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Click here to return to the main site. DVD Review
When her roommate cannot go on assignment to write an article for their local collage newspaper, Anastasia Steele finds herself sitting opposite multi i-billionaire, Christian Grey. Flustered, like a schoolgirl menaced by a tramp, Anastasia finds it difficult to get Christian out of her mind, Christian meanwhile is working out how to get into her pants... Fifty Shades of Grey (2015 - 2 hrs, 10 sec) is a... Okay, I’m at a loss... It’s not really a romantic film, although it is unintentionally a comedy; and it’s not really an erotic film, unless you like your sex bland - think Pretty Woman gets spanked. I guess it’s a new breed of BDSM wallpaper movie. The film was directed by Sam Taylor-Johnson, from a Kelly Marcel (Saving Mr Banks) script. The whole misadventure was based on the appallingly written book by E.L. James. James released her book, which started as a bit of erotic fan fiction, based on the Twilight saga. This sort of thing had been around ever since homoerotic Star Trek stories of Spock and Kirk slunk into the light of day. Nothing wrong with that, it kept a small portion of the fan base happy. The odd thing with the book is that, when the word got out about the story, television presenters behaved as if they had never heard of BDSM or even erotica. Presumably none of these people had gone to their local book shop, where well written erotica could be found, or were educated enough to have heard of highly respected writers like Anaïs Nin - still held to be the best writer of female erotica. The book was lucky to enter the zeitgeist netting James a cool twenty-four million. With an already set fan base of course they were going to make a film. The question was could they make a silk purse out of a sow's ear? The result is at best unfortunately ok, even if the sex scenes lack any sense of chemistry. One of the main problems is that the characters are inconsistent and their world unrealistic. Christian (Jamie Dornan) has mummy issues and so likes to tie his partners up, spank them and generally control their every waking moment. In BDSM terms he is a dominant. But the film also has him as this great business mogul, think Steve Jobs, who no one recognises when he is out and about, which seems unlikely. The truth is he is a cipher for attractive rich powerful men, who James presumes women swoon for. He is the manly type who takes control; although in the case of Christian it is likely to involve an anal plug. Even more ludicrous is the depiction of Anastasia (Dakota Johnson). I get that there has to be a level of innocence there for him to corrupt and discovering that she is a virgin would have done nicely, but the film would have us believe that she has done nothing, absolutely nothing sexual until she meet Christian. Had he been seducing a nun I think I would still find this hand to swallow. If the characterisations are bad, some of the dialogue is even worse. Some of it flows, but at other times there is a real clumsiness to it as the pair constructs sentences in the way that real humans don’t. I also didn’t understand that this is a film aimed at a female audience, made predominantly by females; however we get to see a lot more of Anastasia's flesh than we do Christians, I’m not an expert, but I thought it would be the other way around. The DVD has the extended version of the film, with an aspect ratio of 2.40:1 with an English, Spanish and French DD 5.1 audio track as well as optional subs in those languages. The disc contained no extras, it’s like the cast and crew were embarrassed to be associated with the film. Just what has been expanded is a bit of a mystery to me as I couldn’t bring myself to see it at the cinema. The film may appeal to some, but if you want erotic, watch 9½ Weeks; romance When Harry Met Sally; or a romance film about a powerful man abusing a poor one Pretty Woman - all better films. 4 Charles Packer Buy this item online
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