COLOR OF NIGHT

US, 1994, 123 minutes, Colour.
Bruce Willis, Jane March, Ruben Blades, Leslie Ann Warren, Scott Bakula, Brad Dourif, Lance Henriksen, Shirley Knight.
Directed by Richard Rush.

Color of Night is an erotic psychological thriller directed by Richard Rush, a strong director who had an up and down career starting with bike and druggie films of the '60s but making interesting features, especially the Oscar-nominated 1980 The Stuntman with Peter O'Toole.

Colour of Night is a psychological drama. A psychologist is murdered and a new psychologist, played by Bruce Willis, joins the group and has therapy meetings in order to discover who the murderer is. In the group he encounters a young woman, played by Jane March, with whom he has an affair - and, of course, she is the murderer.

The film has a very strong cast and brings to life some of the lurid and erotic action of this kind of popular melodrama.

1.Psychological murder mystery? Lurid and baroque psychological erotic drama? Critics and their comment on it being a worst film - but yet very entertaining?

2.The title, the colour red, Bill's colour-blindness? Its cause? The colour of blood?

3.New York and Los Angeles settings? The modern city? Its style, pressures? Its psychology? Police precincts? Psychologists' offices? The variety of locations for the patients? The musical score - saxophone-playing? The title song?

4.The prologue, psychodrama, discussions about sexuality, the interview, the disturbed patient, her death, its effect on Bill?

5.Bill and his work, discussions, his grief, colour-blindness? His going to Los Angeles? The friendship with Bob, their past friendship - and rivalry?

6.The introduction to the group, the information given about each of the group, their behaviour in the session? Bill's radar and the various reactions? Credible psychological sessions? The needs of the patients, the possibilities of help and therapy?

7.Bob and his style, the book, the violent death, the mystery, the reasons?

8.The picture of the police, Martinez and his Hispanic background? Investigations, questions? Attitude towards Bill? The people in therapy? His presence during Bill's work, his cynical attitudes? Sudden arrivals? The visits, the search? His return, the discovery of the truth, the final interview - and the brutality of his being nailed to the wall?

9.Bill and his dilemmas, the decision about the group, whether they keep going? His discoveries about Bob? Whether to reveal the information about Bob? His various visits and their effect, the deepening mystery? Rose and the crash, the red car, his colour-blindness? The infatuation? The steamy sexual encounters - appropriate of exploitive? Her disappearance, her reappearance, tantalising him? At home, the kitchen, provocatively sexual? His being hurt by her behaviour? The effect on his life? The mystery of Bob's death? The car chases?

10.The appearance of Rose, her sexuality, her appearance and style, clothes? Taking a variety of shapes? Schizophrenic? Whether the audience knew Richie was Rose right from the beginning? The explanation? The adaptations, the finale with Dale? The fall, Rose to be saved? A possible future?

11.Richie and the ambiguities in the therapy sessions, erratic behaviour, violence? Becoming Rose? Becoming Bonnie and the relationship with Bob? The relationship with the various patients, knowing their background? The relationship with his brother, the doctor and the sexual abuse? The doctor's death? Adapting to Dale? Pleading with Bill? The furniture and the nails? The finale?

12.Sondra, the nymphomaniac, her reactions, her reactions to Clark and his obsessions? Bonnie and the sexual relationship? The seductions? Her relationship with the trainer? Bill's investigations, the insult? The reality about her attitudes - and Richie adapting to her perceived sexual needs?

13.Clark, his compulsive obsessive behaviour, his attitude towards the law, his appearance, counting things, memorising numbers? The affair - and Richie perceiving his felt sexual needs? His clashes with Sondra and the violent outbursts?

14.Casey, his art, the sado-masochist background, painting, the father, the flip, death. The model, the heads being cut out of the paintings, their mutilation? Buck and his place in the group, no communication, the deaths, revenge? The confrontation with Martinez, the truth? The thunder and lightning?

15.Bill's investigation about the doctor who abused Richie? His visit to his widow? Their discussions, her fear, hostility?

16.Bill's visit to his old mentor, Ashland, the discussions, the advice, the wisdom?

17.The background of the police, their investigations, the departments, their attitude towards the murders?

18.Dale, in the background, his relationship with Richie, the final confrontation, the furniture, the nail gun, his violence? His motivations? The modes of the various murders?

19.The film as a kind of bestseller paperback melodrama and mystery? The holes in the plot? The character of Richie/Rose? The theory of the passive character who adapts to the needs of all that they encounter?