Demonlover

Scott Hardie: “It sucked.”

I didn't expect any actual demonic fornication to take place, but certainly a film called "Demonlover" and starring Gina Gershon shouldn't be this fucking dull. It's a tale of corporate intrigue told mostly in meetings. That's right, meetings: You have them all day long at work; would you like to see more of them at home on DVD? And these meetings take place between people speaking French, Japanese, and English, so every line has to be translated once or even twice, increasing the fascination considerably, believe me. When one of the companies, a Japanese adult animation producer, finally broke the meeting to demonstrate their product, I never thought I'd be so happy to see hentai in my life.

The problem is that it's a bona fide highbrow art film in lowbrow packaging. Me, I rented this several months ago and waited until I was in the mood for a sexy, trashy thriller with Gina Gershon, sort of like "Bound" gone corporate. Instead, it's classy and artistic, a serious exploration of business ethics and the similarities between corporate politics and BDSM. It would almost be silly if it weren't so slack-paced and dull. Besides, the sex in the film is not sexy, reducing these intelligent, ambitious women to rape victims held at gunpoint or even drugged and brainwashed. There's a lot being said here about issues of control versus submission for female executives in an industry that objectifies them, but I hope you're in the right frame of mind if you sit down to hear it.

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