American Psycho (film)
 |
| American Psycho | |
|---|---|
| File:American-psycho-poster-0.jpg | |
| Directed by | Mary Harron |
| Written by | Mary Harron Guinevere Turner Bret Easton Ellis (novel) |
| Starring | Christian Bale Chloe Sevigny Willem Dafoe Josh Lucas Jared Leto Justin Theroux Reese Witherspoon |
| Music by | John Cale |
| Distributed by | Lions Gate Films |
Release dates | April 14, 2000 (USA) |
Running time | 101 min. |
| Country | USA  |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $8,000,000 |
American Psycho is a 1999 film (released in 2000) adaptation of Bret Easton Ellis' controversial novel American Psycho debuted at the Sundance Film Festival in April 14, 2000, starring Christian Bale as Patrick Bateman, Jared Leto, Josh Lucas, Justin Theroux, Bill Sage, Chloë Sevigny, Reese Witherspoon, Willem Dafoe and Samantha Mathis.
Template:Spoiler Mary Harron, who had previously directed I Shot Andy Warhol based on the story of Valerie Solanas, directed the film and co-wrote its screenplay with Guinevere Turner. This screenplay was selected over three others, including one by Ellis himself; according to Turner, Ellis' script ended with a giant musical number. When she asked Ellis about this, he admitted he had been unable to think of a good way to end his script (this story is supposedly untrue; rather, Ellis simply suggested ending it this way when a studio suggested a more concrete ending.) Turner claims Ellis' only complaint with the movie was Bateman's dancing before killing Paul Allen.
Many people in the film industry have said that the novel was "unfilmable" due to its story, extreme violence and sexual content. During the early stage of preproduction, many actors, directors, and crew members were considered to take on the movie adaptation. Director Mary Harron and actor Christian Bale to play Patrick Bateman were the original set to make the movie, but Leonardo DiCaprio expressed interest in playing the lead. Production company Lions Gate issued a press release that DiCaprio would star in the movie. Mary Harron walked off the project, because she had not been consulted about this decision and had wanted Christian Bale. Oliver Stone became involved to direct. When both DiCaprio (whose interest in this project had been greatly overstated) and Stone dropped the project, Harron and Bale returned to the movie.
To clean up the unedited DVD version of the movie and achieve a relatively mild R rating, the producers excised approximately eighteen seconds of footage from a ménage à trois scene featuring an emotionally detached Patrick Bateman and two prostitutes.
The question of Patrick Bateman's Reality
There has been much debate among fans as to what extent the movie was supposed to have taken place in Bateman's mind. There are several instances in the movie where the reality of the events is called into question:
- After Patrick kills Paul Allen and drags his body through the lobby a blood trail is clearly visible. Later, after Patrick talks to Louis Carruthers, the blood trail is gone.
- When Patrick engages in a gun battle with the police, he fires at the police car causing it to explode. Patrick then stares at his gun in obvious disbelief.
- When Patrick returns to Paul Allen's apartment, all evidence of his crimes are gone and there is a real estate agent present who appears to have no knowledge of the events that supposedly transpired there (though the real estate agent's attitude and behavior creates ambiguity as to whether she has knowledge and is covering up the crime or not).
- Much like the novel, this movie does make a satire of the yuppie society. With that view in mind, it is possible to come to the conclusion that the covering up of crimes and murders existed. This is highlighted when Bateman confronts his lawyer, Harold, and him saying that he had dinner with Paul Allen in London just ten days prior. As everyone was confusing Bateman with Halberstam, it is possible that in the fake society, no one really knew who anyone was.
- Other characters in the movie repeatedly refer to Patrick as a "loser" while mistaking him for someone else. This is taken by some as another example of Patrick's warped sense of reality reflecting his own feelings of inadequacy.
- When operating an ATM towards the end of the film, the screen suddenly displays the message "FEED ME A STRAY CAT". Patrick picks up a stray cat nearby and pulls out his pistol, when a nearby old woman stops him.
- There is conflicting commentary on the DVD from Mary Harron and Guinevere Turner as to whether or not the crimes actually occurred.
Other cast and crew considerations
- Edward Norton was offered the part of Bateman but turned it down.
- Brad Pitt was once attached to star, with David Cronenberg directing and Bret Easton Ellis himself writing the script.
