Marco Castellini
•Wall Street, late 1980s: Patrick Bateman is a successful thirty-something, handsome, rich, established in his career, and well-liked (at least in appearance) by everyone. Behind his "mask of normality" hides a man absolutely devoid of morals and feelings, who, when he lets go of his inhibitions, turns into a bloodthirsty killer who tortures, kills, and butchers his victims.
This is the cinematic adaptation of Bret Easton Ellis' eponymous bestseller, which upon release sparked a hornet's nest of controversies for the violence of its contents; the film, however, lacks the key element of Ellis' book, namely "explicit violence". The director opted for a much softer screenplay that focuses more on the protagonist's manias for the cult of hygiene and beauty. The result is a film extremely well-crafted in its details (from every point of view: the set designer recovered old VCRs, original walkmans, and clothes, all belonging to the eighties) but fails to convey to the viewer that sense of "disgust" and "shock" that the novel knew how to give. Yet another missed opportunity! Notably, there is a double reference to Hooper's masterpiece "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre".
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