Oh my god oh my god
Just finished watching this on TCM. Brutal.
shareI had the same response. Had never seen the film, and only knew that it was considered a classic of the time, so watching it on TCM I was completely unprepared for the ending. (Though several times during the film I thought, "Why does she keep hooking up with these random scary guys? Isn't she afraid one of them will really hurt her??") Those last few minutes, I kept hoping that she was in a dream sequence. For me, even more disturbing than the rape and stabbing was her repeatedly crying, "Do it! Do it!" How awful for the poor woman on whose real life this film is based.
share*** spoilers follow ***
Part of what made it unbearable for me is that Diane Keaton's portrayal of Theresa isn't that far removed from Annie Hall, all klutziness and talking to herself. If Annie Hall is the romantic dream of the 1970s, people looking and longing for love because they need the eggs, then Mr Goodbar is the dark mirror to that alienated wanting.
It's scary too because Theresa was attracted to that dangerousness, as evidenced by her continued relations with that psychopath Tony. Gere and Berenger though sure made such violence sexy.