- Leonardo DiCaprio as Patrick Bateman, James Woods as Donald Kimball and Cameron Diaz as Evelyn Williams with Oliver Stone set to direct from a script written by Matthew Markwalder.
- DiCaprio was going to be paid 20 million dollars for the film but the role went to Christian Bale when director Mary Harron returned to the project.
- Reese Witherspoon, who has a small role, requested that her character not be involved with any romantic love scenes with the lead character. The role was shortened to her request though the role in the novel was very important and did have a few sexual scenes. [citation needed]
Marketing
As a promotion for the movie, one could sign up to receive e-mails "from" Patrick Bateman, supposedly to his therapist. The e-mails follow Bateman's life since the events of the film. In the e-mails, he discusses such developments as his marriage to (and impending divorce settlement with) his former secretary, Jean, his complete adoration of his son, Patrick Jr., and his efforts to triumph over his business rivals. The e-mails also mention or detail interactions with other characters from the novel, including Timothy Price (Bryce in the film version), Evelyn Williams, Luis Carruthers, and Marcus Halberstam.
Soundtrack
John Cale scored the film.
- You Spin Me Round (Like A Record) - dope (Cover song)
- Monologue 1 - John Cale
- Something in the Air (American Psycho remix) - David Bowie
- Watching Me Fall (Underdog remix) - The Cure
- True Faith - New Order
- Monologue 2 - John Cale
- Trouble - Daniel Ash
- Paid In Full (Coldcut remix) - Eric B. & Rakim
- Who Feelin' It (Philip's Psycho mix) - Tom Tom Club
- Monologue 3 - John Cale
- What's On Your Mind - Information Society (Pure Energy mix)
- Pump Up The Volume - M/A/R/R/S
- Paid In Full - The Racket (remix)
Huey Lewis and the News' "Hip To Be Square" was originally on the soundtrack, but shortly after it was released, the CD was pulled from the shelves and the song was removed before being reissued, but a small number had already been sold. Reports suggested that Huey Lewis had objected to the context in which his song was used in the film and demanded it be removed from the CD. In reality, there was no objection over the context. Although the film's production team had paid for the rights to use the song in the film, the rights to include it on the soundtrack were overlooked. When the soundtrack was released with the song on it, Huey Lewis had it withdrawn, as the soundtrack rights had not been secured.
Complete soundtrack
Here are all of the songs that appeared in the film combined with the soundtrack:
- Hip to be Square – Huey Lewis and the News
- Walking On Sunshine – Katrina and the Waves
- Watching Me Fall (Underdog Remix) – The Cure
- In Too Deep – Genesis
- Paid In Full (Remix) – The Racket
- Something in the Air (American Psycho Remix) – David Bowie
- Pump Up the Volume – Martyn Young
- True Faith – New Order
- You Spin Me Round (Like a Record) – Dope
- Trouble – Daniel Ash
- Paid in Full (Coldcut Remix) – Eric B. & Rakim B.
- Lady in Red – Chris De Burgh
- Who’s Feelin’ It (Philip’s Psycho Mix) – Tom Tom Club
- Cuatro Milpas – Francisco Gonzalez
- Simply Irresistible – Robert Palmer
- I Touch Roses – Book Of Love
- What’s On Your Mind (Pure Energy Mix) – Information Society
- If You Don’t Know Me By Now – Simply Red
- Sussudio – Phil Collins
- Everlasting Love
- Deck the Halls
- Joy to the World
- Secreit Nicht
Associations with other media
- The song "Walking on Sunshine" by Katrina and the Waves, which runs during the establishing shots of New York City and Wall Street, makes an ironic reference to Michael J. Fox's The Secret of My Success, which also features the song.
- Similarly, the presence of New Order's hit True Faith also makes reference to film adaptation of Ellis' friend Jay McInerey's book Bright Lights, Big City which also features the track.
- While working out, Patrick Bateman watches Tobe Hooper's The Texas Chainsaw Massacre. Several scenes later he pursues Christie with a chainsaw.
- Speech snippets from the movie were sampled by DJ Paul Elstak for his gabber track "I Had To Kill A Lot Of People".
- Murderdolls used the line "I like to dissect girls" before the solo in the song "197666".
- Samples from the film have also been used by Belgian death metal band Aborted in the opening song "Dead Wreckoning" of their fourth album "The Archaic Abattoir".
