It Doesn't Suck.
Showgirls
By Adam NaymanECW PRESS
Copyright © 2014 Adam Nayman
All rights reserved.
ISBN: 978-1-77041-174-6
CHAPTER 1"MASTERPIECE."
In August 2012, I went out for drinks in Toronto with Mia Hansen-Løve, a talented young French director whom I'd recently profiled for the Globe and Mail. I liked her movies, but I was most eager to meet her as a fellow film critic. Before becoming a director, Mia had written reviews for the legendary French publication Cahiers du Cinéma. This change in vocation placed her in a long national tradition of film critics turned filmmakers that stretched back to Jean-Luc Godard, François Truffaut, and Eric Rohmer in the 1950s, and more recently included her husband, the gifted writer-director Olivier Assayas.
I also knew that Mia was a fan of the films of Stanley Kubrick and had just cited Eyes Wide Shut (1999) on her ballot for the British film journal Sight & Sound's decennial poll of the greatest movies ever made. Because I had recently finished teaching an adult-education course on Kubrick's oeuvre, Eyes Wide Shut was on my mind even more than usual, and I thought that it'd be fun to talk about it with somebody who liked it as much as I did. (Actually, she liked it more than I did: the Kubrick movie I'd picked for my own Sight & Sound ballot was 2001: A Space Odyssey [1968], a more conservative choice.)
We did end up talking about movies and comparing notes on our favorites. Eventually, the conversation settled on a film that we both admired very much: an epically scaled Hollywood production from the 1990s with fluid camerawork and a surreally rendered all-American location; an epic erotic comedy populated by an ensemble of leering, lecherous men and nubile naked women; a famous flop that generated plenty of idle gossip and dismissive giggles en route to being rediscovered as a modern classic. But that movie was not Eyes Wide Shut. Instead, I discovered that Mia was a great and devoted fan of Paul Verhoeven's Showgirls (1995).
Imagine my delight at meeting a fellow traveler! Mia also told me that she'd included a scene about Showgirls in the screenplay for her next movie, Eden:
Arnaud's apartment. Int. Night
Scenes on a TV screen from the Paul Verhoeven movie Showgirls. Slumped on a couch or in an armchair: J-C, Guillaume and Anne-Claire, Cyril, Paul, Arnaud, and MIDORI, his new girlfriend. End credits. Arnaud gets up, finds the remote, and shuts off the DVD player.
ARNAUD
Showgirls. Masterpiece.
ANNE-CLAIRE
Junk!
CYRIL
I'd even say: trash.
ANNE-CLAIRE
Seriously the actress could be nominated for the worst actress of all time.
GUILLAUME
She got several Razzies.
MIDORI
What are Razzies?
GUILLAUME
Prizes for worst actress of the year. Oscars, but negative.
ARNAUD
I guess you're referring to her at times over-the-top performance.
GUILLAUME
That's putting it mildly.
ARNAUD
But it's on purpose! Verhoeven directs her like that to emphasize his take on things. He accentuates the monstrosity. He's targeting the vulgarity of the United States. This is the third time I've shown it to you and you still don't understand. It's pathetic!
J-C
Which is why I suggest we move on.
ANNE-CLAIRE
You take advantage of us each time. We're totally exhausted. You could show us any crap you want.
ARNAUD
But it's not crap. It's the masterpiece of the '90s.
PAUL
I'd take the middle road: it's not the piece of junk critics said i
