"You want it, you pay for it." - Club bouncer (Showgirls)
Showgirls is an interesting film, though people won't appreciate it for many years to come. The problem with Paul Verhoeven is that nobody realises that he's a satirist. All his films shot outside of the Netherlands are intensely satirical and not meant to be taken at face value. With "Showgirls" he quotes from "All about Eve" and "42nd Street", tearing apart those pipe dream stories that audiences have been so conditioned to absorb.
Verhoeven's real target isn't Hollywood or American crassness, but rather those morally dubious "Star is Born" tales. The audience isn't punished for wanting to see sex and nudity, it's punished for wanting Nomi to succeed. The film is saying that in a crass society, success is bankrupt, and by pushing the pipe dream, you merely fuel this big, ugly machine.
Nomi, the star of "Showgirls", isn't a character. She's a piece of wood. A piece of wood not because she can't act, but because she's a mere slab of fuel, existing solely to be burnt up and combusted by her neon lit environment. She goes from strip club, to dance club, to theatre house, exploited all the way. And she loves it.
By the end of the film it's not funny that Nomi is going to make the same mistakes all over again. It's sad that despite the fact that the Myth has been revealed repeatedly, she is still seduced by it enough to try all over again. It's like those Toys they give kids at Macdonald's. The child knows the toy is total crap, but they just have to collect the other one. Why? Because it's a toy, and the child's perception is that toys are fun.
"Showgirls" deals with this false perception. The toy is crap. It's unsatisfying, but we want it because we can't find satisfaction in what we have and in where we're at.
"Showgirls" is also intensely symbolic. Song titles mirror Nomi's apartment numbers, each of her jobs takes her one step further into hell (which ironically is her goal), she symbolically dies and is reborn, the famous lapdance is shot to mirror the sex scene in the pool, and the film ends with Nomi battered and broken and more importantly, even more ignorant than before. Then there's her "dream man" (hinted at by a billboard at the start) who turns out to be a devilish rapist by the end of the film. This theme of one being punished for ones "fantasies" permeates the entire film and extends outward in such a way that the audience itself participates. At first we're titillated, but by the end, the sex has numbed us and we reel in disgust.
In terms of style, the film is intentionally over the top. It's loud, crass and overly colourful. Nomi herself thrusts her body at us in a ridiculously pathetic manner. The director's aim is not to titillate. He wants us to pity the girl's desperation, her falsity, the tasteless stains of her makeup and desperate contortions of her body. Nomi is dumb and is always begging us to accept her. And so Verhoeven subjects us to visual and aural overload, all designed to numb our minds. We leave the film stupid, and unaroused, poetically blind and unaware of the truths it has shown us.
The best satires tend to raise the most unjustified hate, and "Showgirls" is no different. What's different is that the nudity, sex and overall tacky "bad movie" aesthetic of the film, prevents it from being re-evaluated or even embraced. Future audiences, desensitized to pornography and nudity, will probably accept this film easier.
There's also one really good shot in the film that reminded me of Welles. The shot occurs when Nomi sits on a park bench alongside a busy street. The bench is in the foreground, but perspective is forced in such a way that it dwarfs the Las Vegas buildings surrounding it.
In terms of camera work, the film is also impeccably shot. Verhoeven's camera is precise, with some beautiful steadicam and crane shots.
7.5/10- An interesting satire, intentionally camp, cartoonish and over the top. Though some scenes feel tasteless, the film as a whole surprisingly seems to get better with repeated viewings. Pay attention to one scene in which children walk innocently through a theatre, nude women all around. Moment's later a woman curses violently and the kids and their mother are shocked. Verhoeven's point is clear: language, violence and exploitation are far more tasteless than any naked breast.
Showgirls is an interesting film, though people won't appreciate it for many years to come. The problem with Paul Verhoeven is that nobody realises that he's a satirist. All his films shot outside of the Netherlands are intensely satirical and not meant to be taken at face value. With "Showgirls" he quotes from "All about Eve" and "42nd Street", tearing apart those pipe dream stories that audiences have been so conditioned to absorb.
Verhoeven's real target isn't Hollywood or American crassness, but rather those morally dubious "Star is Born" tales. The audience isn't punished for wanting to see sex and nudity, it's punished for wanting Nomi to succeed. The film is saying that in a crass society, success is bankrupt, and by pushing the pipe dream, you merely fuel this big, ugly machine.
Nomi, the star of "Showgirls", isn't a character. She's a piece of wood. A piece of wood not because she can't act, but because she's a mere slab of fuel, existing solely to be burnt up and combusted by her neon lit environment. She goes from strip club, to dance club, to theatre house, exploited all the way. And she loves it.
By the end of the film it's not funny that Nomi is going to make the same mistakes all over again. It's sad that despite the fact that the Myth has been revealed repeatedly, she is still seduced by it enough to try all over again. It's like those Toys they give kids at Macdonald's. The child knows the toy is total crap, but they just have to collect the other one. Why? Because it's a toy, and the child's perception is that toys are fun.
"Showgirls" deals with this false perception. The toy is crap. It's unsatisfying, but we want it because we can't find satisfaction in what we have and in where we're at.
"Showgirls" is also intensely symbolic. Song titles mirror Nomi's apartment numbers, each of her jobs takes her one step further into hell (which ironically is her goal), she symbolically dies and is reborn, the famous lapdance is shot to mirror the sex scene in the pool, and the film ends with Nomi battered and broken and more importantly, even more ignorant than before. Then there's her "dream man" (hinted at by a billboard at the start) who turns out to be a devilish rapist by the end of the film. This theme of one being punished for ones "fantasies" permeates the entire film and extends outward in such a way that the audience itself participates. At first we're titillated, but by the end, the sex has numbed us and we reel in disgust.
In terms of style, the film is intentionally over the top. It's loud, crass and overly colourful. Nomi herself thrusts her body at us in a ridiculously pathetic manner. The director's aim is not to titillate. He wants us to pity the girl's desperation, her falsity, the tasteless stains of her makeup and desperate contortions of her body. Nomi is dumb and is always begging us to accept her. And so Verhoeven subjects us to visual and aural overload, all designed to numb our minds. We leave the film stupid, and unaroused, poetically blind and unaware of the truths it has shown us.
The best satires tend to raise the most unjustified hate, and "Showgirls" is no different. What's different is that the nudity, sex and overall tacky "bad movie" aesthetic of the film, prevents it from being re-evaluated or even embraced. Future audiences, desensitized to pornography and nudity, will probably accept this film easier.
There's also one really good shot in the film that reminded me of Welles. The shot occurs when Nomi sits on a park bench alongside a busy street. The bench is in the foreground, but perspective is forced in such a way that it dwarfs the Las Vegas buildings surrounding it.
In terms of camera work, the film is also impeccably shot. Verhoeven's camera is precise, with some beautiful steadicam and crane shots.
7.5/10- An interesting satire, intentionally camp, cartoonish and over the top. Though some scenes feel tasteless, the film as a whole surprisingly seems to get better with repeated viewings. Pay attention to one scene in which children walk innocently through a theatre, nude women all around. Moment's later a woman curses violently and the kids and their mother are shocked. Verhoeven's point is clear: language, violence and exploitation are far more tasteless than any naked breast.