Color of Night
Encyclopedia
Color of Night is a 1994 American erotic mystery thriller
film produced by Cinergi Pictures
and released in the United States by Hollywood Pictures
. Directed by Richard Rush
, the film stars Bruce Willis
, Jane March
, Ruben Blades
, Lesley Ann Warren
, and Scott Bakula
. It is one of two well-known works by director Richard Rush
, the other being The Stunt Man
14 years before.
Although Color of Night flopped at the box office, this film did well in the home video
market and became one of the Top 20 most-rented films in the United States in 1995. Maxim magazine also singled this film out as having the Best Sex Scenes in film history.
), a New York City
psychoanalyst, falls into a deep depression
after a patient commits suicide
in front of him by jumping from his office window. The sight of the bloody body of his patient clad in a bright green dress causes Capa to suffer from psychosomatic color blindness
, taking away his ability to see the color red. To restart his life, Capa travels to Los Angeles
to stay with a friend, fellow therapist and best-selling author Dr. Bob Moore, who invites him to sit in on a group therapy
session. But one night Moore is violently murdered in the office and Capa is plunged into the mystery of his friend's death.
Moore would gather his patients every Monday for a discussion of their problems and police detective Lt. Hector Martinez considers them, and Capa, suspects in the murder. Capa continues to live in Moore's house and begins a torrid affair with Rose, a mysterious girl who comes and goes without warning into his life. As relationships develop, Capa takes over Moore's patients and learns of their pasts and obsessions:
Soon, one of these patients is violently murdered and Capa himself becomes the target of several attempts on his life. He also discovers that all but one of his patients have been romantically involved with his new girlfriend, Rose. This leads to a twist ending: "Richie" is really Rose, and the murders have been committed by her deranged brother Dale (Andrew Lowery). They actually had a brother named Richie who was molested
by a child psychiatrist named Niedelmeyer. Richie committed suicide and, unable to cope with the loss, Dale forced Rose to play the part of their brother. Dale — who was also one of Niedelmeyer's victims — began abusing Rose until she actually became "Richie". When "Richie" was arrested for drug possession, "she" was forced into therapy. Rose soon started to re-emerge and, under another personality "Bonnie", started relationships with other members of the group. Dale proceeded to kill them, fearing that they would soon link Rose to "Richie".
When Capa confronts Rose and Dale over this, Dale tries to kill him but is killed by Rose. Deeply traumatized
, she tries to commit suicide but Capa is able to stop her, bookending the story with two suicide attempts — one at the beginning, resulting in Capa's loss of color vision, and one at the end, thwarted and resulting in his regaining it.
film: the many nude scenes made by the two main actors included a full-frontal by Willis. As the character of Rose is bisexual, there are also scenes of March with Lesley Ann Warren as her partner.
This was the second film in which March appeared in explicit sex scenes (the first being The Lover
).
), Worst Actress (Jane March), Worst Director (Richard Rush), Worst Screenplay, Worst Original Song ("The Color of the Night"), Worst Screen Couple ("Any combination of any two people from the entire cast"), Worst Supporting Actor (Jane March as Richie) and Worst Supporting Actress (Lesley Ann Warren). The film is the first Worst Picture winner to take that award and not win even one other Razzie.
On more positive notes, Color of Night did win a Golden Globe nomination in the category Best Original Song — Motion Picture for its theme song "The Color of the Night," performed by Lauren Christy
. On the other hand, Maxim magazine also praised Color of Night for having the Best Sex Scenes in film history.
Erotic thriller
The erotic thriller is a film and literary sub-genre which consists of a mixture between erotica and thriller. The genre increased in North American popularity from the mid-1980s through the early 1990s, before declining in marketability.-1980s:...
film produced by Cinergi Pictures
Cinergi Pictures
Cinergi Pictures Entertainment Inc. was a small independent production company that was founded by Andrew G. Vajna, after he had sold his interest in his first production company, Carolco International Pictures in 1989, which he had started with his partner Mario F. Kassar in 1975.-Cinergi...
and released in the United States by Hollywood Pictures
Hollywood Pictures
Hollywood Pictures is one of The Walt Disney Company's several alternate movie divisions. Like Disney's Touchstone Pictures brand, it produces films for a more mature adult audience than Walt Disney Pictures.-History:...
