BRITISH FILM-MAKER Michael Winterbottom yesterday defended scenes that portray extreme violence against women in his latest film, saying he felt the need to stay true to the pulp-fiction novel on which it is based.
The Killer Inside Me, an adaptation of the 1952 novel by Jim Thompson that Stanley Kubrick famously described as "probably the most chilling and believable first-person story of a criminally warped mind I've ever encountered", depicts brutal scenes of rough sex and murder.
One scene shows the main character, deputy sheriff Lou Ford – played by Casey Affleck – bludgeoning his prostitute girlfriend (Jessica Alba) almost to death until her face is unrecognisable, while later another woman (Kate Hudson) is punched repeatedly. She chokes to death as her killer and lover slips on her urine.
The attacks, accompanied by the music of Gustav Mahler and the opera Norma by Vincenzo Bellini as well as jaunty swing tunes, are captured in close-up camera shots. These and the sound of gurgling blood and cracking bones leave little to the imagination.
Speaking yesterday after a press screening of the film at the Berlin International Film Festival, at which people walked out and booed, Winterbottom said: “It was intentionally shocking . . . If you make a film where the violence is entertaining, I think that’s very questionable.”
He defended the film from charges that it is misogynistic – due to violence being directed at women – by saying the character who carries it out is weak and not a hero to be looked up to.
The Killer Inside Metells the story of a Texan deputy police chief who has a secret liking of sadomasochistic sex and who, due to a troubled childhood, demonstrates a destructive streak towards those he loves, and himself.
Winterbottom appeared mildly irritated by the criticism, which observers in Berlin say may lead to scenes being cut before it can be made available to a wider audience. – (Guardian service)