Nine 1/2 Weeks

Plot synopsis:
The title of the film refers to the duration of a relationship between Wall Street arbitrageur John Gray and divorced SoHo art gallery employee Elizabeth McGraw. John initiates and controls the various experimental sexual practices of this volatile relationship to push Elizabeth's boundaries. In doing so, Elizabeth experiences a gradual downward spiral toward emotional breakdown.
Elizabeth first sees John in New York City where she grocery shops and again at a street market where she decides against buying an expensive scarf. John wins her heart when he eventually produces that scarf. They start dating, and Elizabeth is increasingly subjected to John's behavioral peculiarities; he blindfolds Elizabeth, who is at first reluctant to comply with his sexual fantasy demands. Yet she sees him as loving and playful. He gives her an expensive gold watch, and instructs her to use it to think about him at noon. She takes this imperative even further by masturbating at her workplace at the designated time. However, he ultimately confuses Elizabeth by his reluctance to meet her friends despite the intimacy of their sexual relations.
Elizabeth's confusion about John increases when he leaves her alone at his apartment. She examines his closet until she discovers a photograph of him with another woman. John asks her if she went through his stuff, declaring that he will punish her. Their ensuing altercation escalates into sexual assault until she blissfully concedes to his struggle to overpower her. Their sexual intensity grows as they start having sex in public places.
Elizabeth's heightened need for psychosexual stimulation drives her to stalk John to his office and to obey his injunction to cross-dress herself for a rendezvous. On leaving the establishment, two men hurl a homophobic slur when they mistake John and Elizabeth for a gay couple. A fight ensues. Elizabeth picks up a knife from one of the attackers and stabs one of them in the buttocks and both attackers flee. After the fight, Elizabeth reveals a wet tank-top and has sex onsite with John with intensely visceral passion. Following this encounter, John's sexual games acquire sadomasochistic elements.
Rather than satisfying or empowering Elizabeth, such experiences intensify her emotional vulnerability. While meeting at a hotel room, John blindfolds her. A prostitute starts caressing Elizabeth as John observes them. The prostitute removes Elizabeth's blindfold and starts working on John. Elizabeth violently intervenes, and flees the hotel, with John pursuing her. They run until they find themselves in an adult entertainment venue. Moments later, John and Elizabeth gravitate towards each other, finding themselves interlocked in each other's seemingly inescapable embrace.
The following morning, John senses that he will never see her again. He attempts to share with her details about his life. Elizabeth tells him that it is too late as she leaves the apartment. John begins his mental countdown to 50, hoping she will come back by the time he is finished.

Tags: violence, cult, sadist

Review:
All people seem to talk about when it comes to this movie is about the sex scenes and the nudity in the film.
Rourke and Basinger make a steamy couple and the ending and the events that unfolded in the film lingered with me long afterwards and left me thinking for a while.
For an established actress like Kim Basinger to accept this role and play it as naturally as she did speaks to her talent as well at to her willingness to explore alternate "romantic" ideas on film.
At first it seems like a game, but later on the intensity is too much for the relationship to withstand, largely because if love and caring are sacrificed for the sex, it will die.You almost couldn't find more suitable casting than Mickey Roarke and Kim Bassinger.
Despite what may appear to be pornography, there is a point to the film I think, and that is that constant sexual control and nurturing relationships mix like oil and water.
My favorite part is when Elizabeth goes to visit Fransworth, the artist.If you really think about it just as he is at the gallery opening of his show, so is she "a fish out of water".It can't survive and in the end neither can she.I love the way this film was shot.This movie is more about stepping out side your comfort zone.
You know about her family and life, but you don't learn about his until it is to late.People need to get passed the sex scenes and realize this movie is about human limits.All of us feel this inside, but are afraid, like Elizabeth to try it..
I don't know how anyone could call it boring, but we all see different things when we watch a movie.I thought the much-vaunted "sex" scenes were pretty tame, actually, but really, really fun to watch!
Yes, I think it was more about power than sex, and when the moment of truth came for the balance of power to shift - as the Rourke character had planned for it to do - he had scared off his true love.
