Fifty Shades Of Grey is a British-American erotic-romantic film directed by Sam Taylor-Johnson with a screenplay by Kelly Marcel, based on the 2011 novel of the same name by British author E. L. James. It stars Dakota Johnson as Anastasia Steele and Jamie Dornan as Christian Grey and has sadomasochism as a central theme. Supporting roles go to Jennifer Ehle, Eloise Mumford, Dylan Neal, Marcia Gay Haden, Rachel Skartsen & Callum Keith Rennie.
Anastatsia or Ana, an English literature major at Washington State University’s satellite campus near Vancouver, Washington goes to interview 27 year old billionaire business man Christian Grey for her college’s newspaper. Her roommate, Kate Kavanaugh was supposed to do it but fell ill and Ana stepped in as a replacement. After stumbling through the interview at his Seattle headquarters, she seems to have created an interest in Christian who even visits her at the hardware store she works after classes. He also agrees to a photo-shoot for the college paper after which he asks her out for coffee. While talking to Ana, who clearly is smitten with the eligible bachelor, he leaves abruptly saying that he is not the man for her. However he later sends her first editions of her favourite author’s books as a gift.
After Ana graduates she goes out drinking with her friends to celebrate and gets too drunk and calls Christian berating him about his behaviour towards her and says she is returning the books. Concerned he goes to the bar and takes a passed out Ana home to his permanent residence on the top of a large hotel. They soon start seeing each other though Christian says he wants her to sign an NDA preventing her from revealing details about their alliance. Christian explains that he only has interrelations involving bondage that is clearly defined in a signed contract. Ana reveals that she is a virgin. While considering the agreement and negotiating her own terms, she and Christian engage in some of Christian’s desired sexual practices. Christian says she can have her own room and that he won’t go to sleep with her on the same bed after their sexual stuff and that he normally doesn’t go the romantic things like dinner & movies or date nights. But he bestows Ana with gifts and favors, such as a new car and laptop computer.
After their graduation ceremony, where Ana’s dad meets Christian and learns that he is her new boyfriend, Ana and Kate move to Seattle and Ana grows closer to Christian. One night, she accompanies him to his parents’ house. During dinner, Ana suddenly mentions she is leaving the next day to visit her mother in Georgia. Later, Christian becomes frustrated when Ana expresses she wants romance rather than the one-sided relationship he proposes. She is shocked when Christian unexpectedly arrives in Georgia. He leaves soon after to tend to an emergency in Seattle. Once she returns home she moves in with Christian who still wants to experiment sexually and although she takes part in some, Christian remains distant and refuses to become more intimate. He does mention to her that he was introduced to bdsm by a friend of his mother when he was 15 and he played the submissive role to her dominant for 6 years. While still considering the contract, and in an effort to understand Christian psychologically, Ana asks him to demonstrate how he would “punish” her for rule breaking.
Christian whips Ana’s buttocks six times with a belt, making her count out each strike. When he attempts to help her up, she angrily shoves him away, upset and disgusted. It is far from Ana’s romantic expectations, and she leaves after concluding that Christian is wrong for her, despite the fact that she is falling in love with him, and that his practices border on being deviant and excessive. Both are troubled by flashbacks while the film ends abruptly as Christian leaves a business meeting distracted with images of Ana.
I wonder how they participated in such intimate scenes and engaging in BDSM in this movie. I found the movie interesting while slightly disturbing. Even romantic as the endearing Dakota Johnson manages to portay Ana as a character we can root for. 7.5 outta 10 for me!
Wes Craven, the famed maestro of horror known for the Nightmare on Elm Street and Scream franchises, died Sunday after a battle with brain cancer. He was 76. Craven, whose iconic Freddy Krueger character horrified viewers for years, died at his home in Los Angeles, his family announced. Survivors include his wife, producer and former Disney Studios vice president Iya Labunka. Wesley Earl Craven was born Aug. 2, 1939, in Cleveland. His father died when he was 5. Raised in a strict Baptist household, he graduated from Wheaton College with degrees in English and psychology, then earned a masters in philosophy and writing from Johns Hopkins.