''Wild Orchid'' is a 1989 American
erotic film
Sex in film, the presentation of aspects of 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 religious groups or hav ...
directed by
Zalman King
Zalman King (born Zalman King Lefkowitz; May 23, 1941 – February 3, 2012) was an American film director, writer, actor and producer. His films are known for incorporating sexuality, and are often categorized as erotica.
Early life
Zalman Kin ...
and starring
Mickey Rourke
Philip Andre "Mickey" Rourke Jr. (; born September 16, 1952) is an American actor and former boxer who has appeared primarily as a leading man in drama, action, and thriller films.
During the star of the 1980s, Rourke played supporting roles i ...
,
Carré Otis
Carré Brennan Otis (born September 28, 1968) is an American model and actress.
Early life
Carré Otis was born in San Francisco, and raised in Marin County, California, along with her older sister Chrisse and her younger brother Jordan. She at ...
,
Jacqueline Bisset
Winifred Jacqueline Fraser Bisset ( ; born 13 September 1944) is a British actress. She began her film career in 1965 and first came to prominence in 1968 with roles in '' The Detective'', ''Bullitt'', and ''The Sweet Ride'', for which she rec ...
,
Bruce Greenwood
Stuart Bruce Greenwood (born August 12, 1956) is a Canadian actor and producer. He is known for his role as the American president John F. Kennedy in '' Thirteen Days,'' for which he won the Satellite Award for Best Supporting Actor – Motion ...
, and
Assumpta Serna.
A sequel, ''
Wild Orchid II: Two Shades of Blue'', was released in 1991.
Plot
Emily Reed travels to
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
to interview with a law firm, which offers her a job if she flies to
Rio de Janeiro
Rio de Janeiro ( , , ; literally 'River of January'), or simply Rio, is the capital of the state of the same name, Brazil's third-most populous state, and the second-most populous city in Brazil, after São Paulo. Listed by the GaWC as a b ...
the following morning. Emily agrees and is introduced to Claudia Dennis, one of the firm's top executives. They arrive in Rio to finalize the purchase of a hotel, but Claudia must fly to
Buenos Aires
Buenos Aires ( or ; ), officially the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires ( es, link=no, Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires), is the capital and primate city of Argentina. The city is located on the western shore of the Río de la Plata, on South ...
to meet the owner. Claudia instructs Emily to cover her date that night. The date is a wealthy man named James Wheeler. They have dinner accompanied by James' bodyguards.
James intrigues Emily; he is quiet and asks personal questions without being demanding or rude. After dinner, they attend a street carnival; Emily leaves after a masked man who looks like James tries seducing her. The next morning, Emily wakes to find James watching her. He gives her a bouquet of orchids and denies making advances to her the previous evening. As an apology, he offers to show her the city. They attend a party with a married couple they noticed in the restaurant. Navy sailors at the party make advances on the wife; James fights them and he, Emily, and the couple leave in his limousine. The married couple is having problems because of the wife's infidelity. She wants to reconcile with her husband. James encourages the couple to have sex in the limo. Emily finds their actions disturbing. Emily and James visit the hotel that her firm wants to buy, and she tells James that she fears he would disappear if she touched him. When Emily hugs James, he pulls away, telling her he does not like being touched.
That night, Emily dresses up for the carnival festivities and is propositioned by a man in a mask, who offers her his room key. James encourages her to accept. She realizes James is incapable of acting upon his own emotions and tries experiencing passion through others. Emily agrees to the stranger's proposal and has sex with him.
Claudia returns to Rio with the hotel's owner and arranges a meeting at the airport. Emily is humiliated when she discovers that Jerome, the owner's attorney, is the stranger she slept with; Jerome uses their encounter to intimidate Emily to get a better deal. Claudia discovers the truth and uses the information to threaten Jerome; if he does not complete the deal, she will tell his wife about the affair. After the meeting, Claudia asks Emily about James. She tells Emily that James was an only child who stuttered, and is a
self-made man
"Self-made man" is a classic phrase coined on February 2, 1842 by Henry Clay in the United States Senate, to describe individuals whose success lay within the individuals themselves, not with outside conditions. Benjamin Franklin, one of the Foun ...
. Emily says she is obsessed with James, but that he would never touch her. Claudia's assistants tell her a man bought the deed to the hotel before the deal was finalized; both women realize it was James, who confirms it. Claudia proceeds with the hotel's sale, hoping to circumvent James' actions.
Claudia arranges a party to commemorate the sale of the hotel. The next morning, she invites a young surfer to her room, and asks Emily to translate what the Portuguese surfer says. Claudia, Emily and the surfer are about to have sex when James interrupts. Emily accuses James of setting people up to disappoint him and then throwing them aside. He responds that he never sets anybody up; they disappoint him of their own accord. A package is later delivered to Emily's room; James has signed over the hotel's deed, saving the deal. Emily finds James and tells him she loves him, but leaves when he does not respond.