Still this is a film that is fun and very enjoyable to watch as it proves just how complex and tense that love making can be really this film showcased it as a dangerous and mysterious game of obsession.Set in New York City, with the hustle and rush of big city life you see Elizabeth(Kim Basinger) a young single and attractive woman who works at an art gallery showcase.
This film really proved just how fun love making can be true it pushed the limits, but it showed just how far someone will go like the John character who was so emotionally and physically empty for so long.
Overall good film that may be a little to dated, still it's a nice treat for it's take of pushing love making to new erotic and obsessive heights.
I guess one could say this is kind of a "Last Tango in Paris" of my generation; maybe not as deep and bleak but Lynn packaged this film like one long music video or long commercial; there is so much eye candy shots and that is just to get your attention so he can draw into this relationship that develops slow into a kind of dark and sad area.
The first time John and Liz meet each other; John takes her back to a boat house and while there he kind of gives a her subtle glimpse of his sadistic nature; and all the other scenes that follow are all like a building blocks of John's dark character who according to Liz "She can't figure what he is about".There is a scene where John takes Liz to buy her the outfit that he likes and while paying the cashier Liz asks John, "don't want to know what I think about it?"and John smiles and says "No".
Each time she gives into his demands he goes further to manipulate her into something that he likes and that last request in the hotel room with the Hooker was the breaking point for Liz where she runs into a porn store and kisses a complete stranger to get a kind of even with John and yet deep in turmoil on the inside of what is happening to her.I think to me the last scene its still the very best part of this whole film; when Liz gets out of bed while John still sleeping and she is in tears.
I think what I like the best is what Liz says: "we both knew it will be over if one of us said stop, but you wouldn't say it, and I waited too long"; she has had enough; as much as she is in love I guess there is a part of her that can still find reason and see the damage this relationship can do to her; I don't think the audience didn't expect this to happen or how it will end so fast in just 9 1/2 weeks, for most of us takes so much longer to realize how unhealthy a relationship is because we are too busy having fun and focusing on sex as love; this is where this film truly becomes of a substance and takes a huge turn by Liz ending it not John; this time she took control and left John hoping she will return as all others did when he counted to 50, this is how self absorbed his character was.
When Liz leaves the apartment while walking and crying in the street there is one last shot of her turning back one more time maybe hoping John had followed her and then she turns because its over; this part still holds up today as it did 18 years ago when I first saw it and I still get the same feeling.This film really should have been longer and from what I read here it was originally about 3 hours and I like others would Mr. Lynn does someday release it as a director's cut.
Its sad really because this could have been like "Before Sunrise" and "Before Sunset" sequels; although Mickey Rourke may not as appealing or as popular he once was back in the 80's after his acting career took a dive to his boxing career but I still think he is a great actor and I personally would like to see another sequel with both Bassinger and Rourke to this dark romantic masterpiece...you never know it may still happen?.
Kim Basinger plays Liz, an art gallery employee who meets Wall Street trader John, played by Mickey Rourke.
What one realizes while watching this is how limited and ultimately unsatisfactory is a relationship based purely on sex.I imagine that the familiar dominance/submissive psychology at the heart of this visually stunning movie--and it really is beautifully shot--comes from the novel by Elizabeth MacNeil.
I say that, not having read the novel, because the seduction of Manhattan art dealer Elizabeth (Kim Basinger) by the smooth and supremely confident financier John (Mickey Rourke) is so very well done with the expensive presents, the well-timed flower deliveries, little endearments, etc., that it amounts to a woman's fantasy.
The partial debasement of Elizabeth and her eventual triumph over her darker instincts and her realization that there is a difference between love and submission is also something that one might expect to find in a woman's point-of-view novel.However when we get to the actual sexuality and how it is acted out, it is unclear who dreamed up the scenes, MacNeil or director Adrian Lyne or the scriptwriters.
And then to have Elizabeth and John stop in the middle of the street to allow the bashers they have outrun to catch up was just plain stupid, not to mention the phony fight that followed.Not only were the sexual scenes predictable but clearly Lyne was in harness (and I am glad of that) since he stops well short of what might happen if this sort of theme were fully played out.Putting all that aside what makes this movie worth seeing is Kim Basinger.
