“Having a woman direct it answered a lot of accusations about the book,” explained Pressman. But Ellis was more forthright about the choice of a female director:
“It was a bit of a stunt. I think part of the reason why a woman was hired was precisely to deflect the criticism and so make more money. Everything is a business decision. They said, ‘Let’s get a woman to direct it. Nora Ephron is probably not going to do it, so let’s see who else is out there.’”
Despite Ellis' cynicism, Harron proved to be an inspired choice. When the Toronto production became mired in controversy – after a copy of the book was found on the bedside table of Canadian serial killer Paul Bernardo – she proved articulate and capable in the face of the media.
She was also the only filmmaker who worked on the project that understood the torture wouldn’t translate on to film.
Instead, Harron and co-writer Guinevere Turner (who has a brief role as one of Bateman’s victims) concentrated on nailing the satire, capturing the blank, affect-less tone of the novel perfectly.
Now all they needed was someone to play Bateman.
Next: The DiCaprio Dilemma...
Comments
BenCh
Jul 22nd 2009, 14:04
"Christ. I'll call you..."
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parker
Jul 23rd 2009, 10:13
one of the greatest movies of all time! Don't just stare at it....eat it!
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PadmanForever
Jul 23rd 2009, 12:33
A nice little feature about one of my favourites. This is the should of thing you should try and get on here as much as possible! But don't wear that outfit again.
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panr235
Jul 23rd 2009, 18:45
Awesome article. This parody music video of American Psycho just came out. Pretty funny http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G29d6RDSK1c
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MadLove4Bale
Jul 26th 2009, 6:44
One of Christian's finest performances bar none!!! So gorgeous,so sexy,so hot!!! He became my favorite actor in the world.I became a die hard Balehead,after seeing this movie,and never looked back.I can't figure out for the life of me,why he never got an Oscar nod for this movie,go figure.... One of my favorite quotes from the movie:"You're a f*ckin ugly B*tch!!! I wanna stab you to death,and play around with your blood" My husband said that to me on our wedding night....We'll be celebrating our 10th wedding anniversary next June.Ahhhhhhhhh the memories. Word to the wise: Don't ever underestimate the power of "American Psycho"
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