Basic Instinct
氷の微笑
Storyline
The whole story, ending included.
A crime novelist, an ice pick and an interrogation scene the actress says she was tricked into; protested by gay rights groups on set.
In San Francisco a blonde woman kills Johnny Boz, a retired rock star, in bed during sex. Detective Nick Curran and his partner, Gus Moran, look first at Boz's girlfriend, Catherine Tramell, a wealthy crime novelist whose latest book describes the murder in detail. Under questioning she taunts the detectives, smoking and exposing herself, and she is released for lack of evidence. But people close to her have a way of dying, and her friends include a woman who killed her own family.
Nick has troubles of his own. A recovering alcoholic who once accidentally killed two tourists, he is in mandatory counselling with the police psychologist Beth Garner, his on-off lover. After the interrogation he starts drinking again, goes home with Beth and rapes her. He learns that Catherine is writing him into her next novel, as a detective killed by the woman he falls for. Suspecting that his confidential file has been leaked, he assaults Lieutenant Nilsen of internal affairs, and when Nilsen is found murdered, Nick is suspended.
He and Catherine begin an affair, watched by her jealous girlfriend, Roxy, who later tries to run Nick down and dies in the crash. Catherine tells him about a woman at college who became obsessed with her. Nick discovers it was Beth, who says the obsession ran the other way, and the trail begins to point at Beth: a professor she and Catherine shared was killed in an unsolved case that resembles one of Catherine's plots, and Beth's former husband was murdered too.
Catherine ends the affair. Gus arranges to meet her old college roommate, and Nick finds him murdered in a lift, exactly as in the draft of Catherine's new novel. Beth arrives, saying a message lured her there. Believing she is armed, Nick kills her; she is not. The police find evidence in her flat that implicates her in the murders. Catherine comes back to Nick, and they make love and talk about a future. Beneath the bed, where neither of them can see it, lies the kind of weapon used in the killings.
Starring
Michael Douglasas Nick Curran
A San Francisco homicide detective with a violent past, who falls for the prime suspect in the case he is working.
Nick Curran’s story
Nick, a recovering drinker who once shot two tourists by accident, is in compulsory counselling with Beth Garner, the police psychologist he sleeps with on and off. He meets Catherine Tramell, whose novel described the murder he is investigating, and she taunts him through the interrogation. That night he drinks again and rapes Beth. He learns that Catherine is writing him into her next book as a detective killed by the woman he falls for, assaults the internal-affairs officer he thinks leaked his file, and is suspended when the man is murdered. He begins an affair with Catherine anyway, and the trail leads to Beth. When Gus is killed, he kills Beth, believing she is armed; she is not. Catherine comes back to him, and in bed they talk about a future, above a weapon neither of them sees.
Sharon Stoneas Catherine Tramell
A wealthy crime novelist whose book describes her lover's murder, and who toys with the detectives investigating her.
Catherine Tramell’s story
Brought in for questioning over the murder of her lover, Johnny Boz, Catherine smokes, taunts the detectives, exposes herself and walks out for lack of evidence. People close to her have a way of dying, and one of her friends killed her own family. She sets out to write Nick into her next book as a detective killed by the woman he falls for, and takes him to bed while her girlfriend, Roxy, watches. After Roxy dies trying to run him down, she tells Nick about a woman at college who became obsessed with her, and the trail leads to Beth. Then she ends the affair. Gus is killed as her draft describes, Nick kills Beth, and Catherine comes back to him. As they lie together, the kind of weapon used in the killings lies under the bed.
George Dzundzaas Gus Moran
Nick's partner, who worries about his involvement with Catherine and keeps digging into her past.
Jeanne Tripplehornas Beth Garner
A police psychologist and Nick's on-off lover, who knew Catherine at college.
Beth Garner’s story
Beth counsels Nick for the police and sleeps with him on and off. After his first interrogation of Catherine, Nick drinks again, goes home with Beth and rapes her. As he falls for Catherine, the trail turns towards Beth. Catherine speaks of a woman at college who became obsessed with her; it was Beth, who says the obsession ran the other way. A complaint Catherine once filed against her was withdrawn by Nilsen; a professor they both knew was killed in an unsolved case like one of Catherine's plots; and Beth's former husband was murdered too. When Gus is killed, Beth arrives at the building, saying a message lured her there. Believing she is reaching for a weapon, Nick kills her; she is unarmed. The police find evidence in her flat that implicates her in the murders.
Leilani Sarelleas Roxy
Catherine's girlfriend, who killed her younger brothers as a teenager and is jealous of Nick.
Why it matters
Basic Instinct turned a murder mystery into a contest of desire and power, and it has been argued over ever since. It cast a bisexual woman as a brilliant and possibly murderous seductress, and gay and lesbian activists protested during filming and at its opening, saying it repeated Hollywood's habit of making queer women killers. Women's groups objected to its picture of women and to the scene in which Nick rapes Beth. Sharon Stone has said that the shot in which she is exposed during the interrogation was filmed without her knowledge, after she was assured nothing would be visible; Paul Verhoeven says she knew exactly what they were doing. It was also the fourth highest-grossing film of 1992. Beneath the arguments sits the film's own question: whether the man who thinks he is investigating a woman is only a character in the story she is writing.