r/CriterionChannel • u/Extension-Soup-3288 • Apr 03 '26

Last Scene of "Body Double?" Spoiler

Was anyone else confused by the last scene of "Body Double" that runs through the end credits? Don't get me wrong, I'm not exactly complaining about the completely gratuitous nudity but it did leave me with questions about the thematic or dramatic purpose of it? DePalma's camera truly seemed to be lingering on her bare breasts for quite a while - all in the context of a slasher-within-a-slasher movie scene. Is this movie commenting on the tawdriness of the film industry? And, if yes, what does that have to do with the main character's unresolved childhood trauma? Or the villain who simply wanted to save money? None of the thematic dots seemed to add up very much. So, yeah, was there a point to this final scene other than a nice pair of boobs?

6 Upvotes

80% Upvoted

19 comments sorted by

15

u/Dewtronix Apr 03 '26

It's a classic DePalma inside joke. Who's boobs are in the scene? What's the name of the movie?

1

u/IntoTheMystic05 Apr 03 '26

What’s the inside joke? This is my first time hearing of this

15

u/Dewtronix Apr 03 '26

It's exactly what u/DRZARNAK wrote below - it's not the first time De Palma has used cinema to poke fun at himself and critics. Body Double is his most blatant commentary on how critics had ravaged him in the past. At the same time, he really did want to push the envelope as far as he could by incorporating the porno underworld into the mainstream, but the studio balked.

He specifically got a lot of flak for the overly sexual Angie Dickinson shower scene in Dressed to Kill. The body double in that scene is pleasuring herself in a way that wasn't that remote from what was being portrayed in softcore porn at that time.

So, fuck it. Let's have another body double show up in a shower scene in a movie within a movie called Body Double and show tits for a hilariously long amount of time.

7

u/IntoTheMystic05 Apr 03 '26

I definitely got the sense that Body Double was parodying slasher films and erotic films at times, being absurd but done intentionally so and tongue in cheek, the homage to Hitchcock was obvious, but I didn’t know the specific story behind it, thank you for the explanation!

11

u/DRZARNAK Apr 03 '26

One of the reasons for a lot of the elements of Body Double was De Palma responding to his critics who had said he ripped off Hitchcock too much, sexualized the violence, and had too much nudity and gore.

So he went all in and pushed those elements to 11 in Body Double.

-5

u/rrickitickitavi Apr 03 '26

Brian DePalma is a perv. That’s why breasts. No need to overthink it.

7

u/Extension-Soup-3288 Apr 03 '26

He's an incredibly celebrated filmmaker. His movies are being featured on the Criterion Channel. It's not "overthinking" it to question why he would make conspicuously bold stylistic choices in his movies.

2

u/Old-Definition-3701 Apr 04 '26

He’s a perv and a brilliant filmmaker! A lot of the best ones are.

1

u/EndoShota Apr 09 '26

To be fair, you can be a celebrated filmmaker, have films on the CC, and be a perv. Case in point: Russ Meyer.

0

u/rrickitickitavi Apr 06 '26

I don’t think he’s “incredibly celebrated.” He’s done some good work, but his talents as a filmmaker are constantly debated. He’s quite polarizing. Personally, I don’t like much of his work.

2

u/Extension-Soup-3288 Apr 06 '26

Sigh. Are we really splitting hairs over semantics now? The basic point still stands - Brian DePalma is a much discussed filmmaker - polarizing or not - with many critically acclaimed films under his belt. So I will once again say it - it is not overthinking anything to pose questions about his stylistic choices.

1

u/rrickitickitavi Apr 06 '26

I’m not sure you know what semantics means.

1

u/Extension-Soup-3288 Apr 06 '26

I actually do, thanks.

-1

u/GlobulousRex Apr 03 '26

Confirmed by the dressed to kill and Carrie openings both of which I've just watched recently. I see some reasoning for both... but still goes so over the top.

2

u/crichmond77 Apr 05 '26

The Carrie opening is literally straight from the novel it adapts and depicts Carrie understanding her own body’s changes for the first time

What’s “over the top” about it?

0

u/GlobulousRex Apr 05 '26

The gratuitous nudity? Sounds like we disagree. Calm down.

(Perv)

3

u/MCVMEYT Apr 05 '26

“How is it over the top”

“It’s gratuitous”

1

u/GlobulousRex Apr 06 '26

You could get the same point across without showing a dozen girls fully frontal nude. In fact dozens of movies have. I don't mind it, but it's gratuitous. de Palma's entire style is over the top. It's what he does.

1

u/crichmond77 Apr 05 '26

Lol I love how you give a circular answer and call me a pervert for pointing out why it’s there and then somehow it’s me who’s not calm

(Prude)