- The Orange County hardcore band Bleeding Through has the quotation and part of the speech before "I killed Paul Allen, I killed him with an axe in the face" from the movie before starting the live version of the song "Number Seven With A Bullet".
- The Drum and Bass outfit Gein has used samples from the film to introduce their DJ mixes.
- The Finnish band Children of Bodom used a snippet from Bateman's final speech as an ending to the song "Bodom Beach Terror", and continued the snippet into the beginning of the next track "Angels Don't Kill" on the album Hate Crew Deathroll. The title of the song "Mask of Sanity" from the album Follow the Reaper is taken from a quote in the movie.
- The song "My Hate Unfolds" by Callenish Circle, a metal band from Holland, starts off with "I want my pain to be inflicted on others" and ends with Christian Bale's speech at the end of the movie, "There are no more barriers to cross. All I have in common with the uncontrollable and the insane, the vicious and the evil, all the mayhem I have caused and my utter indifference towards it, I have now surpassed. My pain is constant and sharp, and I do not hope for a better world for anyone. In fact, I want my pain to be inflicted on others. I want no one to escape. But even after admitting this, there is no catharsis. My punishment continues to elude me, and I gain no deeper knowledge of myself. This confession has meant nothing."
- The song "Ethereal Bleeding" by American metal band Rune ends with Bateman's final speech.
- The song "Red Lights" by British band Curiosity Killed The Cat plays during Bateman's evening with Christie and Elizabeth in Paul Allen's apartment.
- The song "This Confession Means Nothing" by British metalcore band Architects is a homage to the speech by Christian Bale.
- The song "Erratic Perception" by American death metal band Through The Eyes Of The Dead uses the same speech.
- The song "Hold Me Closer Tony Danza" by American grindcore band Killwhitneydead also uses Christian Bale's speech.
- The song "Psycho2Vii" by the Industrial act C-Drone Defect features a variety of samples from the film.
- The song "American Psycho" by metal act My Ruin which includes the line 'this is not an exit' among other references
- The song "Bloodlust" by metal Band from Ohio, Cleveland Chimaira is based on the movie, as it is one of the favourite movies of the band's lead singer Mark Hunter
Trivia
- In the movie, Patrick claims he lives "in the American Gardens building on West 81st." Tom Cruise once lived there. The makers of the film originally envisioned Tom playing the role of Patrick. In the novel, Patrick has a brief encounter with Cruise stating that he lives in the penthouse of his building.
- Some events that Bateman mentions in the phone message to his lawyer are events that transpired in the book by Bret Easton Ellis, but not in the film.
- In the movie Rules of Attraction (based on another Ellis novel of the same name), the main character Sean Bateman receives a phone call from Paul. He initially does not recognize the caller and asks "Who is this? Patrick?" (in the novel, Patrick is Sean's brother. Although filmed, his scenes were cut from the film)
- When Bateman concludes his confession in the final scene at Harry's Bar, a wooden door in the background bears a sign reading "This Is Not An Exit." These are the famous last words of the novel, possibly representing the endless cycle that Bateman, and to a greater extent America, must continuously endure. They are also reminiscent of Jean-Paul Sartre's existentialist play No Exit.
- In 2005, the National Entertainment Collectibles Association released an action figure based on Christian Bale's likeness as Patrick Bateman in the American Psycho film as part of its first series of Cult Classics action figures.
- The song played at the beginning of the credits is "Something in the Air" by David Bowie, the same song played during the credits of Memento, a film released the same year. The two films share similar themes of warped realities, and Christian Bale goes on to star in Memento's director Christopher Nolan's first blockbuster -- Batman Begins. And, both Bale and Bowie went on to star in the film The Prestige (film), also directed by Nolan.
- In the Showtime original series Dexter, serial killer Dexter Morgan uses "Patrick Bateman" as an alias.
American Psycho 2
A direct-to-video sequel, American Psycho 2: All American Girl followed, directed by Morgan J. Freeman. This sequel was not based on the novel and cannot be reconciled with subsequent novels by Bret Easton Ellis, as its only connection with the original is the death, in a flashback scene utilizing a different actor (Michael Kremko) wearing a face mask, of Patrick Bateman himself. The movie bears little or no resemblance to the original in plot, character, theme, or setting, and most fans of the original novel and film adaptation do not acknowledge the sequel as a valid part of the character's continuity. It has been dismissed by fans of the original as an attempt to cash in on the title of the book and the film adaptation.