February 9, 2015 (Los Angeles)
February 13, 2015 (United States)
Fifty Shades of Grey is a 2015 erotic romantic drama film directed by Sam Taylor-Johnson from a screenplay by Kelly Marcel. Produced by Focus Features, Michael De Luca Productions, and Trigger Street Productions, it is based on E. L. James' 2011 novel of the same name, and serves as the first installment in the Fifty Shades film series. Starring Dakota Johnson, Jamie Dornan, Jennifer Ehle and Marcia Gay Harden, the film's story follows Anastasia "Ana" Steele, a college graduate, who begins a sadomasochistic relationship with young business magnate Christian Grey.
Development of the film commenced in March 2012, when Universal and Focus Features secured the rights to the trilogy following a bidding war. After Marcel was hired to write the film's screenplay, multiple directors, including Joe Wright, Patty Jenkins, Bill Condon, Bennett Miller, and Steven Soderbergh, were attached to the film. Taylor-Johnson was confirmed as the director in June 2013. She cited 9½ Weeks, Last Tango in Paris, and Blue Is the Warmest Colour as her inspirations for the film. The main cast joined the project between October and December 2013. Principal photography commenced in December 2013 and concluded in February 2014. Reshoots involving scenes between Dornan and Johnson took place in Vancouver during the week of October 2014. Danny Elfman was hired to compose the film's score.
Fifty Shades of Grey premiered at the 69th Berlin International Film Festival on February 11, 2015, and was released in IMAX formats on February 13, by Universal Pictures. Despite receiving generally unfavorable reviews from critics, it was an immediate box office success, breaking numerous box office records and earning $569.7 million worldwide against a budget of $40 million. The soundtrack album was also successful; "Love Me Like You Do", by English singer Ellie Goulding, was nominated for the Golden Globe Award for Best Original Song, while "Earned It", by Canadian singer the Weeknd, was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Original Song at the 88th Academy Awards.
The film was the most awarded at the 36th Golden Raspberry Awards, winning five of six nominations, including Worst Picture (tied with Fantastic Four) and both leading roles. Fifty Shades of Grey was succeeded by two sequels: Fifty Shades Darker, and Fifty Shades Freed, released in 2017 and 2018, respectively, both of which received similar negative critical reception but commercial success.
Storyline
Twenty-one year old Anastasia "Ana" Steele is an English literature major at Washington State University Vancouver in Vancouver, Washington. When her roommate, Kate Kavanagh, catches a cold and is unable to interview Christian Grey, a twenty-seven year old billionaire entrepreneur for the college newspaper, Ana agrees to take Kate's place. At Christian's Seattle headquarters, she stumbles her way through the meeting. Christian, who is that year's WSU commencement speaker, takes an interest in her, and she in him. Soon after, he visits the hardware store where Ana works and offers to do a photo shoot to accompany the article she had interviewed him for.
Christian asks Ana out for coffee, but leaves abruptly after she confesses to being a romantic, saying he is not the man for her. He later sends her first edition copies of two Thomas Hardy novels, including Tess of the d'Urbervilles, as a gift, with a quote from the latter book about the dangers of relationships on an accompanying card. Ana and her friends celebrate graduation at a local bar. After drinking too much, she calls Christian, saying she is returning the books, and berating him for his behavior towards her. He goes to the bar to find her, arriving just as her photographer friend, José Rodriquez, attempts to kiss her against her will. Ana, suddenly sick, throws up and passes out. The next morning, she wakes up in Christian's hotel room, relieved that nothing happened between them.
After the two make out in an elevator, and he takes her for a ride in his helicopter, a romance starts to develop. He insists, however, that she sign a non-disclosure agreement preventing her from revealing details about their relationship. He explains that he is a dominant who engages in sexual bondage relationships, but only as defined in a contract between the participants. Ana reveals that she is a virgin. While considering the agreement and negotiating her own terms, and after briefly visiting his "Red Room," a place stocked with a bed and a variety of whips and shackles, she and Christian spend the night together.
The next morning, after making pancakes and meeting Christian's adoptive mother, the two go for a drive, during which Christian explains that he was introduced to his dominant practices at age fifteen by a woman Ana dubs "Mrs. Robinson". His parents know nothing about this, even though "Mrs. Robinson" was and still is a friend of the family.
Christian bestows a series of gifts and favors upon Ana, including a new car and a laptop. After she and Kate move to Seattle, he insists that she go over his contract before moving forward. After looking into it in some detail, Ana initially says no, but is persuaded otherwise and finds herself willingly giving her consent.
During dinner at his parents' home, Ana suddenly mentions she is leaving the next day to visit her mother in Georgia. This makes Christian angry, especially when she says she wants more than the one-sided relationship he's proposing. She then goes to Georgia, visits a lounge for cocktails, and is shocked when Christian shows up. He meets her mother, takes her air gliding, then returns to Seattle to tend to a business emergency.
After returning home, Ana and Christian have a night in his "Red Room". She consents to what he wants, but he remains emotionally distant, upsetting her. While still considering the contract, and in an effort to understand Christian's psychology, Ana asks him to demonstrate the worst punishment he would inflict on her for rule-breaking. He whips her with his belt, making her count each stroke out loud.
Crushed, she declares her love for him, but says his behavior is unacceptable. He replies that he is too screwed up to have the relationship that she wants. Devastated and depressed, Ana leaves Christian, and he promises to send her a check for the car he sold without her consent. As he goes after her, Ana orders him to stop. Christian tries to plead with her, saying her name, and Ana cuts him off by saying his own name, turning his plea into a farewell as the elevator doors close.
Also See
Sound Effects Used
- Hollywoodedge, Futzedthrough LineB PE172001
- Sound Ideas, TELEPHONE, CELLULAR - DIGITAL PHONE: DIAL FIVE BEEP
- Sound Ideas, TELEPHONE, CELLULAR - DIGITAL PHONE: DIAL FOUR BEEP
- Sound Ideas, TELEPHONE, CELLULAR - DIGITAL PHONE: DIAL THREE BEEP
- Sound Ideas, TELEPHONE, CELLULAR - DIGITAL PHONE: DIAL TWO BEEP
- Sound Ideas, TELEPHONE, CELLULAR - DIGITAL PHONE: DIAL ZERO BEEP