Wild Side (1995)

Director:

Donald Cammell

Writers (WGA):

China Kong (written by) &
Donald Cammell (written by)

Release Date:

17 October 1997 (Portugal)

Genre:

Action | Thriller

Tagline:

It's Not About Sex, It's About Power!

Plot:

While Bruno is an international money mover and influence peddler and Virginia is his very beautiful wife...

Plot Keywords:

Bank | FBI | Call Girl | Undercover | Sex

Cast

Christopher Walken	...	Bruno Buckingham
Joan Chen	...	Virginia Chow
Steven Bauer	...	Tony
Anne Heche	...	Alex Lee / Johanna
Allen Garfield	...	Dan Rackman
Adam Novak	...	Lyle Litvak
Zion	...	Hiro Sakamoto
Richard Palmer	...	Cop Driver
Randy Crowder	...	Federal Agent
Marcus Aurelius	...	Agent James Reed
Michael Rose	...	Agent Morse Jaeger
Lewis Arquette	...	The Chief
Rolando De La Maza	...	Steward
Candace Kita	...	Lotus Ita (as Candace Camille Bender)
Ian Johnson	...	Philip Hamlyn
Gena Kim	...	Massage Girl
Robert Mazzola	...	Gilberto

Directed by
Donald Cammell		(as Franklin Brauner)

Writing credits (WGA)
China Kong		(written by) &
Donald Cammell		(written by)

Produced by
Donald Cammell	....	co-producer
Joan Chen	....	associate producer
Elie Cohn	....	producer
Boaz Davidson	....	co-producer
Danny Dimbort	....	executive producer
Nick Jones	....	producer
China Kong	....	co-producer
John Langley	....	producer
Avi Lerner	....	executive producer
Frank Mazzola	....	producer (director's cut)
Hamish McAlpine	....	producer
Andrew Pfeffer	....	executive producer
Danny Short	....	executive producer
Trevor Short	....	executive producer
Roger Trilling	....	co-producer

Original Music by
Ryûichi Sakamoto

Cinematography by
Seo Mutarevic		(as Sead Muhtarevic)

Film Editing by
John Ganem		(director's cut)
Frank Mazzola		(director's cut)

Casting by
Pamela Guest		(as Pamela Rack)

Production Design by
Claire Jenora Bowin

Set Decoration by
Shana Sigmond

Costume Design by
Alison Hirsch

Makeup Department
Elizabeth Rabe	....	additional hair stylist
Ashley Scott	....	makeup artist
Scott Williams	....	hair stylist

Production Management
Barbara Doyle	....	production supervisor (as Barbara Freedman)
Steven Kevin Ogden	....	post-production supervisor

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Philip Gallegos	....	second assistant director (as Philip James Gallegos)
Paul Martin	....	first assistant director (as Paul N. Martin)

Art Department
Rebecca Carriaga	....	property master
Mark Hutman	....	set dresser
Paul Isham	....	set dresser
Richard Redmond	....	assistant props
Tristano Solari	....	construction coordinator
Kaki Wall	....	art department coordinator

Sound Department
Darren Barnett	....	adr mixer
Darren Barnett	....	foley mixer
Darren Barnett	....	sound re-recording mixer
Geoffrey Haley	....	boom operator
Harry Harris	....	dialogue supervisor
Mark Korba	....	sound effects editor
Pattie Lorusso	....	sound effects editor
Peggy McAffee	....	sound effects editor
Benjamin Patrick	....	sound mixer
Christopher B. Reeves	....	dialogue editor (director's cut)
David Rodriguez	....	adr mixer
David Rodriguez	....	foley mixer
Mikael Sandgren	....	adr editor
Paul Schremp	....	sound re-recording mixer
Marsha Sorce	....	sound recordist

Special Effects by
Eric Rylander	....	special effects coordinator

Stunts
Simone Boisseree	....	stunts
Spike Silver	....	stunt coordinator
Eddie Yansick	....	stunts

Camera and Electrical Department
James Carlton	....	grip
Collin S. Colberg	....	first assistant camera
David DeForest Keys	....	electrician
Mark Feijo	....	electrician
Dominik Feller	....	second assistant camera
Jason C. Fitzgerald	....	electrician
Philip Hurn	....	camera operator
Lisa Michele Jones	....	still photographer
Martin Leeper	....	gaffer (as Martin C. Leeper)
Doug Lively	....	dolly grip
David McLaughlin	....	best boy electric
Robert W. Morgenroth	....	video playback operator
Jennifer Perkins	....	electrician
Javier Pérez	....	key grip
Charles H.E. Richards	....	best boy grip
Marshall Stallings	....	grip

Casting Department
Jerry Conca	....	extras casting
Karen Meisels	....	casting assistant
Paige Scurti Sternin	....	casting assistant

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Annette Dunford-Lewis	....	set costumer
Beverly Kline	....	costume supervisor