That night, Emily returns to her room, where James is waiting for her. He tells Emily that after he had accumulated wealth, women became attracted to him and he started playing games to keep things interesting. The games became a way of life and he cannot stop playing them. Emily encourages James to reach out to her, offering him her love if he makes an effort to touch her. At first he resists, but reaches out and holds her when he thinks she will leave him. The two embrace and have sex. They later ride away on a motorcycle together.
Cast
*
Mickey Rourke
Philip Andre "Mickey" Rourke Jr. (; born September 16, 1952) is an American actor and former boxer who has appeared primarily as a leading man in drama, action, and thriller films.
During the star of the 1980s, Rourke played supporting roles i ...
as James Wheeler
*
Carre Otis as Emily Reed
*
Jacqueline Bisset
Winifred Jacqueline Fraser Bisset ( ; born 13 September 1944) is a British actress. She began her film career in 1965 and first came to prominence in 1968 with roles in '' The Detective'', ''Bullitt'', and ''The Sweet Ride'', for which she rec ...
as Claudia Dennis
*
Assumpta Serna as Hanna Munch
*
Bruce Greenwood
Stuart Bruce Greenwood (born August 12, 1956) is a Canadian actor and producer. He is known for his role as the American president John F. Kennedy in '' Thirteen Days,'' for which he won the Satellite Award for Best Supporting Actor – Motion ...
as Jerome McFarland
*
Oleg Vidov
Oleg Borisovich Vidov (russian: Олег Борисович Видов; June 11, 1943 – May 15, 2017) was a Soviet Russian American actor, film director and producer. He appeared in 50 films beginning in 1961. A refugee from his native Sovi ...
as Otto Munch
*
Milton Goncalves as Flavio
Production
The film was shot in
Salvador, Bahia
Salvador (English: ''Savior'') is a Brazilian municipality and capital city of the state of Bahia. Situated in the Zona da Mata in the Northeast Region of Brazil, Salvador is recognized throughout the country and internationally for its cuisine ...
, and
Rio de Janeiro
Rio de Janeiro ( , , ; literally 'River of January'), or simply Rio, is the capital of the state of the same name, Brazil's third-most populous state, and the second-most populous city in Brazil, after São Paulo. Listed by the GaWC as a b ...
, Brazil. King's original version of the film was deemed too sexually graphic for an R-rating and the
MPAA
The Motion Picture Association (MPA) is an American trade association representing the five major film studios of the United States, as well as the video streaming service Netflix. Founded in 1922 as the Motion Picture Producers and Distribu ...
threatened to release it with an
X-rating
An X rating is a rating used in various countries to classify films that have content deemed suitable only for adults. It is used when the violent or sexual content of a film is considered to be potentially disturbing to general audiences.
Aust ...
, limiting its commercial potential. King reluctantly removed part of a love scene between Otis and Rourke to comply with the R-rating. The scene was widely rumored in the media to have shown the two actors—who had become romantically involved during production of the film—actually having intercourse. Both actors denied this, but the director was ambiguous.
Release
''Wild Orchid'' had its world premiere on December 21, 1989 in Rome, Italy.
The film opened in Los Angeles on April 27, 1990 and New York on April 28, 1990.
Reception
''Wild Orchid'' received negative reviews from critics around the time of its release, currently maintaining a 10% rating on review aggregator
Rotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...
based on 30 reviews. It was nominated for two
Razzie Awards
The Golden Raspberry Awards (also known as the Razzies and Razzie Awards) is a parody award show honoring the worst of cinematic under-achievements. Co-founded by UCLA film graduates and film industry veterans John J. B. Wilson and Mo Murphy, ...
, including Worst Actor (
Mickey Rourke
Philip Andre "Mickey" Rourke Jr. (; born September 16, 1952) is an American actor and former boxer who has appeared primarily as a leading man in drama, action, and thriller films.
During the star of the 1980s, Rourke played supporting roles i ...
) and Worst New Star (
Carré Otis
Carré Brennan Otis (born September 28, 1968) is an American model and actress.
Early life
Carré Otis was born in San Francisco, and raised in Marin County, California, along with her older sister Chrisse and her younger brother Jordan. She at ...
). On its opening week in Italy, it grossed $403,210 from 10 screens in six cities.
The film was a box-office flop.
Soundtrack
See also
* ''
9½ Weeks
''9½ Weeks'' is a 1986 American erotic romantic drama film directed by Adrian Lyne, and starring Kim Basinger and Mickey Rourke. Basinger portrays a New York City art gallery employee who has a brief yet intense affair with a mysterious Wal ...
'' (film)
*
''Fifty Shades of Grey'' (film)
References
External links
*
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wild Orchid (Film)
1989 films
1989 romantic drama films
1980s American films
1980s English-language films
1980s erotic drama films
American erotic drama films
American erotic romance films
American romantic drama films
BDSM in films
Films about lawyers
Films directed by Zalman King
Films set in Rio de Janeiro (city)
Films shot in Rio de Janeiro (city)
Films shot in Salvador, Bahia