. Directed by Richard Rush
Richard Rush (director)
Richard Rush is an American movie director, scriptwriter, and producer. He is best known for the Oscar-nominated The Stunt Man. His other works, however, have been less celebrated. The next best-known of his movies is Color of Night — also nominated, but in this case for the Golden Raspberry Award...
, the film stars Bruce Willis
Bruce Willis
Walter Bruce Willis , better known as Bruce Willis, is an American actor, producer, and musician. His career began in television in the 1980s and has continued both in television and film since, including comedic, dramatic, and action roles...
, Jane March
Jane March
Jane March is an English film actress and former print model.-Life and career:March was born Jane March Horwood in Edgware, London, England. Her father, Bernard Horwood, is a secondary school teacher of English and Spanish ancestry. Her mother, Jean, is Vietnamese and Chinese...
, Ruben Blades
Rubén Blades
Rubén Blades Bellido de Luna is a Panamanian salsa singer, songwriter, lawyer, actor, Latin jazz musician, and politician, performing musically most often in the Afro-Cuban and Latin jazz genres...
, Lesley Ann Warren
Lesley Ann Warren
Lesley Ann Warren is an American actress and singer. She has been nominated once for an Academy Award and Emmy Awards and five times for Golden Globe, winning one....
, and Scott Bakula
Scott Bakula
Scott Stewart Bakula is an American actor, known for his role as Sam Beckett in the television series Quantum Leap, for which he won the Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Television Series Drama in 1991 and was nominated for four Emmy Awards. He also had a prominent role as Captain Jonathan...
. It is one of two well-known works by director Richard Rush
Richard Rush (director)
Richard Rush is an American movie director, scriptwriter, and producer. He is best known for the Oscar-nominated The Stunt Man. His other works, however, have been less celebrated. The next best-known of his movies is Color of Night — also nominated, but in this case for the Golden Raspberry Award...
, the other being The Stunt Man
The Stunt Man
The Stunt Man is a 1980 American film directed by Richard Rush, starring Peter O'Toole, Steve Railsback, and Barbara Hershey. The movie was adapted by Lawrence B. Marcus and Rush from the novel by Paul Brodeur...
14 years before.
Although Color of Night flopped at the box office, this film did well in the home video
Home video
Home video is a blanket term used for pre-recorded media that is either sold or rented/hired for home cinema entertainment. The term originates from the VHS/Betamax era but has carried over into current optical disc formats like DVD and Blu-ray Disc and, to a lesser extent, into methods of digital...
market and became one of the Top 20 most-rented films in the United States in 1995. Maxim magazine also singled this film out as having the Best Sex Scenes in film history.
Plot
Bill Capa (Bruce WillisBruce Willis
Walter Bruce Willis , better known as Bruce Willis, is an American actor, producer, and musician. His career began in television in the 1980s and has continued both in television and film since, including comedic, dramatic, and action roles...
), a New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
psychoanalyst, falls into a deep depression
Clinical depression
Major depressive disorder is a mental disorder characterized by an all-encompassing low mood accompanied by low self-esteem, and by loss of interest or pleasure in normally enjoyable activities...
after a patient commits suicide
Suicide
Suicide is the act of intentionally causing one's own death. Suicide is often committed out of despair or attributed to some underlying mental disorder, such as depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, alcoholism, or drug abuse...
in front of him by jumping from his office window. The sight of the bloody body of his patient clad in a bright green dress causes Capa to suffer from psychosomatic color blindness
Color blindness
Color blindness or color vision deficiency is the inability or decreased ability to see color, or perceive color differences, under lighting conditions when color vision is not normally impaired...
