''Wild Side'' is a 1995 erotic thriller film co-written and directed by

Donald Cammell Donald Seton Cammell (17 January 1934 – 24 April 1996) was a Scottish painter, screenwriter, and film director. He has a cult reputation largely due to his debut film '' Performance'', which he wrote the screenplay for and co-directed ...

and starring Anne Heche in her first lead role, along with Christopher Walken,

Joan Chen Joan Chen (born April 26, 1961) is a Chinese-American actress and film director. In China, she performed in the 1979 film and came to the attention of American audiences for her performance in the 1987 film '' The Last Emperor''. She is also ...

, Steven Bauer, and

Allen Garfield Allen Garfield (born Allen Goorwitz; November 22, 1939 – April 7, 2020) was an American film and television actor. Early life Garfield was born in Newark, New Jersey, to a Jewish family, the son of Alice (née Lavroff) and Philip Goorwitz. H ...

. Cammell's final film before his suicide in April 1996, the film had a troubled production history and was initially a

straight-to-video Direct-to-video or straight-to-video refers to the release of a film, TV series, short or special to the public immediately on home video formats rather than an initial theatrical release or television premiere. This distribution strategy was ...

release. A director's cut reconstructed after Cammell's death was released in 2000 and was well-received by some critics. It is considered by many to be a cult film. The film gained some notoriety for the strong lesbian

sex scene Sex in film, the presentation of aspects of human sexuality, sexuality in film, specially human sexuality, has been controversial since the development of the medium. Films which display or suggest sexual behavior have been criticized by religi ...

between Heche and Chen featured in the unrated version, which the production company

Nu Image Millennium Media, formerly Nu Image, is an American film studio that was founded by Avi Lerner, Trevor Short, Danny Dimbort, and Danny Lerner in 1992 and is one of Hollywood's longest running independent film companies. Millennium creates, produc ...

used to market the film starting in 1997, during Anne Heche's high-profile relationship with

Ellen DeGeneres Ellen Lee DeGeneres ( ; born January 26, 1958) is an American comedian, television host, actress, writer, and producer. She starred in the sitcom ''Ellen'' from 1994 to 1998, which earned her a Primetime Emmy Award for " The Puppy Episode". Sh ...

Synopsis

By day, Alex Lee is a California banker. By night, she moonlights as "Johanna", a high-end call girl. When she is drawn into the sordid life of infamous money launderer Bruno Buckingham, Alex must learn to safely navigate her way past Bruno's infatuation, deal with the unwanted advances of Bruno's driver Tony, and come to accept the growing attraction between herself and Virginia, Bruno's wife.

Cast (in credits order)

* Christopher Walken as Bruno Buckingham *

as Virginia Chow * Steven Bauer as Tony * Anne Heche as Alex Lee *

as Dan Rackman * Adam Novak as Lyle Litvak * Zion as Hiro Sakamoto * Richard Palmer as Cop Driver * Randy Crowder as Federal Agent * Marcus Aurelius as Agent James Reed * Michael Rose as Agent Morse Jaeger *

Lewis Arquette Lewis Michael Arquette (December 14, 1935 – February 10, 2001) was an American film actor, writer, and producer. Arquette was known for playing J.D. Pickett on the television series ''The Waltons'', on which he worked from 1978 to 1981. Life ...

as The Chief * Rolando de la Maza as Steward *

Candace Kita Candace Kita (born December 27, 1967) is an American actress. Career Acting Kita's first role was as a news anchor in the 1991 movie ''Stealth Hunters''. Kita's first recurring television role was in Fox Broadcasting Company, Fox's ''Masked Ri ...

(as Candace Camille Bender) as Lotus Ita * Philip Hamlyn as Ian Johnson * Gena Kim as Massage Girl * Robert Mazzola as Gilberto

Versions

There are three different versions of the film. Cammell committed suicide shortly after seeing it drastically re-edited by its producers. A "director's cut" version by Cammell's wife and co-screenwriter

China Kong China Kong (born 1960) is an American actor, writer, and producer. She is the widow of director Donald Cammell, having met him when she was 14 years of age and he was 40 years of age in 1974. After having an affair, the two would wed 4 years lat ...

, and his editor and sometime producer

Frank Mazzola Frank Mazzola (March 7, 1935 – January 13, 2015) was an American actor and film editor. Career Mazzola was born in Los Angeles, California. As a child and young adult, Mazzola worked as an actor. In 1955, he acted in '' Rebel Without a Cause'' ...

, was released in 2000 and was noted by critics. The film is known for its graphic lesbian love scenes between stars Joan Chen and Anne Heche. The scenes proved controversial to the point that after ''Wild Sides initial airings on HBO, the network subsequently chose to air a version of the film with those portions deleted.

References

External links

* * * Films directed by Donald Cammell Nu Image films Films scored by Ryuichi Sakamoto 1996 direct-to-video films 1990s English-language films 1990s American films 1990s erotic thriller films American erotic thriller films American neo-noir films LGBT-related romantic thriller films American LGBT-related films 1996 LGBT-related films Lesbian-related films Female bisexuality in film Films about prostitution in the United States Films set in Long Beach, California Films shot in Los Angeles County, California {{erotic-film-stub