Wildside

Donald Cammell, the maker of the legendary cult classic Performance, committed suicide in 1996. He only left four films, of which Wildside is the last. The story behind Wildside also demonstrates that Cammell’s career was not without problems. The film was first rejected by the producer and cut into a nasty, banal erotic thriller that was released on video. Now the film has been re-cut in a way that does justice to Cammell’s original artistic intentions. The ‘director’s cut’ is a mixture of crime-thriller, romance and comedy that defies categorisation. Wildside is about the complex relationship between four people: the part-time call-girl and sex addict Alex, the eccentric and money-laundering millionaire Bruno (Christopher Walken), his ex- wife and companion Virginia and the loyal chauffeur Tony who turns out to be an undercover FBI agent. A typically Cammellian reflection on the power of sexuality is juxtaposed with an unexpectedly moving romance when the two women fall in love with each other and try to free themselves from the grip of the men. The film is already notorious for the explicit erotic scenes between Anne Heche (Alex) and Joan Chen (Virginia). Christopher Walken plays an extremely maniacal role, even for his own standards. Wildside is a worthy testament: sometimes unbalanced, but always provocative and stylistically daring.