Before seeing this film I thought she was a rather ordinary actress, but her ability to combine grown-up New York chic with little-girl vulnerability and to make absolutely clear the psychological dilemma her character's heart faced really held the movie together.Lyne's insistence on whispered dialogue difficult to hear was consistent with the theme of the movie but not kind to these ears.
And that was doubly good because again it is the visuals that make this movie worth seeing, not the originality of the story and its development.To those viewers who thought that this was some sort of high class pornography, I can only say you missed the point entirely, and indeed, you may be projecting your own sorry mentality.
For those others who were not, shall we say, sufficiently stimulated, I can point you to a graphic novel with a similar theme (written by a man) entitled The Story of O which will NOT be coming to a theater near you anytime soon.See this for Kim Basinger whose sensitive and robust beauty dominated the screen.(Note: Over 500 of my movie reviews are now available in my book "Cut to the Chaise Lounge or I Can't Believe I Swallowed the Remote!" Get it at Amazon!).
There isn't much about "9 1/2 Weeks" that is warm or inviting; the central relationship between Kim Basinger and Mickey Rourke is there to be busted up, and director Adrian Lyne doesn't appear to be concerned with the characters anyway--his thing seems to be chilly atmospherics and stylish furniture.
(the recent popularity of such movies as matrix, fight club, american beauty all cater this feeling in us that there is something more to life than going to the mall and drinking lattes)I guess this movie starts on this positive note, this connection and infatuation between the two people, but than the fetishes dominate as the excitement of the relationship must sustain it's "high", the relationship comes to an end as the two were not intertwined in society in a "normal" fashion.
John, the guru of sensuality, can think of nothing more original than continually blindfolding Liz.The film desperately wants to be a badass New York movie-with-attitude.
After watching the film a couple of times I am far less fascinated by Kim Basinger than by Rourke's character Jon. Sure Jon was very aggressive sexually with Elizabeth, and many seem to understand this as being crude or offensive.
Yeah, while Jon lives in a fancy apartment and buys Elizabeth nice things, it is clear that he is not a trust-fund baby but a guy who worked his way to the top with determination and balls.That helps explain the most difficult scene in the movie.
The rest of the movie, all of the sexual escapades, including the sex scene at the end with the prostitute is Jon trying to determine how much he should really give himself to Elizabeth.
This movie was about all of the things that sex communicates, and ultimately Rourke brilliantly pulls off a complicated character who is unabashedly male and dying to be vulnerable at the same time..
Mickey Rourke is above all effective as a guy who is willing to take risks and wants the woman to do the same, and I'm sure if I was a woman I would find him irresistible in this role ...A much-maligned film which deserves re-evaluation as a masterpiece of its kind.
"Nine 1/2 weeks" is one of my favourite movies and I wish people understood the idea of the film correctly.
One from our best director who always present sex and lust movie,Adrian Lyne.But,it'll be the great different style of erotica movie!!This movie told about so many dark(or beautiful?)side of sex that led to abuse and obsesive sex game.they played sex like a pinball game..so many hot and desire scenes.i really like it!if you watch it once,you could never forget...
The Director so great and still brilliant to made another different of xxx-movie..and all star (especially) kim basinger and mickey rourke totally awesome in the game what they played it together!!kim basinger is hot..
This is confirmed and creates a parallel in the painting exhibition, when Liz is already broken because of her relationship with John, she sees and empathizes with the painter who is totally lost and baffled at the art gallery exhibition.I do not want to get into analyze what happens to the relationship between main characters (although actually it's quite simple) because like many of the films in which there is shown or suggested sex, we should try to see a little further.8/10.
throughout the film i kept hoping that the two main characters(kim basinger and micky rourke) would find something deeper(love) but they don't except and it led me to believe that maybe this film was just about sex even though the people watching may have wanted it to be more..
Suffice it to say, this film fascinated the core 18-32 movie market audience!!Mickey Rourke and Kim Basinger are WONDERFUL!
