Boxing Helena (1993)
MGM DVD (region 1)
d. Jennifer Chambers Lynch; pr. Carl Mazzocone, Philippe Caland; scr. Jennifer Chambers Lynch; ph. Bojan Bazelli, Frank Byers; ed. David Finfer; m. Graeme Revell; cast. Julian Sands, Sherilyn Fenn, Bill Paxton, Kurtwood Smith, Art Garfunkel (107 mins)
There is often an air of the forbidden in truly memorable erotica. Not the simple kind of seductive tease and conquest scenarios aimed at the male ego, but a deeper, more complex alliance of subversive desires that charts the pathological nature of gender.
Interestingly, the most telling of these ambitious undertakings have been films from female directors intrigued by sexual obsessions. There is one recurrent problematic in these films, the nature of female masochism, a subject that much early feminism has all but rendered taboo. When combined with the male possessory trait, the combination can be alarmingly suggestive as is the case with debuting director Jennifer Chambers Lynch’s feature Boxing Helena. Lynch (David’s daughter) had been working on the script since she was nineteen years old, finally getting to direct it when she was twenty-five, making her, according to the movie’s publicity, the youngest woman ever to direct a Hollywood feature. The film proved controversial and was initially threatened with an NC-17 rating, although emerged unscathed in unrated form. However, the film failed to impress either the critics or the public, and sadly Lynch has not to date helmed another. The lack of critical recognition does not distract from the fact that for much of its length, Boxing Helena is a remarkably subversive erotic psychodrama.
Boxing Helena tells the story of two people. Julian Sands plays an accomplished, wealthy surgeon who seemingly has everything he wants. However, he is obsessed with Sherilyn Fenn, a cold seductress who considers him still a little boy.
Sands is distracted by her and although warned not to by his friend (Art Garfunkel) invites her to a party. She shuns him, leaving with one of his friends. Later however, before she can fly out of the country, she realizes that she has left important documents at his house. With her now at his house, he tries to get her to stay, but she sees only an insecure man she doesn’t want to be bothered with. As she is about to leave she is struck down by a hit and run driver, her legs shattered. Sometime later, a hospital associate (Kurtwood Smith) comes calling and discovers that Sands has operated on Fenn at his own home, having had to amputate both of her legs above the knee. Sands bribes him with the promise of promotion not to tell. As Fenn regains her countenance she realizes that Sands intends to keep her there for him to love and look after. When she proves rebellious, Sands has a more macabre intention, one inspired by his erotic fascination with the Venus de Milo. The consequences of this awaken a most unexpected eroticism in the both of them.
The film addresses the dangerous and subversive potential of irrational passion beneath formal elegance and apparent sexual sophistication. If Fenn is a mature woman because she is in charge of her sexuality (and not surrendering control) then Sands is immature and as such, out of control, hence Fenn teases him about his problem with premature ejaculation.
He must overcompensate by controlling her. With flashbacks to Sands’ childhood, it is clear that his witnessing of his parents’ sexual behaviors have effectively scarred him. His fixation with the statue of the Venus de Milo is thus subtly stressed as though fate is decreed in effect by erotic fixation. Desire and obsession shape individuality, the film examining its shattering consequences. Here, the respective traits associated with gender are taken to a bizarre conclusion: Sands longs to keep the object of his desire and Fenn may just yield to the masochist stirrings of her newly invalid status and subsequent dependence on him. Sands is in essence an example of pitiful, pathetic masculinity, clinging timidly to morbid fantasies as a means of sexual empowerment. The shifting sexual power balance between them makes for an involving tension the film effectively toys with for much of its length. As their respective conditions change so too do their inner sexual fantasies find a forbidden fruition.
It is in this final descent into taboo desires, almost too shocking to contemplate in Fenn’s case, that the film works best. For whatever reason however, Lynch has chosen the most disappointing of endings, in effect working against, even negating, the truly subversive aspects of the preceding drama.
Nevertheless the implications of arrested development saturate the film as one man’s progress to sexual maturity comes with the entrapment of the erotic object he considers his liberation – his possessory drive is monstrous indeed, the film disturbing in how this comes to be erotic for Fenn the more dependent on him she becomes. However, the film suggests that she may be just manipulating him, only towards the end admitting the validity of her own masochistic love. This constant shifting of erotic perspective is an admirable achievement even if in other respects the film seems silly, contrived and even most unconvincing (and oddly acted) at times. Indeed, much of the film depends on how the viewer will respond to Sands’ unusual, mannered interpretation of the character and his admitted need to force the object of his desire to admit her dependence on him. What Boxing Helena brings is a provocative psychological treatise to erotic fiction, making for one of the most unfairly neglected of recent art-house films. Its very strangeness in theme, design and performance limits its appeal however.
DVD DETAILS:
Vision
The visual transfer on this DVD is for the most part outstanding. It is strikingly stylized in look and design, with a bold use of color. The décor achieves the look of an almost European elegance when seen through wide angle lenses, gliding camerawork and off-putting point of view shots playing on notions of voyeurism. The contrast of hot and cold colors charting Sands’ emotional flux is well conveyed and the transfer is a model of clarity. With the visual richness of such sophisticated surroundings, the film explores the raging sexuality behind such lavish wealth and the ironic freedom it supposedly gives. With telling slow-motion work and a variety of sexual scenes that chronicle an evolving and awakening danger and even perversity, the film is constantly disconcerting and uneasy despite the smooth veneer. As morbid melodrama it is superb, undercutting, even deconstructing the traditions of romantic magnificent obsessions – Douglas Sirk on a bad trip through a world of MTV era glitz and glamour. Sands’ hallucinations and memories intertwine as the film segues into sexual psychodrama, Sands unable to control his own needs. Symmetrical compositions fare well as does the sly erotification of the Venus de Milo.
Sound
In sound transfer and design, Boxing Helena emerges a superior stereo surround mix, at once full and uneasy as it evolves and contours. The brooding rock selection works well to create a sophisticated aural texture, neatly contrasted to the silent spaces of Sands’ house and the way the voices fill it. Although the score adds what may be considered MTV style glossiness, the look and sound is integral to the film’s notion of modernity and elegance and the hidden perversity within. All ambient source sounds are crisp, isolated details such as rain neatly filling the background depth. They segue beautifully into the song selection (including Enigma’s “Sadness”, then a strange and evocative chart hit) of both popular and classical numbers, suggesting a nicely arranged aural mosaic. Much is also made of the contrasting tones of voice between the self-assured Fenn and the whiny, needy and immature Sands, increasingly desperate and then slyly deceptive as his confidence grows the more Fenn is dependent on him. Voices are always a crisp standout, the transfer capturing the deliberation and hidden motives behind them. The somber score keeps the mood of unnatural sorrow running through this provocative and technically accomplished mix. It is a superior transfer.
Special Features
Sadly, the only special feature is the original trailer.
