SCÈNE 12. Colleen Kelsey, Writer & Creative Director
In a film characterized by a current of tension coursing through most scenes, a quiet moment between two sisters discussing sex, desire, and going out with men "just for the exercise."
Welcome to a special “After Dark” edition of Mise-En-Scène. I’m relieved to be back in the swing of things; June and July were heavy months for me on a personal level, although not without their sparkling moments. Lately I’ve been reading a lot of Susan Minot and listening to Milton Babbitt, two artists whose work, however delicately, remind me of the film we’re exploring today. The dance between primal urges and purposeful application.
But first, an introduction to our guest curator
(@colleenkelsey). A writer based in New York City, Colleen has written about art, film, fashion, and more for T: The New York Times Style Magazine, Dirt, The Whitney Review of New Writing, Interview, and other cultivated, inventive publications. Her fiction has appeared in DAZED and The Skirt Chronicles. Colleen is also skilled at branding and creative direction, her copywriting having elevated campaigns for the likes of Glossier and Chanel.Colleen is the type of person to seek out when you’re craving a left-field book, movie, or food recommendation; her taste is precise and her reasons for liking something are not run of the mill. I’m thrilled I get to feature her in this newsletter, and doubly bowled over by her Mise-En-Scène selection: In the Cut, the 2003 neo-noir.
The film marked a creative risk for each of the artists involved in bringing it to life. First, there is writer Susanna Moore, the author behind its provocative source material: a thriller novel of the same name, and a heatscore upon its publication in 1995 that signaled a tantalizing departure from Moore’s previous books, lush stories based on her fraught coming-of-age in Hawai’i. (Of Moore, Colleen says: “[She] is so interesting! [I] loved her memoir, Miss Aluminum. She read scripts for Warren Beatty and Jack Nicholson and also was close with Joan Didion; I think there is a rumor she was the inspiration for Inez in Democracy.”)
Next, we have Australian filmmaker Jane Campion, In the Cut’s director and co-screenwriter (with Moore and Stavros Kazantzidis), shepherding her first production set entirely in the United States. And, as protagonist Frannie Avery, there’s actor Meg Ryan, the pert movie star, who, be it wittingly or not, was setting off an interesting image shake-up in the early aughts.
In the Cut finds Ryan suited, booted and Klute’d in the style of a ‘70s cinema anti-hero. She navigates the film’s lurid textures with slinky energy, radiating palpable heat opposite Mark Ruffalo (as the slippery Detective Malloy) and sharing affecting moments with a feral Jennifer Jason Leigh (who plays Pauline, Frannie’s half-sister and confidante).
Ahead, Colleen1 digs into what In the Cut suggests about pursuing our hard-edged fantasies, even if—especially if—they fly in the face of our self-preservation.
“YOU LIVE OUT OF YOUR UNCONSCIOUS”: WRITER & CREATIVE DIRECTOR COLLEEN KELSEY ON IN THE CUT, 2003
COLLEEN ON GETTING ON THE SCENT OF IN THE CUT:
I first watched Jane Campion’s In the Cut on a laptop in my apartment, sometime in my twenties. What led me there: first, the source material, Susanna Moore’s novel (read it), and second, the Hollywood lore around this surreal, ultra-erotic thriller (but not “erotic thriller”), considered to be the “flop” responsible for ending Meg Ryan’s career. Campion originally cast Nicole Kidman as Frannie, but she dropped out during her divorce from Tom Cruise; Ryan came in and traded her signature blue eyes for brown contact lenses, her Ephron blonde for bangs and a bob.
COLLEEN ON THE FILM’S ENIGMATIC CHARACTERS AND MOMENTS:
There are many scenes—and characters—I like to linger over, for example, the first date between Ryan and Mark Ruffalo, where he begins an unnerving, macho, filthy seduction, or when Kevin Bacon appears as a nightmare New York ex wearing Adidas Sambas.
