Plunging into the whirlwind of 1980s yuppie culture and underground aesthetics, this iconic screwball-style comedy-drama draws its energy from the traditional role-reversal setup. Roberta (Rosanna Arquette), a housewife lost in her daydreams bangs her head and, through a series of misunderstandings, ends up in the shoes of the more bohemian Susan (Madonna) testing the benefits of a more bourgeois lifestyle.
One of the key influences for this feminist film classic masterfully blending crime and fantasy plots was Jacques Rivette’s Céline et Julie vont en bateau (1974), but Seidelman was also inspired by Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland (1865), which she had read as a child: Roberta is likened to Alice, Susan to the White Rabbit, and the heart of Manhattan to worlds of magical possibilities.
For Seidelman, it was also “a love story between two women – minus the sex”, and the film’s true strength lies in its excellent casting: the naturally feisty Madonna – the director’s neighbour at the time – here making her first major film role and having risen to international superstardom at the time the film was being shot, and Arquette, on her way to the top but more ambivalent in her expression. The cult status of this hit film was further enhanced by its extroverted costumes and unique visual style, which flooded young women’s wardrobes.
Lauri Timonen