Some films are great not because they are the product of great talent, but simply for being made at the right time, allowing them to herald a new era. Few examples of that in film history are as clear as American Gigolo, the 1980 thriller written and directed by Paul Schrader.
The protagonist, played by Richard Gere, is Julian Kaye, a young, handsome and affluent citizen of Los Angeles who likes to show his social standing by living in a luxurious apartment, wearing expensive clothes and driving a Mercedes Benz through the streets while frequenting top restaurants and the most exclusive clubs. This lifestyle is made possible due to his involvement in the world’s oldest profession as a provider of sexual services to old, lonely and wealthy women. Julian’s perfect world begins to change after an encounter with Michelle Strutton (played by Lauren Hutton), a client who also happens to be the wife of influential politician Charles Stratton (played by Brad Davies). She is not only sexually, but emotionally, attracted to Julian who, to his utmost surprise, develops similar feelings for her. Their complicated relationship is further impeded by Julian’s fateful decision to do a favour for his gay pimp friend Leon (played by Bill Duke) and take as a client Judy Rheiman (played by Patricia Carr), the wife of a wealthy Palm Beach financier (played by Tom Stewart) who likes to watch his wife involved in S/M sex. When Mrs Rheiman later gets murdered, Julian becomes the most likely suspect for police detective Joe Sunday (played by Hector Elizondo). Julian’s attempts to prove his innocence are further complicated when his friends and business partners suddenly begin to distance themselves from him, and become even more futile when it turns out that someone wants to frame him for the crime he did not commit.
Paul Schrader is one of the most important figures of New Hollywood, best known for scripts and films like Taxi Driver and Hardcore in which he uncompromisingly dealt with the seedier segments of American society and everyday life. As one of the first (and still relatively rare) Hollywood films to explicitly tackle the subject of male prostitution, American Gigolo belongs there, but only superficially. The setting and the style in which this subject is dealt with are quite different. Instead of a dark, depressive and scary urban jungle, the protagonist lives in an almost fairytale world of sunny California, surrounded by wealth, success and power. Instead of being traumatised or detached from society, Julian aspires to, and for the most part succeeds in being, its successful member. He approaches his work as a complete professional, spending a lot of time and energy to keep his main tool – his body – in perfect shape, while at the same time learning different languages, following fashion and developing the social and other skills necessary to project himself as an ideal fantasy for his clients. And in doing that he blurs the line between business and pleasure – the luxury he lives in is both a source of joy and a tool of the trade; at the same time, he admits that he actually likes his job and even takes pride in bringing some joy into the lives of otherwise unhappy women.
When American Gigolo appeared in cinemas for the first time, critics weren’t happy, probably because they viewed Schrader’s change of setting as an aberration from New Hollywood. Some of their complaints are justified. The film is at its best in the first part, when it works as a character study and the audience is introduced to the protagonist and his world. In the second part, when the genre switches to a crime thriller, the murder mystery is actually weak, with the main villain being relatively easy to guess and the plot, as in the case of Hardcore, being resolved with an abrupt and uncathartic act of violence. Schrader’s style of direction, in many ways inspired by Martin Scorsese, however, maintains the audience’s attention, while Hector Elizondo, one of the most formidable character actors in Hollywood, provides dark humour as the protagonist’s nemesis. Another possible problem for the more nitpicky critics is the complete lack of background for the protagonist. The audience never finds out how Julian became an elite male prostitute. One possible answer, based on his looks, could be a failed Hollywood career, but this is something Schrader might have thought was too close for comfort. American Gigolo could in a way be interpreted as partially autobiographical. In the 1970s Schrader, like Julian in this film, enjoyed the success and reputation of a wunderkind, and the way Julian wants to maintain independence from established pimps and refuses to engage in gay sex and similar “kink” can be seen as a reflection of New Hollywood film makers’ desire to maintain their “pure artistic” vision and independence from meddling producers and studio executives.
Ironically, while most people view American Gigolo as Schrader’s film, another, perhaps even more important name on the credits belongs to Jerry Bruckheimer, a producer who belonged to the set that would ultimately crush New Hollywood and replace it with an unashamedly commercial kind of cinema. American Gigolo gives the first glimpses of that brand-new world. 1960s idealism and its lofty principles are disappearing and are replaced with 1980s materialism that would find its political reflection in Reagan (who was elected months after the premiere) and the cultural phenomenon of yuppies. Richard Gere’s character, by wearing expensive Armani clothes (which this film ultimately made popular), his “refined” taste and fanatical dedication to maintaining his body, in many ways became the first Hollywood yuppie. His willingness to strip in front of the camera and unabashedly serve as a sex symbol also paved the way for an important trend of 1980s Hollywood – the visual celebration of the male body, which would find its reflection in many action films. By employing Giorgio Moroder to compose an interesting synthesiser score, Bruckheimer also signalled that the top Hollywood products from now on would have more emphasis on style rather than substance. American Gigolo also became one of the first films to represent a successful merger of cinema and the music industry, with Debbie Harry’s title song “Call Me” becoming a major hit and helping the film at the box office. The new era was truly beginning.
RATING: 8/10 (+++)
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