Bale Defends 'American Psycho'

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With captivating performances for such accomplished filmmakers as Steven Spielberg, Jane Campion and Gillian Armstrong, actor Christian Bale has been bubbling on the surface of stardom for years.

That is, bubbling until this spring, when a risky role put the charismatic Bale a cut above the rest of the actors in his generation. That's when 26 year-old Wales native electrified critics with the chilling lead role of Patrick Bateman in "American Psycho," which makes its debut on home video and DVD this week.

Based on the controversial book by Bret Easton Ellis, "American Psycho" follows the exploits of a Wall Street executive hopelessly absorbed in the world of '80s yuppie excess.

With money, power, women and even designer business cards (a particular issue of importance and launching pad for anger), Bateman basically has everything except for his sanity -- and that lacking characteristic forces him to kill at will.

Written in 1987, Ellis' brutally graphic novel was a hot potato that bounced between filmmakers and studios for years. When it was finally landed in the capable hands of writer-director Mary Harron, the "I Shot Andy Warhol" filmmaker chose to play up the social commentary and pitch the black humor of the piece. The violence, while still prevalent, is significantly tamer than the book.

"Certainly in making the movie, there was a question of how we were going to make what is perceived to be a violent piece of work with out celebrating the violence at the same time," Bale told me by phone from Berlin, the location of his latest film. "I think Mary did a good job with it in that it doesn't glorify it and becomes a gore-fest. In fact, most of the violence takes place off-screen."

Nonetheless, with explicit sex scenes to contend with the violence, "American Psycho" was put through the ringer by the MPAA Ratings Board. While the film did finally achieve an "R" rating in the United States, Bale thinks the vague rules surrounding the admission policies here unfairly contributed to the large brouhaha upon its release.

Bales admits that the film is terrifying in its violent nature. But what makes it more terrifying to him is that younger kids have the accessibility of seeing it.

"Certainly there's humor in the movie, but it's a disturbing movie, too, and it's meant to be," Bale says. "I could have handled a movie like this at a younger age, but as a general rule I did not make this a movie for kids to go and see.

"And with the ratings system as it is in the United States, it makes me uncomfortable that that is possible. It allows a 17 year old to take a 10 year old to an 'R' movie, whereas in England (where film are rated by numerals corresponding to age) if they are not 18, they are not getting in. There's no question about it."

Conversely, when "American Psycho" was released in his homeland, it didn't experience the same sort of controversy at all. While he says that "England is not known for being the most liberal country in terms of censorship in movies," the rules of "18" ratings are completely clear, and there is no negativity attached to it. That's a far cry from its U.S. counterpart, the "NC-17" rating, Bale says.

"There is this unfortunate stigma about the NC-17 rating, which I think is a shame," Bale says. "Distributors won't show the movies and papers won't advertise them. They treat it as pornography. In England there are many movies that are rated '18' and there's no stigma attached to it whatsoever."

Inspiring Desperation?

In the age of violent school rampages and the like, and the intense scrutiny Hollywood has been under as a result, perhaps one of the burning concerns of "American Psycho" is how literal audiences will take the actions of Patrick Bateman.

Bale stops just short of saying that that is not a possibility, only because exceptions exist to every rule.

I think that if you allow yourself, you can be persuaded by anything," Bale says. "But people have to be in a position to allow themselves to be that way.

"It has to be a weakness of personality, and there has to be a complete lack of being able to grip reality in watching 'American Psycho' to think that Bateman is to be emulated."

Ultimately, Bale is not only defending his film, but all filmmakers and artists that choose to push the limits of the artistic edge.

"I think that movies, along with any other form of literature or music have to be allowed to be intelligent and grown up," he says. In the case of "American Psycho," it meant staying true to Ellis' original vision, not matter how enraging the outcome of it may be to people.

"As filmmakers, we didn't want to make this a morality lesson," concludes Bale. "We are essentially telling a story with some very black humor. But this movie isn't a 'nudge-nudge, wink-wink' kind of movie. That to me would have been dumbing-it down to have made it so."

Open Minded

Of course, while Bale has made a significant impact with such daunting roles in "American Psycho" and as Samuel L. Jackson's nemesis in this summer's "Shaft," it doesn't mean Bale will be restricting himself to certain roles or genres.

Anybody with a sense of his film history, in fact, already knows that, aside from such gems as Spielberg's "Empire of the Sun" and Jane Campions's "Portrait of a Lady," Bale had roles in family films like "Little Women" and a voice part in Disney's "Pocohontas."

"The bottom line is, Bale is there, as long as the material is.

"I'm inclusive of comedy, action, whatever it is. I think it all has the potential of working," Bale told me. "And, I enjoy watching all those kinds of movies."

Bale, by the way, just completed a role opposite Nicolas Cage in "Corelli's Mandolin," filmed in Greece. He'll start shortly on "Librium" in Berlin, where he'll re-team with his "Metroland" co-star Emily Watson.

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