The male lead looks a bit like Colin Firth, and the female lead a bit like a brunette Amanda Seyfried. Just so you know. He turns out to be an amiable bearded Celt (I think). An odd aspect of the film is the number of voice actors, about twelve of them. Better than aluminum-voiced western-hemisphere voices. There's quite a bit of blue-screen work; with that intense deep blue; I wonder if their trade press has fights with green-screeners.
A casual glance made me think the male was called Dakota, well-suited for jokes about flyover territory, with Jamie named in the style of some woman singers, but in fact the names are the other way round. The action mostly takes place in Vancouver; I have no idea why (or why not). The very urban cityscape appears to be Vancouver. Even the helicopter (with the shrouded fan on the back, so people don't get cut up) was filmed there.
The color-grading is generally blue-grey (eyes and background) or brownish (hair and furniture and umber tones), varied with some outdoor coloring, and with white indoor bedding.
Billionaire surroundings are entirely modern, largely float glass (British) only visible edge-on. I didn't find this very convincing: we have his own grey skyscraper entrance, but not much more. I thought the music wasn't adapted to very rich tastes; but who knows. Maybe they like 'easy listening', or employ their own orchestral players. I'd guess E L James isn't very interested in the fine points of corporation ownership and shares; in her world as interpreted by scripts and the director, Sam (who is female), a billion is much the same as a million, and share values stay much the same.
'Anastasia' seemed to me to have an easier acting task: she had to walk nicely, and open her mouth and close her eyes, with sinuous movements, to signal bliss. But 'Christian'/Jamie had several more-or-less incompatible roles. He had up to age 15, I think, an older 'dominant' woman. He chaired a meeting, which no doubt billionaires do, but might have been given more lines showing his impressive grasp of the finances of a telecomms empire: at one point he said "I'll send a check" to Anastasia who wanted money back for her old car. He did a James Bond sequence, specifying his gin & tonic. He (I think) bit open a condom package, and elegantly spat it out, which looked a srveral takes shot to me, and I suppose was a nod the the Jewish HIV fraud. I haven't read the books and have no idea if this reflects E L James, who had a few parts in the bonus stuff: she looked a bit hard-edged to me, like a biker chick. At least, that's what I thought at first, but she's shown at a book-signing session in Vancouver, wearing what looks like a wig, and otherwise different, so she might have a stand-in. I'd have liked to hear her talk, but the bonus had nothing.
The main part of the plot is the S & M stuff; the first I heard of that was in a Dire Straits song a long time ago. In the film, 'Christian' unlocks a door, with a suggestion of naughtiness; a model railway perhaps? But 'Anastasia' finds a room, quite small, furnished for S & M. I'd guess the set-dresser bought (or rented) from a store; much of the material was less vicious than it might have seemed, which seems to be a correct observation. And there was emphasis on the firmly obligatory nature of the submissive's commands on giving the code word. No rape, which is a relief; maybe that, or perhaps choking, or knife play, waits for following two films.
The other parts of the plot supply the framework: she is in their final year for her degree, I think in Vancouver, and has a room-mate, presumably cast as the less-attractive girl. 'Christian' asks her whether Thomas Hardy, someone else, or Jane Austen led her to take up lidder-a-chewer. (This postdates the time Austen was shown not to have written 'her' stuff; bit of a black mark!) She collects her degree, the ceremony being addressed by 'Christian', who funds them to some extent, in what seems an unlikely way. This, I'd guess, allows for future plot twists. There are meetings with family members, and 'Christian' reveals he had a hard life. Cynics will wonder whether this could be even approximately true. Anyway, this DVD ends with 'Anastasia' turning him down, for flogging her six times. My edition was supposed to have an alternative ending; but I couldn't find it. This is now eight years in the past; all the actors are 8 years older; I'd guess about 10% of the participants are dead.
I wonder whether 'Anastasia' and 'Christian' refer to Jew hostilities against Russians and Christians. Forbidden fruit? And in Jewish finance is very obliquely referenced. I suppose not. And I doubt if the situation in Canada gets any sort of indirect mention. I couldn't see anything like that: no funding for immigrants, for example. Sigh. Very unlike the real world. It had an '18' certificate. How much was under legal control I don't know: you see more on porn sites ("Porn is a Jewish Psy-op"–Eugene Michael Jones). I couldn't help but wonder if 'Christian' had a large 'package', perhaps circumsized, but it was not shown.
Fascinating escapist stuff, a world where the biological facts are rather buried: nothing on digestion, nothing on old age. A world where Jews don't call themselves 'philanthropists' and arrange frauds and plan mass killings between goyim; a world of women who know little but at least show a residual interest in reproduction. I haven't followed the next parts of this series (and have no idea how many books actually sold) but would expect Christian Grey's tearfully heart-breaking early life to emerge fitfully, while Anastasia in 'Jane Austen' mode realises how wonderful he is. I can't imagine the ending would be anything other than happy.
© Rae West Jan 2023