Madonna at the Movies : 25th Anniversary of 'Body Of Evidence'
Jun 16, 2018 0:19:23 GMT
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Post by petrolino on Jun 16, 2018 0:19:23 GMT
In the courtroom drama 'Body Of Evidence', Rebecca Carlson (Madonna) is represented by lawyer Frank Dulaney (Willem Dafoe) in a murder trial. Carlson and Dulaney enter into a torrid relationship that strains client-attorney privelege and contravenes the ethics of the bar. The film was released in January 1993 but performed poorly at the box-office after concerned censors took a hatchet to it.
"Back in 1979, four years before the release of her self-titled debut album, Madonna starred in barebones indie drama A Certain Sacrifice. She played a Lower East Side resident living with three “love slaves” (one male, one female, one transgender). Capitalising on her first flush of fame, the film-makers rushed it out in 1985, but it’s safe to say that it wasn’t exactly acclaimed as a lost classic.
Nonetheless, for years Madonna maintained an acting career alongside her musical one. Some of of her films performed decently at the box office and – shock horror – even got good reviews, like the 1985 comedy Desperately Seeking Susan. More frequently however, her efforts were widely ridiculed. Besides voicing a character in 2006’s family cartoon Arthur and the Invisibles and appearing opposite Lady Gaga on a Saturday Night Live skit, Madonna has laid her acting career to rest after enduring a weapons-grade trashing for her turn as a snooty socialite in then husband Guy Ritchie’s 2002 romance Swept Away.
It’s therefore little wonder that Swept Away isn’t included in Body of Work: A Madonna Retrospective, a season of films at New York’s Metrograph purporting to showcase Madonna’s “calculated, cohesive canon”. Together, the seven selections (Desperately Seeking Susan, Who’s That Girl, Dick Tracy, Shadows and Fog, A League of Their Own, Body of Evidence and Dangerous Game) prove that while she never threatened to become the next Meryl Streep, Madonna’s acting might not actually be that bad."
Nonetheless, for years Madonna maintained an acting career alongside her musical one. Some of of her films performed decently at the box office and – shock horror – even got good reviews, like the 1985 comedy Desperately Seeking Susan. More frequently however, her efforts were widely ridiculed. Besides voicing a character in 2006’s family cartoon Arthur and the Invisibles and appearing opposite Lady Gaga on a Saturday Night Live skit, Madonna has laid her acting career to rest after enduring a weapons-grade trashing for her turn as a snooty socialite in then husband Guy Ritchie’s 2002 romance Swept Away.
It’s therefore little wonder that Swept Away isn’t included in Body of Work: A Madonna Retrospective, a season of films at New York’s Metrograph purporting to showcase Madonna’s “calculated, cohesive canon”. Together, the seven selections (Desperately Seeking Susan, Who’s That Girl, Dick Tracy, Shadows and Fog, A League of Their Own, Body of Evidence and Dangerous Game) prove that while she never threatened to become the next Meryl Streep, Madonna’s acting might not actually be that bad."
- Nigel M. Smith, The Guardian
Rosanna Arquette & Madonna in 'Desperately Seeking Susan'
'Body Of Evidence' is based on an original story by Brad Mirman who'd caused a stir within Hollywood circles by scripting Carl Schenkel's mystery sleeper 'Knight Moves' (1992). It stars the Queen of Pop, Louise 'Madonna' Ciccone (born August 16, 1958, Bay City, Michigan, U.S.), who was creating major controversy at the time in a variety of ways. Songs like 'Like A Virgin' (1984), 'Express Yourself' (1989), 'Like A Prayer' (1989), 'Justify My Love' (1990) and 'Bad Girl' (1992) had invited widespread condemnation from the Catholic Church, Ronald Reagan supporters and America's Moral Majority. Her videos were on the edge, her fashions were cutting edge and her new book 'Sex' (1992 - parodied for horror fans by punk musician Linnea Quigley as 'Skin') was too much for some conservatives to handle. She admired the work of Uli Edel who'd made two highly controversial dramas, 'Christiane F. – We Children From Bahnhof Zoo' (1981) with music by David Bowie and Wim Wenders' regular composer Jurgen Knieper, and 'Last Exit To Brooklyn' (1989) which took the difficult typewriter prose of Hubert Selby Jr. (long called unfilmable, "typewriter" prose a reference to the "spontaneous" prose of Jack Kerouac) and crafted a stunning piece of cinema with music from Mark Knopfler. Madonna also embarked upon another bold new project with underground filmmaker Abel Ferrara, the sado-masochistic film circle expose 'Dangerous Game' (1993).
"My limits, once again, I define in terms of being an artist. My limits are: “Am I being true to myself? Is this what I want to say? Is this what I want to do?” And if it’s not and I can’t be proud of it then I don’t want to do it ... In my opinion, it’s the best film role that I’ve been offered, and it gave me a chance to really do more than I’ve been given the chance to do before as an actress."
- Madonna on 'Body Of Evidence', Sky Magazine
Madonna
Jennifer Jason Leigh in 'Last Exit To Brooklyn'
'Borderline' - Madonna
For 'Body Of Evidence', Edel brought in Willem Dafoe, a strange looking actor originating from the underground art scene who hailed from Appleton, Wisconsin (a ferry ride from west Michigan). The supporting cast includes Joe Mantegna, Anne Archer, Julianne Moore, Stan Shaw, Charles Hallahan, Lillian Lehman, Timi Prulhiere, Jeff Perry, Mark Rolston, Richard Riehle, Jürgen Prochnow and Frank Langella. The music is composed by industrial musician Graeme Revell of SPK.
Madonna & Willem Dafoe
'Aura' - Lady Gaga
Madonna has continued to push the envelope in more ways that one, inspiring a generation of music-based performance artists while drawing together elements from underground arts scenes and neglected fringe movements. 'Body Of Evidence' is one of her defining cinematic works and it remains one of Edel's most purely entertaining pictures. Forget 'Fifty Shades Of Grey' (2015) and all that pseudo-kinky nonsense, this is the real deal from the glory days of the late night thriller.
