Time flies so fast, I didn't expect that "American Psycho" has been released for 20 years now
Based on a controversial novel published in 1991 by B. E. Ellis, this highly controversial film is definitely one of the most striking and memorable satirical films of the century, and the brilliant performance of the budding Christian Bell also injects soul into the film.
In fact, without Bell's brilliant performance in the film, his career might have been quite different — first, Christopher Nolan's Dark Knight series would almost certainly have starred another actor.
Bell went to great lengths to keep the role alive, and with Mary Harlan's confident direction, Ellis's original book was eventually adapted into a gripping film that would still be breathtaking even 20 years later.
There are certainly some fascinating behind-the-scenes stories in the production and distribution of this film, so on the twentieth anniversary of the release of "American Psycho", let's take a closer look at the film's creative past.
10。 Leonardo DiCaprio almost played Bateman
American Psycho was released in 2000, and director Mary Harlan had already decided as early as 1997 that Christian Bell would play Patrick Bateman. Prior to that, David Lynch had been invited to direct the film in 1992, and Johnny Depp had expressed interest in the role.
Even though Bell was hired, he still faced competition. Distribution company Lionsgate felt the Welshman was not famous enough to play the role. Although he had appeared in many movies at the time, he had not yet played the male lead in blockbuster movies. Lionsgate wanted Harlan to consider starring Edward Norton or Leonardo DiCaprio.
Harlan refuses to see DiCaprio, insists on her agreement with Bell, and believes leonardo's teenage charm at the time is detrimental to the film. So Harlan was abandoned, and director Oliver Stone took over, but Stone could not agree to DiCaprio starring, and he wanted to weaken the irony and add more psychological horror.
The role was then recommended to Ivan McGregor, but he declined, while Bale, still holding out hope, declined auditions for other films. Bell's persistence eventually paid off, with he and Harlan being rehired on a strict budget of only $10 million, and Lionsgate requiring supporting actors to be played by well-known actors.
9。 Bell really went through the whole makeup process
Eventually, Christian Bale was allowed to play the role, for which he made strict preparations. He even straightened his teeth because he was worried that the gap between his front teeth would not fit Bateman's character. He later complained to The Guardian that I liked my old teeth and that I had cast them on bookshelves.
He also explained in the same interview that fitness workouts have taken over his life. Even before pre-production began, he had spent months working out on his own. In order to achieve the physique of the Olympic athlete described in the original novel, he exercised with his personal trainer for three hours a day.
Remember Bateman's complicated makeup process at the beginning of the movie? Bell did indeed complete these makeup procedures himself during the making of American Psycho. He bought all the necessary cosmetics and used them every day as recommended by the script, presumably to enter the psychological world of the serial killer narcissist he had created.
In addition, Bell also took inspiration from some unexpected places how to portray Bateman.
8。 Tom Cruise and Nicholas Cage provided him with inspiration
Of course, Christian Bell found it not so easy to understand the outright perverted psychopath Patrick Bateman. In an interview with Black Book magazine, Harlan recalled that she and Bell talked on several occasions before filming, trying to find the crux of the character.
"We talked about what kind of person the bizarre Patrick Bateman was," Harlan explained in the interview, "and we imagined that Bateman had been watching what people were doing, trying to figure out the right way to behave." But Bell doesn't seem to be sure how to perform yet. ”
Bale didn't finally get inspired until he saw Tom Cruise on an interview on the David Letterman Evening Show. Harlan recalled that Bell did show the kind of vibrancy that Cruise exuded, seemingly very friendly, but with no one in his eyes.
Bell also drew on the insanity of the perverted distribution executive played by Nicholas Cage in the 1988 film Vampire's Kiss to determine how to represent psychopaths. Bateman essentially blends multiple manic Hollywood stars together to create a mesmerizing effect.
7。 The director deliberately uses the clip to confuse you
Do you find William Dafoe's character Detective Donald Kimball in America's Psycho a little strange? If that's the case, it means you've been deceived by Harlan's elaborate filmmaking techniques. In fact, not only do you think Dafoe's role is a bit confusing, but even Bateman thinks he can't figure it out.
To achieve this effect, Harlan instructed Dafoe to perform each of his scenes in three distinct ways. In the first shot, she had him act like Kimball knew Bateman had killed Paul Allen. In another case, Dafoe acted as if he had no clue at all. In the third edition, he's not sure if Bateman did it.
In the clip, Harlan made sure the three shots were intertwined, giving Dafoe an eerie vibe as if his role were constantly changing. Kimball's difficulty in making people understand, prompting us to understand these conversations from Bateman's paranoid perspective. That's smart, isn't it?
6。 The original author did not like Bell's dance
B.E. Ellis is the author of the original novel American Psychosis and was involved in the production of films in his early years. Before Harlan and Bell joined, David Cronenberg had hired Ellis to adapt his novel into a screenplay. But he didn't do it happily, because Cronenberg wanted to delete the scenes of restaurants and nightclubs in the book and cut back on the violence.
