Fifty Shades of Grey. Need I say anymore? We all know what it is, we all know what it means and we all know what it’s about. But to be clear, it’s the overly-erotic, modern day sex-life masterpiece that has evolved from the E.L. James novel trilogy. It is not something that I thought, at first, I would be spending my Valentines Day watching, but when you’re a single girl and have a number of other single friends, you can’t really help but throw yourself at the occasion and forget about the overly commercialised day of love.
We all know the ’50 Shades’ craze began ever since the fantasy fiction hit our bookshelves in 2011 and the buzz reached fever pitch in 2013 after the endless speculation as to who would play the bondage-loving millionaire, Christian Grey. Having not read the books myself, I wondered if I would have regretted watching the film before wading through the lengthy volume of pornographic waffle, but it appears that was not the case (to an extent).
For those of you that are not novices on the whole Fifty Shades of Grey saga, the basic plot is as follows. College student, Anastasia Steele conducts an interview with the mysteriously charming, youthful billionaire, Christian Grey. After endless seduction and flirtation, Mr Grey finds his love (sex) interest in Anastasia which is soon discovered to be a love for bondage and discipline. In the infamous words of Rihanna, chains and whips certainly do excite him. But there’s a catch! Mysterious Grey wants the entire relationship to be based on the role of him as the ‘dominate’ inflicting sexual pain on the ‘submissive’ (Anastasia). Essentially, the entire film is Steele’s struggle as to whether to accept this relationship, mixed with copious amounts of sexual activity.
After queueing like sardines in the cinema foyer and being handed free packets of love hearts (sympathy card for being single of Valentines day, it’s okay, we get it), I, along with what felt like 5,000 other people scuttled into the cinema screen with huge anticipation and expectations as to what was about to flash before me.
First of all, the intent with Anastasia’s role is that she is your innocent, girl-next-door kind of character that gets seduced by this big-time millionaire. However, I felt that Dakota Johnson (Anastasia Steele) was portrayed as nervous and hesitant in most scenes, which is not the main purpose for her character. The role was played in a very one dimensional way and made the supposedly deeper scenes seem somewhat comedic. On the other hand, there is the ever sought after, Christian Grey. With his tousled beard and muscular build, Jamie Dornan is a precise physical match for the fantasy-hottie that people have been waiting to see.
Something I really enjoyed was the film’s underlying comedic angle. The awkward and cringey dialogue made the scenes a little more light-hearted and comical to watch. Even if this is not the first intention of the scene, the film embraces this goofiness with ease. There are a number of symbols that attempt to be subtle and sublime, yet they just end up being hilariously cheesy, and parts of the foreplay are more of a playground act. For example, towards the beginning of the film Christian gives Anastasia a pencil, to which she proceeds to seductively bite. I mean, I’m sorry, but if that is there idea of pleasure then you can count me out!
From a cinematographic and technical point of view, I thought that whilst some parts of the film were shot with too much similarity, the creativity and ability to shoot the scenes of sexual nature was done with class (if you can call it that). The nature of this plot line meant that viewers desired the deeper, pornographic style to the film and this is what they got – to an extent. Whilst nudity was present and Anastasia’s body was filmed in abstract ways to add further intimacy, there are times that I think people would have expected to ‘see more’. The use of music also played to the film’s advantage and is something that adds to that goosebump effect, especially as he whisks her away in a helicopter ride (Okay, maybe a little bit jealous!).
The apartment, the play room, the decor was everything that you could ever imagine it to be. The sleek, white interior of the apartment with the circling staircase and grand piano – it’s all the same. And the play room, well it’s like a painted picture. Four-post bed covered in red leather and red cushions? Check. Leather, wood, polish scent? Check. Deep, dark burgundy walls? Check. Sex toys, iron grids and handcuffs? Plenty. This is one element of the entire film that cannot be criticised for it’s similarity to the book.
Despite the film’s explicit sexual nature, there have been a number of criticisms that the film promotes sexual violence. Whilst this is a valid point to make, I think that it is important to remember that the idea of the film is to portray a modern-day replication of a bondage fantasy. In other words, what were you expecting?! There are no points in the film, where Anastasia does not give her consent, and at the time she calls her safe words, Grey retracts from further engagement. I believe that with regards to this element, the film is technically sound and the submissive is reminded of the fact that she does not have to continue on a regular basis (maybe too much?!).
So, a final verdict? Can we come to one? Has it turned out to be the enticing, worldwide phenomenon that everyone predicted, or is it simply a somewhat successful replication of a sexually explicit, forever-desiring fantasy fiction that we will continue to read and love? I think the latter is more prominent, but the real answer is this. Go and see the film if you want soft-core pornographic fun for all the family, minus the children of course (it is an 18!). If you’re after something a bit more ‘hard-core’, then I would advise you stick to your computer and if you’re simply wanting to find out what all the hype is about, then give it watch – it’s only a moderately raunchy/kinky adaptation of the book that you’ve already read!
And if you’ve been to see it already, comment below what your thoughts are!
katiemallalieu 