, taking away his ability to see the color red. To restart his life, Capa travels to Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
to stay with a friend, fellow therapist and best-selling author Dr. Bob Moore, who invites him to sit in on a group therapy
Group therapy
Group psychotherapy or group therapy is a form of psychotherapy in which one or more therapists treat a small group of clients together as a group...
session. But one night Moore is violently murdered in the office and Capa is plunged into the mystery of his friend's death.
Moore would gather his patients every Monday for a discussion of their problems and police detective Lt. Hector Martinez considers them, and Capa, suspects in the murder. Capa continues to live in Moore's house and begins a torrid affair with Rose, a mysterious girl who comes and goes without warning into his life. As relationships develop, Capa takes over Moore's patients and learns of their pasts and obsessions:
- Clark (Brad DourifBrad DourifBradford Claude "Brad" Dourif is an American film and television actor who gained early fame for his portrayal of Billy Bibbit in One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, and has since appeared in a number of memorable roles, including the voice of Chucky in the Child's Play franchise, Younger Brother in...
) suffers from severe obsessive compulsive disorder and insists on cleanliness and counting things. This led him to beat up his wife. - Sondra Dorio (Lesley Ann WarrenLesley Ann WarrenLesley Ann Warren is an American actress and singer. She has been nominated once for an Academy Award and Emmy Awards and five times for Golden Globe, winning one....
) is a nymphomaniac and kleptomaniacKleptomaniaKleptomania is an irresistible urge to steal items of trivial value. People with this disorder are compelled to steal things, generally, but not limited to, objects of little or no significant value, such as pens, paper clips, paper and tape...
. She stabbed her father with a knife and fork and one of her husbands died of unnatural causes. - Buck (Lance HenriksenLance HenriksenLance James Henriksen is an American actor and artist best known to film and television audiences for his roles in science fiction, action, and horror films such as the Alien film franchise, and on television shows such as Millennium....
) is an anti-social, possibly suicidal, ex-cop. The murder of his wife and daughter remains unsolved. - Casey Heinz (Kevin J. O'Connor) is the arrogant son of a wealthy man. He paints sado-masochistSadism and masochismSadomasochism broadly refers to the receiving of pleasure—often sexual—from acts involving the infliction or reception of pain or humiliation. The name originates from two authors on the subject, Marquis de Sade and Leopold von Sacher-Masoch...
works of art and once burned down his father's house. - Richie (Jane MarchJane MarchJane March is an English film actress and former print model.-Life and career:March was born Jane March Horwood in Edgware, London, England. Her father, Bernard Horwood, is a secondary school teacher of English and Spanish ancestry. Her mother, Jean, is Vietnamese and Chinese...
) is a 16-year-old with a stutter and a gender identityGender identityA gender identity is the way in which an individual self-identifies with a gender category, for example, as being either a man or a woman, or in some cases being neither, which can be distinct from biological sex. Basic gender identity is usually formed by age three and is extremely difficult to...
problem. He wants to be a woman and has a history of drug use.
Soon, one of these patients is violently murdered and Capa himself becomes the target of several attempts on his life. He also discovers that all but one of his patients have been romantically involved with his new girlfriend, Rose. This leads to a twist ending: "Richie" is really Rose, and the murders have been committed by her deranged brother Dale (Andrew Lowery). They actually had a brother named Richie who was molested
Child sexual abuse
Child sexual abuse is a form of child abuse in which an adult or older adolescent uses a child for sexual stimulation. Forms of child sexual abuse include asking or pressuring a child to engage in sexual activities , indecent exposure with intent to gratify their own sexual desires or to...
by a child psychiatrist named Niedelmeyer. Richie committed suicide and, unable to cope with the loss, Dale forced Rose to play the part of their brother. Dale — who was also one of Niedelmeyer's victims — began abusing Rose until she actually became "Richie". When "Richie" was arrested for drug possession, "she" was forced into therapy. Rose soon started to re-emerge and, under another personality "Bonnie", started relationships with other members of the group. Dale proceeded to kill them, fearing that they would soon link Rose to "Richie".
