** Some Spoilery **
Once upon a time there was a straightforward story. Boy meets girl. Boy likes girl. Girl likes boy. Boy and girl share time, experiences and feelings. Boy still likes girl. Girl likes boy even more. Boy and girl live together happily ever after. Normally those shared experiences include some light comedy, a few moments of embarrassment, occasions of sadness and anger, and if we're lucky, those rare moments of true connection when heart meets heart and they beat together brightly while the world goes on around them. 'Tie Me Up! Tie Me Down!' ( I would use 'Atame!' but I can't do upside-down exclamation marks), is such a love story and has all of the above present and correct. Two innocents meet by chance off-screen, and their paths to the future are set. Or at least that's what they boy thinks.
This film dares to use a controversial narrative to get the girl, and for that it deserves full marks. Its setting is childishly colourful and bright which is fitting considering the two leads are really teenagers in adult bodies. The mood is generally light. Even in the darker moments with the director's allusions to Hitchcockian suspense and horror, the suspense never materialises, soon bursting in a confection of whimsical threatlessness. The portrayal of a naive and obsessive love is wonderful. The fact that it celebrates this without criticism or cynicism is more wonderful still. There are no moral qualms about sex, sexuality, or nudity which might be dismissed (wrongly) as being 'European' in some quarters. This is as refreshing as it is rare. Both leads are having fun entirely appropriate to their roles.
However, I feel that the story here falls short of where it wants to be. Marina's emergence from her status as victim, becoming one of the lovers is rapid and not convincing. Her feelings revolve around toothache and pain relief. Her fear of her kidnapper is never that genuine. I'm glad there's no Stockholm syndrome in play, but there do need to be some moments where she loses the fear she should have and gains a trust she's never had before. Their absence lets down the film. The film also shies away from the fetishistic aspects of bondage. Though not a part of the story, they're certainly integral to the way the camera pans up the body of Marina when she's tied to the bed. Worse still, the film seems to support the view that power exchange within a relationship is not a healthy thing, and that 24/7 equality is to be striven for. A very safe viewpoint for such an 'edgy' film.
There is more good than bad here, but as a whole, it disappoints. Perhaps the main legacy of this film is that it was (allegedly) the first film to be rated NC-17 in the US, although the importance of this is probably overstated.
Once upon a time there was a straightforward story. Boy meets girl. Boy likes girl. Girl likes boy. Boy and girl share time, experiences and feelings. Boy still likes girl. Girl likes boy even more. Boy and girl live together happily ever after. Normally those shared experiences include some light comedy, a few moments of embarrassment, occasions of sadness and anger, and if we're lucky, those rare moments of true connection when heart meets heart and they beat together brightly while the world goes on around them. 'Tie Me Up! Tie Me Down!' ( I would use 'Atame!' but I can't do upside-down exclamation marks), is such a love story and has all of the above present and correct. Two innocents meet by chance off-screen, and their paths to the future are set. Or at least that's what they boy thinks.
This film dares to use a controversial narrative to get the girl, and for that it deserves full marks. Its setting is childishly colourful and bright which is fitting considering the two leads are really teenagers in adult bodies. The mood is generally light. Even in the darker moments with the director's allusions to Hitchcockian suspense and horror, the suspense never materialises, soon bursting in a confection of whimsical threatlessness. The portrayal of a naive and obsessive love is wonderful. The fact that it celebrates this without criticism or cynicism is more wonderful still. There are no moral qualms about sex, sexuality, or nudity which might be dismissed (wrongly) as being 'European' in some quarters. This is as refreshing as it is rare. Both leads are having fun entirely appropriate to their roles.
However, I feel that the story here falls short of where it wants to be. Marina's emergence from her status as victim, becoming one of the lovers is rapid and not convincing. Her feelings revolve around toothache and pain relief. Her fear of her kidnapper is never that genuine. I'm glad there's no Stockholm syndrome in play, but there do need to be some moments where she loses the fear she should have and gains a trust she's never had before. Their absence lets down the film. The film also shies away from the fetishistic aspects of bondage. Though not a part of the story, they're certainly integral to the way the camera pans up the body of Marina when she's tied to the bed. Worse still, the film seems to support the view that power exchange within a relationship is not a healthy thing, and that 24/7 equality is to be striven for. A very safe viewpoint for such an 'edgy' film.
There is more good than bad here, but as a whole, it disappoints. Perhaps the main legacy of this film is that it was (allegedly) the first film to be rated NC-17 in the US, although the importance of this is probably overstated.