Rourke's smugness is so bad it's sickening and Bassinger, despite the great figure, looks cheap more than beautiful.Kudos to the photographer for some nice closeup shots and some wonderful color, but the story is so weak - no character development and no plot - it's unable to compensate.
The way Kim Basinger walks away from Mickey Rourke, after 9,5 weeks, in a long shot that lasts a minute or so, is definitely very worthwhile to see and not that easy to play as it might look.
It is a Film about Control and Submission and Their Relationship is Built on that Foundation and while it is Relinquished it is Right, but when the Blindfold is Lifted and the Servitude is No Longer Welcomed the Result is Inevitable.This Sleight of Hand from Director Adrian Lyne is Hypnotic and Mickey Rourke and Kim Basinger do Well Managing the Difficult Roles.
now now, let's not do too much thinkin.' lets face it, it's one of the last movies made during the time mickey rourke was still hot - and kim bassinger never looked better.
I've seen this film for the first time again after 30 years and I can say it is like a good wine, gets better with age.
Ultimately, she finds this strange relationship taking dominance in her life."Nine 1/2 Weeks" is a largely two character film that is not degrading or "pornographic" as some people might have you believe.
Also, for a film running close to two hours, it doesn't seem to have all that much story going for it.The sex scenes will stick in the mind, even if most of them aren't particularly imaginative.
At the same time (especially to the ones that only understand the sex content of the movie) it shows that even the most exciting fantasy (let's at least admit we all have them) falls into routine eventually.
The way it was filmed was a great way of showing just how much of a actor Mickey Rourke is and how Kim Basinger can really heat up a scene.
For example when John (played by Rourke) is able to leave her on the top of the Big Wheel, Liz (Kim Basinger) is unconvincingly rattled at the bizarre experience courtesy of John's sense of humor but less rattled at his sexual exploits involving the ever willing Liz; and like one reader mentioned, that for a woman to enjoy sex she has to experience the dangerous side is unconvincing.
Kim Basinger's character Elizabeth in one scene is dressed in (shabby) drag, and as she and John (Mickey Rourke) leave the restaurant, they are gay-bashed.
One of the perks of Nine 1/2 Weeks is that the stars, Mickey Rourke and Kim Basinger, provide audiences of male and female sexes to come together; they are both eye candy for each sex, and they didn't look much better than they did here.
9 ½ WeeksThe best thing about a one-night stand is that you don't have to sleep at the shelter.The lucky devil in this erotic drama, in fact, has been living cot-free for months.When Wall Street financial whiz John Gray (Mickey Rourke) encounters art galley employee Elizabeth (Kim Basinger) they have an instant sexual connection that will soon find Elizabeth stepping outside her boundaries.Over the coming weeks, John enforces his dominance over his new submissive, yet is unwilling to meet her friends socially.
It took 9 1/2 weeks before Elizabeth (Kim Basinger) left John (Mickey Rourke).
Mickey Rourke was the best thing that happened to this movie however they should have never tried to duplicate the sex appeal of my favorite bad boy in the second and third installment.
Maybe people are disappointed because the film doesn't really score in the "erotic" department: Mickey Rourke is magnetic but Basinger just doesn't cut it - her only really "hot" scene is her strip-tease, which is also the least explicit one.
To be a little crude, he seems to have the common problem of getting excited too early; and then the audience - much like the familiar frustrated female - is left whining "Is that it?" Contravening normal rules for a movie of this type, the sex scenes don't get more exciting, they get more DULL as the film progresses, despite Lyne's pathetic attempt to excite us by throwing in bondage and rape elements.
The story is pretty simple as a man and woman (Mickey Rourke, Kim Basinger) enter a dangerous sexual game and soon it starts to have a toll on both of them.
As for the sex scenes, viewed today none of them are all too shocking but I guess you could say, for the time, Rourke and Basinger were brave for taking on their roles.
He has his world under his control and that includes his sexuality towards her.Some say that this film doesn't really have a point or that it has no plot but to show a lot of soft core sex scenes.