According to Ellis, the first draft of his script deviated greatly from the original, and ended with Barry Manilo's "daybreak" tune, ending with a grand song and dance on the roof of the World Trade Center. After this, several screenwriters took over to revise the script, and the final screenplay was completed by Harlan herself and Ginavie Turner.
Ellis was happy with the film, but there were two things he disagreed with. Apparently, Ellis didn't like the film's use of voiceovers, nor did he like Christian Bale's improvisational dance, though the scene in which Bell murdered Paul Allen under the background music of Huey Lewis and the news band has now become an iconic scene.
Personally, I appreciate Bell's move. Take a look at the GIF above. Pretty soul-destroying, isn't it?
5。 Elizabeth is played by the screenwriter
You may remember Elizabeth, Patrick Bateman's female friend, who was involved in Bateman's second 3p scene (followed by a crazy chainsaw chase). But you may not know that Elizabeth is played by the film's screenwriter Ginavie Turner.
It's worth noting that before the sex murder plot, she chattered about the surf bar, summer programs, and cocaine, while the call girl Christie sat silent and looked worried. She then called the drug dealer, and even though it was already 3 a.m., Elizabeth stubbornly said, "Now is when he's most active." ”
The character once again echoes the theme that all yuppies look the same, though it's unclear whether Elizabeth really knows who Patrick really is. Although she had mentioned his name, she didn't seem at all confused when he said they were actually in Paul Allen's apartment.
Although the characters did not play much and did not appear long, Turner's performance was unforgettable. Although the other two characters in the same scene are a reserved prostitute and a psychotic killer, she still easily portrays Elizabeth as an unlikable woman, so it is very impressive.
4。 The final scene pays homage to the original
The ending of The Mentally Ill man in America has been one of the most controversial film topics. To this day, fans still debate whether the plot in the film actually happened, or whether it was all just a figment of Patrick Bateman's imagination in his mind. This ambiguity can make the entire film confusing from beginning to end.
During the excitement of watching the film, you will most likely miss the film's final tribute to b.e. Ellis's novel. As Patrick and his Yuppy friends sat around the table, a sign hung on the door behind him that read "this is not an exit," and then the film ended with Patrick's inner monologue.
"This is not an exit" is the last sentence of the original novel, appears at the end of the film, and its exact meaning has also caused widespread debate. Perhaps this sentence is a statement of the last provocation to the nihilistic theme of the entire film – Patrick has no outlet to escape, but he also does not have to suffer any consequences. The tagline may not have any potential meaning, which means that Patrick's story may be true.
This sentence is The finishing touch to Harlan and one of the many examples of her respect for the original. She retains a great deal of the original' content, including word-for-word dialogue and directly copied scenes. She even recreated the plot of stray cats and ATMs, no wonder the original author was satisfied.
3。 All business cards have print errors
"American Psycho" uses a few business cards to form a funny scene with a lot of trouble. To the layman, those business cards look almost identical, but for the yuppies in the movie, the nuances of the business cards seem to affect their social status. You may not notice that all business cards have the same error.
Just like the business card in the picture above, the top right corner reads "pierce & pierce mergers and aquisitions." Apparently typing in the 80s didn't have an autocorrect feature, so much so that the last word, aquisitions, was missing a letter c (the correct spelling should be accordtions).
In recent years, this error has gradually been amplified due to the spread of the Internet. But what's even more interesting is that everyone is speculating about whether the mistake was intentional. Maybe the director deliberately added this spelling mistake to make fun of all the characters in the scene. They're all obsessed with fonts and watermarks that they don't even notice that their company's main business is misspelled.
2。 Bell depicts the sex scenes in detail
As you might expect, Christian Bell is also well prepared for the sex scenes in "American Psycho". The level of refinement is even beyond your imagination. Bell watched X-rated movies with Mary Harlan, researching how to stage sex scenes just right.
According to the DVD review, Bell even drew stick figures to explain what kind of posture was most appropriate in the first 3p scene. However, Bell's stick figures should not be as scary as Bateman's paintings in the movie.
1。 The connection with Batman is closer than you might think
There is a clear connection between American Psycho and Batman. The character of Christian Bell kills the character of Jared Leto, and the future two actors play each other's Batman and The Joker in the DC Comics movie.
But, beyond that, the connection between the two can be traced back to B. E. Ellis's original novel. In the original book, The character Elizabeth, played by Ginavie Turner, nicknamed Patrick "Batman" because his surname "bateman" and Batman's nickname "batman" are very similar.
For some reason, Harlan and Turner removed the nickname from the script. That might be a good thing to look at now, because if Elizabeth had referred to Bell as Batman in American Psycho, it might have been a permanent talk of conversation after he did win the role.
What are some of the behind-the-scenes anecdotes about American Psycho that interest you most? Welcome to leave a message to share with you.