Lipstick Hemingway

Posted in: Lipstick related by weddingcometrue | February 16th 2010 | no comments

Movie fans might have heard about the film ‘Lipstick’ but since it was produced before my time I had to do some research regarding the topic. I have found out that ‘Lipstick’ is an American drama movie produced in 1976. The plot is set in Los Angeles, California, USA. The main character is Margoux Hemingway playing the role of a fashion model who was living together with her younger sister, performed by Mariel Hemingway.



The sister had a music teacher that at one point got upset by the fact that the model was more interested in a telephone call then in his music, so, as revenge he raped her. This scene is considered to be one of the most infamous scenes ever produced since the beginning of motion picture. After being acquitted of the crime he tries to assault Margoux’s little sister, but he is shot dead by Margoux. In the end it is decided that it was justifiable homicide and Margoux is acquitted.



I have read some reviews that praised the movie, others had a really bad opinion about it, telling that it is cheap and that it was supposed to condemn but instead it sensationalizes and exploits it. Having a role in ‘Lipstick’, Hemingway should have been catapulted to fame, but in the end it was her sister that was praised for her talent and started a promising career that is said to be envied by Margoux.

It was interesting to find out that there have been two remakes of the movie, both of them produced in India. Among other fun facts that you might have not known is the fact that there was a building used that was under construction. That building is the Beverly Center Mall, an actual shopping center in Los Angeles. The original movie was cut by two minutes and 54 seconds to edit the scenes of the rape. When the film was first shown on TV, the rape was presented as a series of stills. Mariel Hemingway said in a 2001 report that at the time (she was 15 then) she didn’t realize that her character and the one of her sister were raped until she had seen the finished movie.



At this point I can’t advise you to watch the movie, but I can’t advise you not to watch it either. Some say that it is one of the worst movies ever made and the only thing that makes it bearable to watch is the presence of Mariel Hemingway, because it adds class to it. Others say that considering that it was in ‘Lipstick’ Hemingway made her debut, the film is quite good. The only thing I can say is that personally I am not a big fan of violence and I think we have enough of it in the world we are living in so I am a little fed up with those movies that can’t show anything else, but people being hurt. I might be wrong, but I think that movies were supposed to takes us out from the real world to take us into a world where good things are possible.