Exotica, 1994, Atom Egoyan
"Exotica" takes place in a nightclub where a group of
characters are brought together through ties to the club. Christina (Mia Kirshner), a young dancer who performs
often for a lonely auditor named Francis (Bruce Greenwood); Thomas, a
pet-store owner and the DJ of the club is played by Elias
Koteas. As details are
revealed, layers come into view. These are
lonely people. Francis and Christina share an strange if compelling bond, and he wants nothing more than to have her in front of him. While
these characters intentions seem at once simple, there is always the
feeling as if there's more that's still unsaid. It's that unsure feeling
of what will happen next that makes "Exotica" watchable.
By the end, the complex story has pulled the threads of their tales together in an
interesting and entertaining way, with a surprising ending. Good
performances, fine writing and excellent direction. Sarah Polley, just fifteen here, is as good as always. Atom Egoyan directed THE SWEET HEREAFTER shortly after this film.
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13 comments:
Patti - I'd heard of this one but haven't seen it. that's the thing about films that sort of slip 'under the radar.' You often forget to see them...
I remember liking this film a great deal and I believe the song "everybody knows" by Cohen is included. That's where I began my appreciation of his music.
Great movie with a great soundtrack.
That anthology you mentioned to the left? First, your link doesn't work. Second, it is no longer $2.99 on Kindle but $8.77.
But other than that...
Jeff M.
A fantastic movie! I find nearly every one of Egoyan's movies fascinating.
agree, very moving, complex movie, and great use of Cohen's Everybody Knows. McCabe & Mrs. Miller soundtrack is what got me hooked on Leonard Cohen.
I am always surprised when people have seen this film. He is such an odd director--or was in his first few films. I saw it at the theater but I bet most caught up with it on DVR. And of course, Cohen is sublime as usual.
An all-Canada flick.
I enjoy sARAH Polley's work. THE WEIGHT OF WATER and DAWN OF THE DEAD (2004 remake).
Well...Egoyan's craft and sex & death obsessions help make him a pretty common view for people who care about film and those (trivial) topics...
Speaking of which...no credit for Dan Simmons in that nice little tribute to his zombie story?
Duh! The brain is not working well due to the fact I can't stand the pain in my hands from all this rain!!
I saw this in film class and was quite perplexed by it on its first viewing. But it must be said that on repeat viewing, my understanding of it became a little more clear.
Great cast of characters.
At most this could have been an okay short film. As a feature it's awful (as all of Egoyan's films are with their thin, obvious themes). This guy has sucked up so much of what little resources Canada has for filmmakers, it's too bad.
Oh well, people outside of Canada seem to like this stuff...
Maybe what is exotica there is a whole different thing!
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