Over the weekend, I watched Fatal Attraction for the second time in my life, this time on blu-ray. A few people have been surprised that I actually like the movie since I mentioned to them that I re-watched the movie. I’m not sure why this is. Perhaps it is because the movie was so popular when it came out or because of the film’s over-hyped sexuality. Whatever the case may be, the fact remains: Fatal Attraction is a really good movie. In fact, because of its realistic and truthful nature, the film is pretty scary.
I watched Fatal Attraction for the first time this past summer late one night on Hulu. Much like the people who have badgered me since this weekend, I was surprised at the fact that I liked it as much as I did. The movie was incredibly clever and well developed. From the opening title frames, I was pretty hooked.
The film starts by panning over an orange colored New York City sky during the sunset. The only sound that fills the speakers is the sound of the city slowing down, preparing for the coming night. The movie then starts off in the Gallagher apartment, establishing one of the most realistic families I’ve seen on film in some time. Everything feels genuine and not forced. Little moments shine, such as little Ellen Gallagher moving down the hallway mumbling “shit” over and over again because she heard her mother Beth slip the word out a moment before. All of the development is natural and subtle, something which never really seems to come together as well in other films.
The affair between Alex and Dan is also carried out in a realistic fashion. From a moral standpoint, it is hard to understand why Dan cheats on his wife. He seems to have the ideal family life with a loving daughter and really beautiful wife. However, there is something believable about the attraction that is sparked between him and Alex. A lot of this has to do with great performances by Michael Douglas and Glenn Close. They both are very natural and have great chemistry together. For a while, they really make the audience understand the affair that occurs and how it almost seems natural. They really make you wonder what you would do if you were in the shoes of Dan Gallagher. Like most human beings, Dan is a flawed man. He is put in an ideal situation where he can cheat with a woman who he has a natural attraction to and get away with it. So, he does it. Michael Douglas really manages to make Dan reliable despite this horrible betrayal he commits against his wife. You can feel his satisfaction, confusion and guilt all over the situation through his facial expressions, movements and tone of voice.
A lot of the legitimacy of the affair is really sold in the film’s somewhat controversial sex scenes. The sex scenes in this film, contrary to popular belief, are not very long. In fact, they take up maybe five minutes of the two-hour film. However, there is such energy and intensity to them that they really leave a lasting impression on the viewer. The first one takes place in Dan’s kitchen as he makes love to Alex over his sink. As the lovemaking gets more passionate, the faucet gets knocked on, causing water to shoot down the backside of Alex. She then puts her hands in the water and rubs it over both of their faces. Despite the impurity of this scene, the use of the water almost acts as a cleansing agent. It makes the act of lovemaking between Alex and Dan seem more intimate and special instead of a hedonistic one-night stand. Director Adrian Lyne then adds some humanity to the scene by having Dan struggle with carrying Alex away from the sink while his pants awkwardly tie up his legs from moving right.
By doing all of these things in this quick scene of lovemaking, Director Lyne, Douglas and Close all make the affair more believable and possibly even more acceptable to the viewer. This is important for a variety of reasons. By establishing a strange sort of legitimacy in the affair, the viewer is almost lured into a sense of calm. Even though we know that bad things are happening, it does not feel as if the film’s characters are going to crash and burn for their mistakes. This legitimacy is also important because it really maintains the feeling of reality that was established in all of the film’s previous scenes.
When things really start to go south and we start to see how unstable Alex really is as a woman, the movie manages to create some truly unsettling and uncomfortable sequences. For me, there is nothing more unsettling than someone who invades your privacy and does not really know the limits of how okay it is for them to be apart of someone else’s life. Alex’s intrusions into Dan’s world are small and seemingly harmless at first but, as they grow in their extremity and creepiness, one cannot help feel for or identify with Dan.
That’s really what makes Fatal Attraction a scary movie. Everyone, in some way shape or form, has been in Dan’s shoes before. Yeah, most of us have never had a stalker to the extreme of Glenn Close’s Alex Forrest but I’m sure all of us have had someone who intruded in our lives somehow when we didn’t really want them to. This kind of intrusion really tests us all as human beings and really gives us a sense of discomfort that is unlike any other feeling in the world. Why can’t they get the fact that we don’t want them in our lives? What does one have to do to make them get the point? The social awkwardness and discomfort that comes from these situations is truly unbearable and Fatal Attraction really manages to translate that feeling to film quite well.
For me, the quieter scenes of stalking are the ones that cause me the most discomfort. Nothing is tenser than when Alex shows up at Dan’s apartment in the guise of wanting to buy his apartment. The part where Dan has to re-introduce himself to Alex in front of his wife was really effective. The scene where Alex is following Dan home while he listens to a tape of her telling him how he is going to pay for his actions is equally unsettling.
While the last half of the movie is entertaining and thrilling, it definitely looses some of the realism of the first half of the film. Here, things go more of the Friday the 13th route, except in a more adult fashion. While this part of the film is tense and fun, I did not like how Lyne handled some of the camera work (his penchant to go handheld and move close on actors’ faces, especially in the infamous rabbit scene, did not really work for me).
Still, despite these slight hold ups, Fatal Attraction remains a really unsettling movie that taps into some of our most personal fears. For me, the ideal of someone invading your privacy and having to deal with that situation is one of the most uncomfortable things in the world. Fatal Attraction capitalizes on this fear by establishing a very realistic feel with a great cast, clever screenplay and really subtle development. It’s definitely one of the most intelligent thrillers made till this day and still manages to make me incredibly uncomfortable every time I watch it.
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