“Bound” is a horny condemnation of the straight and narrow

The Wachowskis’ remarkably erotic, queer neo-noir from 1996 screens at OutReach on March 13.

In the crime genre, we often see tales of a protagonist who wants to go “straight” and leave a life of crime. And that protagonist is inevitably tempted with “one last job” before retiring from the business. The form follows in the Wachowski Sisters’ formidable directorial debut, Bound (1996). Corky (Gina Gershon) is recently released from prison, and wants to find honest work, but she falls for the mob-connected Violet (Jennier Tilly).

For a while, I have been joking about how I am “retired” from dating men; so, for both Corky and myself, going “straight” actually means being gay. (Dating men?? In this economy?? Who has the time?!) After consummating their relationship, Violet and Corky hatch a plan to steal two million dollars from Violet’s mafia boyfriend, Caesar, played by Joe Pantoliano a.k.a. Joey Pants, in one of cinema’s craziest wigs. Joey’s wig (among other things) can be seen at OutReach LGBTQ+ Community Center, 2701 International Ln., as part of the “Q-Cinema” screening series on Wednesday, March 13, at 7 p.m.

After a stylish title reveal, the film opens with Corky bound with rope inside a literal closet. At the time they made Bound in the mid-1990s, neither of the Wachowski Sisters had begun their social or medical gender transitions. But watching this film nearly 30 years later confirms that it was made by two trans lesbians, even if they didn’t use those words at the time to describe themselves. In the trans community, someone who ostensibly identifies as cis and doesn’t realize that they might be trans is called an “egg,” as they haven’t “cracked out of their shell yet.”

When the two women meet, Violet has been dating Caesar for five years—coincidentally the same amount of time as Corky’s incarceration—linking being in a heterosexual relationship to being imprisoned. In one of the cheekier transitions early in the film, Corky hears Violet and Caesar having sex through the “paper thin walls” in the building where Violet lives and Corky has been hired to do renovation work. It cuts to Corky snaking what appears to be years and years of hair and debris from the tub—like “OK, Wachowskis, tell us how you really feel about straight sex, dang!” The snaking of the tub is just a job to Corky, grotesque yet routine, much like Violet’s relationship with Caesar. 

Before the women’s infamous sex scene, Violet enlists Corky’s help to retrieve an earring from the sink drain. Another indicator, to me, that this film was made by lesbians is all the close-ups of hands. All lesbians, dykes, bisexual women, and everyone else of the sapphic variety know how sexy hands are, and what hands can do. While the earlier scene of snaking the tub is grimy and unpleasant, the camera lingers on Corky’s hands while she loosens the parts of the pipe. Violet starts to make her move.

This film is further notable for hiring famed sex educator Susie Bright as an intimacy coordinator, which leads to some of the hottest and most realistic lesbian sex scenes at its point in cinema history. Bright makes a cameo in the dyke bar scene at The Watering Hole, decked head to toe in leather. In addition to the sex scenes, the sound design elevates the horniest parts of this movie, specifically the sounds of creaking and moving leather. Members of the leather community and leather enthusiasts will all agree that the tactile sensory experience of leather is part of the thrill, and hearing the movement of Bright’s gloves or Corky’s jacket is electrifying. Combined with the fetishistic shots of hands, it makes for a very titillating debut not to be missed!