEL & FILM!

The killer strikes too close for comfort

Although the movie adaptation leans more toward the sensual side of the novel (although nowhere near as explicitly, or as kinky), there are scenes of implied violence that are graphic and intense. The crime scene aftermaths of the murders are very bloody and grisly. This hints that the violence may escalate before the film reaches its final scene, but the movie peters out (pun intended). What made the novel so brilliant with its unorthodox first person narrative; Frannie taken prisoner by the killer and taken to his hide-out, a lighthouse, and remembering an essay on the language of the dying referring to themselves in third person, as she bleeds to death after the killer has sliced her nipple off, slashed her face, throat, her arms and hands. The title becomes disturbingly pertinent: “I have a new word for the dictionary. Malloy told it to me. A street word. A word used by gamblers for when you be peepin’, he said. In the cut. From vagina. A place to hide …”

Frannie has a disturbing daydream

The novel’s unusual perspective - person narrating her death – and the downbeat ending could have worked perfectly within the context of film narrative. The movie would’ve become a thoroughly original horror movie, and not the clichéd psycho thriller. But, In the Cut is a Hollywood movie. It’s strange, and disappointing, because Jane Campion hasn’t compromised her work in the past. Even more frustrating is that novelist Susanna Moore co-wrote the screenplay.

Can someone gimme a lift back into town, I've killed a cop, and his partner - my boyfriend - is handcuffed to my apartment wall ... ?

Here's the trailer:

And for sheer expoitative indulgence, here's the superb sensual mood and visual atmosphere of the movie summed up in a couple of shots with Frannie rubbing one out (warning! not work safe!):

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Posted By: Bryn - Category: movie reviews

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