THE LAST SEDUCTION (1994): I am my own woman
December 6th 2008 09:08
Category: No Category
After running out of gas in a small town, Bridget takes on the alias “Wendy” and swoops Mike (Peter Berg) off his feet, seducing him to her purposes with alluring nonchalance, at every turn reminding him and the audience that everything has to be done on her own terms. Watch out for another classic apple pie moment, too, this time with a postfeminist twist. If Bridget’s heartless and witty manipulations deliver their cynical rewards with dark humour, the puppy adoration and plain dumb naïveté of Mike, supposedly the most likeable and goody two-shoes character in the film, make us cringe. His plain foolishness and lack of any trace of foresight almost make him deserve his fate. Ultimately Bridget simply reacts to her ever so misogynistic environment, using it to suit her own needs. It’s not about putting someone in jail for a crime they didn’t commit, it’s about outsmarting and subverting the “way things work” in this world and not intending to give up a single piece of hard won territory for anything or anyone.
The history of cinema does not supply characters like this readily. The usual femme fatale generally thaws under the embrace of a suitably alpha male, world weary detective type or she does away with him with an ice pick and then has to suffer the consequences. Occasionally she turns out to play for the other team (see Bound). Memorably audiences got a surprise when Thelma, after a betrayal by hunky hustler Brad Pitt and other male chauvinists, rebounded on…Louise. Then again, as a consequence of their rebellion they had to go off a cliff. Fiorentino not only has no scruples whatsoever, but there are no cliffs in sight. She gets away with it all, ostensibly paving the way for others like her to come, but at this point we’re still waiting.
Needless to say The Last Seduction did not achieve mainstream success in our still predominantly patriarchal, suit-run world, but it was a runaway cult hit. The numerous gender role reversals, brilliant sexual manipulations and satirical dabs at straight-laced American small town values are especially enjoyable. My personal favourite and gleefully postfem moment in the film is when Bridget checks out (literally and quite tangibly) her new male victim’s “package” in a bar before inviting herself to his place after deeming him suitable. This film is on top of the list for an empowering movie evening with girlfriends. Everyone needs to take their inner über-bitch out for a walk once in a while.
Review by Patricia Bieszk
© Copyright P. Bieszk 2005.
Originally published in Postgraduate Review vol. 2, no 2, May 2005, p.32.
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