In 1995,Wild Side, a darkneo-noirthriller set in Los Angeles and filled withdeep psychosexual motives, became the last film project of cult Scottish artistDonald Cammell, who made a name for himself in cinema as an innovative auteur in the ’70s withPerformance(1970, co-directed withNicolas Roeg)andDemon Seed(1979). Cammell was always considered a somewhat provocative but effective director, so it didn’t come off as a surprise when the Nu Image production company decided to hire him forWild Sideto create a film that would allow the studio to move from their exploitation movies to the world of big cinema. In a twist of dark irony, upon seeingCammell’s version with his trademark non-linear structure, innovative cross-cutting editing, and complex thematic undertones, the studio found it too perplexing and ordered a re-cut that turned the movie into something resembling their usual exploitation flicks. This ended in a real-life tragedy, and thenew version of the film, made in accordance with the director’s vision, was only released at the turn of the century, gaining critical acclaim and cementingWild Side’s place among themost underappreciated genre films of the ’90s.
What is ‘Wild Side’ About?
The 2000 version ofWild Sidestarts with rapidly changing, seemingly unrelated images. We are then thrown into a wonderfully bonkers encounter between Alex (the magnificentAnne Hechein her first leading role), a bank worker moonlighting as a sex worker, and Bruno Buckingham (deliciously unhingedChristopher Walken), an infamous money launderer whose kinks include psychoanalytic role-playing. Bruno is fascinated by Alex but is also incredibly paranoid, so he orders his loyal driver, Tony (Steven BauerfromScarface), to follow her and find out if she is an informant. It turns out thatTony is an undercover officer himself, and he forces Alex into helping him attempt to bring his boss down.
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The plan involves Alex playing along when someone from Bruno, a woman called Virginia (Joan Chen), comes to the bank to open a bogus account. There is a complication, though, asAlex and Virginia immediately take a liking to each other and become involved, even though Virginia used to be married to Bruno and is still entangled in a complicated relationship with him. Soon, very few characters care about money, with the exception of a couple of FBI agents loitering around, while the main characters are pining for each other. This includes Tony, who seems to be simultaneously wishing to destroy his boss, be him, and possibly possess him. TheNu Image company went all in, specifically emphasizing the graphic sexual scenes, especially the ones between Heche and Chen, turning the original, straight-to-video version ofWild Sideinto one of theuninspired erotic thrillers that were produced in bulk in the ’90s.
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The real strength of Cammell’s film that shines through in the 2000 version, which is now considered canon, is not what is being explicitly shown, but the undercurrents that are unspoken.In all of his works, Cammell has always been fascinated by the psychological games people play, and the director’s cut reveals his last film as a deeply personal work in that sense. Here, the author explores many of his trademark motives, such as thestruggles of people who lack any kind of power in a world that’s brimming with hostility and cruelty, and the battles for dominance in a traditional patriarchal society. Heche’s heroine, Alex, is the one who finds herself powerless; inthe great tradition of film noir, she is a pawn in the hands of almost everyone, from an overly ambitious undercover agent to her boss, who is disappointed she can’t bring any new clients through her sex work.
Bruno and Tony represent a different kind of dynamic — the one that’s always been a constant in Cammell’s work,the struggle for power between two men, that almost looks like foreplay. That struggle reaches a memorable conclusion inPerformance,which involvespsychedelicmushrooms, as it does in another Cammell’s classic,Southern Giallo thriller,White of the Eye(1987), which features two male characters going at it in the middle of the desert with machine guns and explosives. Yet, theclimax scene ofWild Sidemight be one of the most genuinely bizarre and unhinged episodes you will ever seein cinema. After catching Tony trying to rape Alex, Bruno, who seems to be in constant existential discussion with himself, proceeds to simulate a similar assault on his driver, claiming that he needs to do it to prove his love for Alex and mumbling things like “Now off with the Calvins.”
With all the complex connections, macabre undertones, and dark irony,Wild Sideobviously doesn’t belong next toSliverandColor of Night, where Nu Image tried to fit it. Instead, it fits right in withShowgirlsandBound, not only because of the complex female characters and relationships, but becauseit also explores sex as yet another instrument of power(Walken even says as much at some point). In another dark twist,Wild Sideand its themes now come off as even more prominent and have an even greater impact given the film’s and its director’s tragic fate. Cammell, who had seen the re-cut, took his own life not long after, in April 1996, with his family and friendsciting the conflict with the studio as the last straw after the artist’s long battle with depression. The director’s vision was finally brought to life by Cammell’s widow and co-writer,China Kong, and his editor,Frank Mazzola,disorienting the audience with cross-cutting editing andRyuichi Sakamoto’s melancholic score, andcreating a chaotic, dream-like world that, for all the darkness in it, still allows for a happy ending— unlike real life.