Editorial Department
Dexter N. Adriano	....	second assistant film editor
Elaine C. Andrianos	....	first assistant film editor
Liam Baldwin	....	second assistant film editor
Arleen Beaty	....	second assistant film editor
Nicholas Edgar	....	second assistant film editor
Catherine Hader	....	assistant editor: director's cut
Catherine Hader	....	post-production coordinator: director's cut
Vivian Hengsteler	....	negative cutter
Mike Mertens	....	color timer

Music Department
Jeff Charbonneau	....	music editor
Jarvis Cocker	....	composer: additional music (director's cut)
Lee Curreri	....	composer: additional music
Steve Mackey	....	composer: additional music (director's cut)
Jamie Muhoberac	....	composer: additional music
Ryûichi Sakamoto	....	music mixer
Ryûichi Sakamoto	....	music recordist
Roger Trilling	....	music supervisor
Mark Webber	....	composer: additional music (director's cut)
Diane DeLouise Wessel	....	music supervisor

Transportation Department
Brian Apt	....	transportation office
Geno Hart	....	transportation coordinator
Glenn Knowlton	....	transportation captain
Adam Pinkstaff	....	driver
William Smallwood	....	driver: production van

Other crew
Veronica Alweiss	....	production coordinator
Charles H. Coffman	....	set production assistant
Chuck Coffman	....	production assistant
Lior Dimbort	....	assistant: Mr. Walken
Andre Gaudry	....	location manager
Mathew Goodman	....	set production assistant
Julie Inglese	....	assistant production coordinator
James Luther	....	craft service
Peter Mickernan	....	helicopter pilot
Ronit Ravich-Boss	....	script supervisor
Phillippa Rick	....	set production assistant
Leander Ward	....	assistant: Donald Cammell

Production Companies

• Channel Four Films
• Mondofin B.V.
• Nu Image Films
• Wild Side Productions Inc.

Distributors

• Evergreen Video (video)
• Home Video Hellas (HVH) (1995) (Greece) (VHS)
• Metro Tartan Distribution Ltd.
• Pioneer Video (2000) (worldwide) (DVD)

Also Known As:

"All the Way" - Philippines (English title)

Runtime:

96 min | UK:111 min (director's cut)

Country:

UK | USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Certification:

Germany:18 (video premiere) | Portugal:M/18 (video premiere) | UK:18 | USA:R | Philippines:R-18 | Australia:R | Iceland:16 | Singapore:(Banned)

Filming Locations:

Long Beach, California, USA

Company:

Channel Four Films

Trivia:

Donald Cammell was introduced to Nu Image by producer Elie Cohn, with whom he had worked on the unmade Marlon Brando film "Jericho". Nu Image was also familiar with Cammell's work and appeared to like the "Wild Side" script. However, the relationship between Nu Image and Cammell quickly turned sour. First, the company tried to prevent the casting of the then completely unknown Anne Heche as Joan Chen's lover. Then they questioned Cammell's working methods, sparking a battle of wills between him and Cohn. When Cammell delivered his rough cut, the producers were horrified. They fired off a memo ordering the film's editor Frank Mazzola to remove all flashbacks, flash forwards and jump cuts. Unsatisfied, the producers sacked him and re-cut the movie themselves.

Quotes:

Bruno Buckingham:Women... With 'em, without 'em, who can live?

Movie Connections:

References Performance (1970)

Soundtrack:

Oye Morena

One of the greatest soft core lesbian scenes, with an OK crime drama around it.

I remember reading a review of this in one of those phone book sized movie guides you can get at a book store. They gave it their lowest rating, saying that it looked like it was all improvised in a series of motel room and apartments.

Yea, I can kind of see it.

Anyways, Wild Side is an OK noir film of sorts about a bank worker by day, high class prostitute by night (Heche) who gets involved with a crime boss (Walken) and his sexy girlfriend (Chen). Heche and Chen end up falling in love, and concoct a plan of sorts to get away.

The film probably would have faded away if it wasn't for the scorcher of a love scene between Heche and Chen. With an agonizingly erotic set up (a long dinner date between the two, followed by a first kiss in the womens bathroom), the actual love scene is allowed to play out nice and slow, in a big bedroom with the summer light and breeze blowing in. Seriously guys (and girls, I guess) this is everything you could want in a scene like this.

I wish I could say the movie around it was memorable enough to live up to that kind of glory, but it really doesn't. I'm sure Donald Cammell was a great director, and it's probably real sad that the film was chopped up before he could finish it to it's satisfaction. But I've got a feeling that whatever state this movie was supposed to in, it would have turned out the same.

Eroticism aside, the lesbian scene is asthetically like a breath of fresh air. It's bright, and wide open in the way it plays out across the screen. Compared to that, the rest of the movie really does play too dark; It really is kind of like sitting with your legs crossed on the floor in the corners of dark apartments while listening to other people talk. Dreary, in other words.

By the way, check out the Canadian video cover for this one compared to the static "3 portraits" cover we got in America. A classic example of how just how puritanical our culture can be sometimes.