When Capa confronts Rose and Dale over this, Dale tries to kill him but is killed by Rose. Deeply traumatized
Psychological trauma
Psychological trauma is a type of damage to the psyche that occurs as a result of a traumatic event...
, she tries to commit suicide but Capa is able to stop her, bookending the story with two suicide attempts — one at the beginning, resulting in Capa's loss of color vision, and one at the end, thwarted and resulting in his regaining it.
Cast
- Bruce WillisBruce WillisWalter Bruce Willis , better known as Bruce Willis, is an American actor, producer, and musician. His career began in television in the 1980s and has continued both in television and film since, including comedic, dramatic, and action roles...
as Dr. Bill Capa - Jane MarchJane MarchJane March is an English film actress and former print model.-Life and career:March was born Jane March Horwood in Edgware, London, England. Her father, Bernard Horwood, is a secondary school teacher of English and Spanish ancestry. Her mother, Jean, is Vietnamese and Chinese...
as Rose/Richie/Bonnie - Ruben BladesRubén BladesRubén Blades Bellido de Luna is a Panamanian salsa singer, songwriter, lawyer, actor, Latin jazz musician, and politician, performing musically most often in the Afro-Cuban and Latin jazz genres...
as Det. Hector Martinez - Lesley Ann WarrenLesley Ann WarrenLesley Ann Warren is an American actress and singer. She has been nominated once for an Academy Award and Emmy Awards and five times for Golden Globe, winning one....
as Sondra Dorio - Scott BakulaScott BakulaScott Stewart Bakula is an American actor, known for his role as Sam Beckett in the television series Quantum Leap, for which he won the Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Television Series Drama in 1991 and was nominated for four Emmy Awards. He also had a prominent role as Captain Jonathan...
as Dr. Bob Moore - Brad DourifBrad DourifBradford Claude "Brad" Dourif is an American film and television actor who gained early fame for his portrayal of Billy Bibbit in One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, and has since appeared in a number of memorable roles, including the voice of Chucky in the Child's Play franchise, Younger Brother in...
as Clark - Lance HenriksenLance HenriksenLance James Henriksen is an American actor and artist best known to film and television audiences for his roles in science fiction, action, and horror films such as the Alien film franchise, and on television shows such as Millennium....
as Buck - Kevin J. O'Connor as Casey Heinz
- Eriq La SalleEriq La SalleEriq La Salle is an American actor and director, known for his portrayals of Darryl in the 1988 comedy film Coming to America and Dr. Peter Benton on the NBC drama series ER.-Early life:...
as Det. Anderson - Andrew Lowery as Dale Dexter
- Jeff CoreyJeff CoreyJeff Corey was an American stage and screen actor and director who became a well-respected acting teacher after being blacklisted in the 1950s.-Biography:...
as Ashland - Shirley KnightShirley KnightShirley Enola Knight is an American stage, film and television actress. She has been nominated twice for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress, in 1960 for The Dark at the Top of the Stairs and in 1962 for Sweet Bird of Youth....
as Edith Niedelmeyer - Kathleen WilhoiteKathleen WilhoiteKathleen Wilhoite is an American film and television actress, as well as a singer-songwriter. She also voiced the title character in the animated series Pepper Ann...
as Michelle - Erick AvariErick AvariErick Avari is an Indian American television, film and theater actor known for his roles in various science-fiction serial productions.-Early life:...
(uncredited) as Cabbie
Controversy
Color of Night received a certain degree of notoriety for the sex scenes between Willis and Jane March, which were somewhat graphic for a mainstreamMainstream
Mainstream is, generally, the common current thought of the majority. However, the mainstream is far from cohesive; rather the concept is often considered a cultural construct....
film: the many nude scenes made by the two main actors included a full-frontal by Willis. As the character of Rose is bisexual, there are also scenes of March with Lesley Ann Warren as her partner.
