Occupation NovelistFemme fatale | ||
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Significant others Detective Nick Curran, Michael Glass Similar Detective Nick Curran, femme fatale, Annie Wilkes, Vivian Ward, Alex Forrest | ||
Catherine Tramell is a fictional character and main antagonist in the film Basic Instinct (1992) and its sequel, Basic Instinct 2 (2006). Catherine, created by writer Joe Eszterhas, is played by Sharon Stone in both films. In Basic Instinct, Tramell is a serial killer and love interest of washed-up detective Nick Curran; Basic Instinct 2 pairs her with the similarly troubled British psychologist Michael Glass.
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One European critic defined Catherine Tramell as "a mix between the classic femme fatale and the new psycho killers, one of the most evil characters ever created, on Hannibal Lecter's level". She was nominated to be a member of the American Film Institute's "Best Villains" list. She was also included as one of the best 250 fiction villains ever created. In June 2010, Entertainment Weekly named her one of the 100 Greatest Characters of the Last 20 Years.
Basic Instinct
Basic Instinct establishes Tramell as a successful crime novelist who is connected to the violent stabbing death of a washed up rock musician, Johnny Boz. She is subsequently investigated by San Francisco homicide detectives Nick Curran (Michael Douglas) and Gus Moran (George Dzundza), who learn that Boz died in exactly the same manner as a character in Tramell's most recent novel. Tramell shows little emotion upon hearing of Boz's death and, under questioning by the police, behaves provocatively; in the film's most famous scene, Tramell re-crosses her legs to show that she is not wearing underwear beneath her short skirt.
Curran looks into Tramell's troubled history and links her to the deaths of her parents, her counselor at UC Berkeley, and her former fiancé; she also has a habit of befriending imprisoned murderers. However, when he confronts Tramell, she taunts him with knowledge of his drug addiction. Thinking that Tramell received the confidential information from an adversarial Internal Affairs investigator, Marty Nilsen, a violent Curran gets himself suspended and falls into a drunken stupor. After Nilsen is found dead, he becomes the prime suspect. Curran, increasingly seduced by Tramell, becomes sexually involved with her; she tells him that he will be the basis of the character in her next novel.
A torrid affair between Nick and Catherine begins with the air of a cat-and-mouse game. Nick shows up at a club and witness her sniffing coke in a bathroom stall. Later, they have sex in a bed.
Tramell's lesbian lover, Roxy, unsuccessfully attempts to kill Curran and dies in a car crash. Tramell's apparent grief over Roxy's death leads Curran to doubt her guilt. Curran then learns that as a college student, Tramell had a lesbian encounter with Beth Garner, a police psychologist he previously had an affair with. Upon finding the manuscript to Tramell's latest novel, Curran realizes that Moran is in danger; he is too late to stop Moran's apparent murder by Garner, whom he shoots when he thinks she is retrieving a weapon. Evidence collected in Beth's apartment points to her as the killer of Boz, Nilsen, Moran, and her own husband. She is ultimately branded as the killer.
Curran is left confused and dejected, knowing from the manuscript that Tramell was involved in Moran's murder and somehow set up Garner. When he tries to confront her, the two end up making love. During a session of pillow talk, Tramell reaches for something under the bed before abruptly resuming sex. The camera pans below the bed to show Tramell's weapon of choice—an ice pick—showing that she wants to kill Curran.
Basic Instinct 2
Fifteen years after the events of the first movie, Tramell speeds through London in a sports car with Kevin Franks, an English football player. After taking Franks' hand to masturbate herself and reach climax, Tramell crashes the car into the Thames river and ultimately leaves Franks to drown. When Scotland Yard finds evidence of her culpability in the death, Tramell is made to take therapy sessions with a court-appointed psychologist, Dr. Michael Glass (David Morrissey). At her trial, Glass testifies that Tramell is a narcissist who suffers from a pathological "risk addiction", showing no regard for right or wrong. However, Glass' testimony is deemed insufficient, and Tramell goes free.
Tramell begins playing mind games with Glass, who finds himself becoming both frustrated and increasingly intrigued by her. Eventually, he succumbs to temptation and begins an illicit affair with Tramell. However, following the murder of his ex-wife's partner—a journalist planning to write a negative story about Glass—he suspects that she is trying to frame him for the killing. As more people close to Glass turn up dead, his obsession with Tramell grows to the point where it threatens his career and livelihood. Eventually, Glass himself can no longer tell right from wrong as the police suspect him of involvement in the crimes.
During Glass' confrontation with Tramell, she reveals that her latest novel is based on the present situation, featuring characters based on herself, Glass, and the victims. Tramell suggests that her next victim is Glass' colleague, Dr. Gardosh (Charlotte Rampling). However, this turns out to be a ruse tricking Glass into having a violent confrontation with Gardosh and subsequently shooting Detective Spt. Roy Washburn (David Thewlis), the officer investigating the murders. Glass is subsequently committed to a mental hospital, where Tramell claims that she manipulated him into committing the crimes. A stymied Glass is left to silently rage at his predicament.