Wild Orchid (1989)

A woman lawyer becomes mesmerized by a self-made millionaire during an encounter in Rio setting off a series of erotic encounters.

Director:

Zalman King

Writers:

Patricia Louisianna Knop, Zalman King

Stars:

Mickey Rourke, Jacqueline Bisset, Carré Otis

2 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Mickey Rourke	...	James Wheeler
Jacqueline Bisset	...	Claudia Dennis
Carré Otis	...	Emily Reed
Assumpta Serna	...	Hanna Munch
Bruce Greenwood	...	Jerome McFarland
Oleg Vidov	...	Otto Munch
Milton Gonçalves	...	Flavio
Jens Peter	...	Volleyball Player
Antonio Mario Silva Da Silva	...	Rambo
Paul Land	...	Big Sailor
Michael Villella	...	Elliot Costa
Bernardo Jablonski	...	Roberto
Luiz Lobo	...	Juan
Lester Berman	...	Interviewer #1
Steven Kaminsky	...	Interviewer #2

Storyline

Emily, a raw recruit to a law firm is sent to Brazil with Claudia to help finalise a real estate deal. Emily is innocent and vulnerable, and when she's left in Rio with Wheeler, a milionaire with an unusual outlook on life, Emily is shocked and intrigued by the sex antics to which she is exposed.

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Plot Keywords:

sex | millionaire | brazil | lawyer | passion | 

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Genres:

Drama | Romance

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Certificate:

R

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English Portuguese

Release Date:

27 April 1990 (USA)

Also Known As:

Orquídea Selvagem

Filming Locations:

Bahia, Brazil

Box Office

Gross:

$11,060,485 (USA)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Vision PDG

Technical Specs

Runtime:

105 min 117 min (Ontario) 111 min (unrated)

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The hotel construction site was actually the skeleton of an abandoned hotel in Salvador, Bahia that was never completed. It was imploded a few years later, after decades of abandonment.

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Goofs

In the end, when Wheeler and Emily ride off on the Harley, Wheeler is wearing a leather vest in some shots, and a long sleeved leather jacket in others.

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Quotes

Emily Reed: Why do I get the feeIing that... if I reach out and touch you, you'll disappear?
James Wheeler: Why don't you try it and see?
[Emily puts her arms around him and he moves away slightly]
James Wheeler: I'm sorry. It's not you. It's me... I'm just not... very good at being touched, Emily.

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Connections

Featured in A Life in Film (2007)

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Soundtracks

"SOL NEGRO"
Written by Caetano Veloso
Performed by Maria Bethânia and Gal Costa

User Reviews

More than meets the eye

There is more, I think, to this film than most people give it credit for. Sure, it's full of sex and naked people, but it also manages to be erotic and sensual at the same time. It's certainly not the commercialized absurdity that you'll find late night on certain premium channels. More than that, though, is that it's a decent psychological study of a man who's completely divorced himself from reality. Like so many celebs of our time, money and success has allowed him to distance himself from whatever parts of reality that make him uncomfortable. Emily's naive and honest approach manages to reach him. His speech near the end, before the final 'scene,' is really impressive, and Mikey really is a great actor. Sure, Ms. Otis leaves something to be desired, but she's working in a role where her lack of comfort helps the part. Emily is out of her element, just is the actress playing her is, and even if this makes her transparent, it also makes her believable. Jaqueline Bisset is wonderful as always. All in all, if you watch this film without fast forwarding from sex scene to sex scene, you'll see a fairly human story mixed with a sexual journey that I think Zora Neale Hurston would have appreciated.