This was the second film in which March appeared in explicit sex scenes (the first being The Lover
The Lover (film)
- Production :While adapting the Marguerite Duras novel into the film's screenplay, director Jean-Jacques Annaud and fellow writer Gérard Brach changed the age of "The Girl" from 15½ to 17, but tried to maintain the original structure and literary tone of the original novel. As with the Duras...
).
Reception
- The film received a 1994 Golden Raspberry Award for Worst Picture.
- The film received a 1994 Golden Globe nomination for Best Original Song in Motion Picture.
- Referring to the film as "memorably bizarre," Janet MaslinJanet MaslinJanet Maslin is an American journalist, best known as a film and literary critic for The New York Times. She served as the Times film critic from 1977–1999.- Biography :...
in her August 19, 1994 New York Times review wrote: "The enthusiastically nutty Color of Night has the single-mindedness of a bad dream and about as much reliance on everyday logic." She also cited the revelation of the murderer, "whose disguise won't fool anyone, anywhere." - Roger EbertRoger EbertRoger Joseph Ebert is an American film critic and screenwriter. He is the first film critic to win a Pulitzer Prize for Criticism.Ebert is known for his film review column and for the television programs Sneak Previews, At the Movies with Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert, and Siskel and Ebert and The...
of the Chicago Sun-TimesChicago Sun-TimesThe Chicago Sun-Times is an American daily newspaper published in Chicago, Illinois. It is the flagship paper of the Sun-Times Media Group.-History:The Chicago Sun-Times is the oldest continuously published daily newspaper in the city...
wrote: "I was, frankly, stupefied. To call it absurd would be missing the point, since any shred of credibility was obviously the first thing thrown overboard. It's so lurid in its melodrama and so goofy in its plotting that with just a bit more trouble, it could have been a comedy." - Luke Y. Thompson of The New Times also praised March's performance and wrote: "Minority opinion here, I know, but I found the sex scenes hot and March's performance truly impressive."
- Brian McKay of eFilmCritic.com stated the film was a "Mediocre L.A. noir thriller made more tolerable by Jane March disrobing frequently."
- Ken Hanke of the Mountain Xpress (Asheville, NC) wrote the film was: "Underrated, but far from great."
Box office
The film opened at #4 grossing $6,610,488 its opening weekend playing at a total of 1,740 theaters. the film ended up becoming a box office failure grossing only $19,750,470 far below its $40 million budget. The film also a noteworthy failure internationally grossing only $1,454,085 in the UK, $565,104 in Sweden, $112,690 in Austria, $4,725,167 in Germany, and $364,939 in Argentina.Accolades
Color of Night won the Golden Raspberry Award for Worst Picture, and was also nominated in eight other categories including Worst Actor (Bruce Willis also for NorthNorth (film)
North is an American 1994 comedy film directed by Rob Reiner, and starring Elijah Wood, Bruce Willis, Jason Alexander, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Dan Aykroyd, Reba McEntire, and Alan Arkin...
), Worst Actress (Jane March), Worst Director (Richard Rush), Worst Screenplay, Worst Original Song ("The Color of the Night"), Worst Screen Couple ("Any combination of any two people from the entire cast"), Worst Supporting Actor (Jane March as Richie) and Worst Supporting Actress (Lesley Ann Warren). The film is the first Worst Picture winner to take that award and not win even one other Razzie.
On more positive notes, Color of Night did win a Golden Globe nomination in the category Best Original Song — Motion Picture for its theme song "The Color of the Night," performed by Lauren Christy
Lauren Christy
Lauren Christy is an English singer-songwriter and music producer.-Early life and education:Christy was born in London, England. She studied at the Bush Davies Ballet School as a child, before she decided to become a musical artist.-Music career:...
. On the other hand, Maxim magazine also praised Color of Night for having the Best Sex Scenes in film history.