COLLEEN ON THE ENERGY TRANSFER SHARED BETWEEN THE FILM’S SISTERS:
So much of the film is about Frannie (Ryan)’s interiority, and Campion’s narrative is shaky, frenetic, unsure. In an interview with the cast on Charlie Rose, Ryan described her character as “shrinking,” “in remission.” Early on, she’s interviewed by Malloy (Ruffalo), a detective investigating a series of murders in her neighborhood. He ends up asking her out. Frannie is over her sister Pauline (Jennifer Jason Leigh)’s apartment—like her, it’s super girly and loud, with big vintage furniture, shag carpeting, pillows, clothes, and knickknacks everywhere—debriefing her. They’re close on the couch, half cuddling, gabbing and trading intimacies.
Pauline is having an affair with a married doctor, and Frannie asks her if it’s possible for her to fantasize about him rather than live out her desires. At one point, Pauline probes her reticence, saying, “You didn’t say no, Frannie?” about the date. “Want to borrow some decent clothing?” There’s an uncanny transfer of Pauline’s real romantic life into Frannie’s fantasy one, an exchange that propels Frannie into not just articulating her sexual desires, but becoming subsumed by them—to whatever end. We then cut to Malloy behind the wheel of his car, seeing Frannie on the street in a strappy little Miu Miu-style dress and heels.
COLLEEN ON THE STORY’S THEME OF WOMEN LIVING OUT THEIR EROTIC DESIRES, DESPITE POTENTIAL HARM:
Even after half a dozen rewatches, I can’t stop thinking about Frannie once she’s entrenched in the physical realization of her erotic imagination. Campion’s sex scenes in this film are famously, unabashedly direct and real, from the minimal audio to how Frannie takes off her underwear. The way Campion films Ruffalo, who’s ultra lean, tattooed, and often couched in shadow, is so positively the antithesis of any sort of polished Hollywood “sex symbol,” though she creates a potent masculinity that feels unknowable, and very dangerous to Frannie.
COLLEEN KELSEY RECOMMENDS
I opened this newsletter singing the praises of Colleen’s refreshing cultural palate. From her “forever reds” to a Pre-Code classic about a different flavor of cunning beauty, read on and see for yourself.
I’m Going Out Tonight by Guillaume Dustan.
Colleen says: After an introduction via Nicolas Pages earlier this year, I read everything I could from French writer Guillaume Dustan, who died of an accidental OD in 2005. His autofiction accounts of sex, drugs, and nightlife in ‘90s Paris are life-giving, emotional, and very funny. This novel follows the course of one night at the club. Collected in Semiotexte’s The Works of Guillaume Dustan: Volume 1.Baby Face (1933), directed by Alfred E. Green.
Colleen says: “Fucked My Way Up To The Top” starring Barbara Stanwyck. This is a woman who knows what she wants: clothes, jewels, professional success. Or, as the original tagline said, “She had IT and made IT pay!” One of the most notorious films of the Pre-Code era, the ending feels disingenuous to the character, but the journey is indelible. Available to rent but also free on Tubi.Fashion File.
Colleen says: I don’t know why Tim Blanks’s legendary CBC show was syndicated where I grew up in suburban New Jersey, but like Full Frontal Fashion and Style with Elsa Klensch, it was a gateway to Prada and Helmut Lang. A wealth of clips of varying quality are available on YouTube, and you never know who will show up on the other side of his mic.Serge Lutens Lipstick in N°2 and Chanel Le Vernis in Rouge Noir.
Colleen says: Two forever reds I’ll never give up.Dalida’s disco era.
Colleen says: Dalida’s ‘60s French and Italian hits are essential, but her tacky late ‘70s disco pivot even more so. Any diva worth her salt has enough reinventions to keep the public rapt. “Mourir sur scène” is my favorite track, perfect for summer. Visit her larger-than-life tomb (very close to Stendhal’s) at the Montmartre Cemetery, featuring a statue of her with a gold aura engraved in stone.
Thanks for joining us at Mise-En-Scène, especially considering my unexpected sabbatical. I’m grateful you’re here. If you’re a new subscriber, welcome! Take a look around and let me know what else (or who else) you’d like to see. I love comments and DMs.
Special thank you to our guest curator Colleen Kelsey for her superb selection. You can stream In the Cut through various places online. Follow Colleen on Instagram at @colleenkelsey—a true Taurean, her posts are beguiling and never spike my cortisol—read her selected writings here, and subscribe to her newsletter Status Report here.
See you again soon; much sooner than last time!
Answers have been lightly edited for clarity.
In The Cut is the BEST.