Wild Side (1996)
July 17, 1996Release Date
Plot.
Where to Watch.
Currently Wild Side is available for streaming online, rent, buy or watch for free on: Amazon Video
Streaming in:🇬🇧 United Kingdom
Cast & Crew.
Media.
Details.
Release DateJuly 17, 1996
StatusReleased
Running Time1h 51m
Genres
Wiki.
Wild Side is a 1995 erotic thriller film co-written and directed by Donald Cammell and starring Anne Heche in her first lead role, along with Christopher Walken, Joan Chen, Steven Bauer, and Allen Garfield. It was Cammell's final film before his suicide in April 1996.
The film had a troubled production history. Cammell's original version of the film that featured a non-linear narrative was recut without his permission by the production company Nu Imag, with the new cut emphasizing the sex scenes, turning it into an exploitation picture with an incoherent story. Wild Side initially was a straight-to-video release.
A director's cut was reconstructed according to Cammell's original intentions by film editor Frank Mazzola and writer China Kong, which recreated the non-linear construction, creating an avant-garde film with a new musical score. This version 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 between Heche and Chen featured in the unrated version, which the production company Nu Image used to market the film starting in 1997, during Anne Heche's high-profile relationship with Ellen DeGeneres.