Intimacy

Intimacy, directed by Patrice Chereau—based on the short story by Hanifa Kureishija. Starring Kerry Fox, Mark Rylance, and Timothy Spall. France, 2000.

So, I finally sat through this one.
It’s an incredibly intense piece—painfully realistic, bordering on surreal at certain points.
The sexual encounters are stripped down to the absolute extreme. There is only one truly sensual moment in the entire movie; everything else is just raw, primal hunger. Or perhaps even that isn't the right word.
It is a film entirely devoid of emotion.
Sex is used here merely as a way to patch the emotional voids left by 21st-century individuals—people seemingly incapable of feeling anything at all. It is a portrait of intimacy in modern society.
Has anyone else seen it?

One critic put it this way:

An adult film that demands reflection, offering a mirror to anyone acquainted with life's fears, disappointments, hopes, and despairs.

analogmaker7 said:... A movie completely devoid of any emotion whatsoever... Characters who seem utterly incapable of feeling anything at all.

Well, goodness gracious, I can't say I felt a single spark of emotion while sitting through this thing either! 😁 mada I really let myself get my hopes up when I heard the name Tindersticks on the opening credits... but then what do you get? Just a bunch of lifeless sticks.
mada I have to admit, I was pretty skeptical right from the jump: a theater director at the helm, plus the first "serious" actress to perform a blow-job on screen... it all just feels a bit too much "high art" for my particular tastes. 🙄

Robert Cooper41 said:I’ll admit, I was skeptical at first: a theater director, plus the first "real" actress to perform a blowjob on screen...

Exactly: "as." 😉

If I hadn't been sitting in the back row, and if I didn't have to practically stand up an entire row of people just so my tiny self could slip out of the theater, I would’ve walked out after fifteen minutes.
A wasted Saturday.

analogmaker7 said:Sex as a tool to patch up the emotional voids of incapable 21st-century individuals. People who lack the capacity to feel a single genuine emotion. A depiction of modern society's intimacy.

A depiction of intimacy without—if you don't tear apart those pseudo-profound, rambling sentences and refrain from laughing at how much taxi drivers can actually penetrate the secrets of the human spirit—you'll realize what these ultra-boring freaks are aimlessly droning on about for nearly two hours.

I don't get it. After it was "discovered" that you can show raw fellatio, thick semen, and penetration across the whole screen in "prestige films," everyone went crazy trying to lure audiences in with these cheap tropes, even though everything between the two sexual encounters isn't even half as important.
And then the lustful sycophants sit there and hand these geniuses prestigious awards.
After the "clash," I promised myself I wouldn't watch anything that doesn't earn over $50 million on its opening day. But, damn it, I couldn't help myself... 😉

Johnny said:Look, if you’re heading to the theater with your girlfriend, you aren't exactly going to pick something that requires a PhD to follow. You want something easy, something entertaining. It's a different story when you're looking for something for yourself—something to actually sink your teeth into. When you're watching alone, there isn't this unspoken rule that it has to be "fun." It can be avant-garde. It can be weird. It just has to be real.
At one point, I think what I was quoting from you was pure gold. 👎 .

Of course.
In both those cases, the only thing that "other factor" actually achieved was a total waste of everyone's time.
I think I’ve watched one too many "avant-garde" films lately. Whether it was with this "little" one or anyone else... or maybe it's just me? 😉They were actually fun. Simple, too. They carried these clever little messages that felt ten times more profound than the mindless, boring "wisdom" that usually clutters up modern intimacy. Not that any of that matters—it’s not like those things are a requirement for me to enjoy a movie or anything.
Even calling it a "clash" is an overstatement. There isn't even a clash to speak of. It’s just pure, bizarre nonsense. Honestly, the only reason I sat through it was because I caught a clip of one of my favorite bands on a VHS tape during a road trip. That was my sole, "unexciting" motivation. 🙂 Maybe that’s just it—maybe *Lost Highway* is one of those movies meant for a completely different mood. One you aren't in right now?

Regarding that quote—you really didn't need to be that harsh. You see? 😉 ? 🙂

What’s your take on this movie? Does anyone actually remember it? I personally loved it, and I honestly think it deserved that award it picked up back in 2001 at the Berlin Film Festival. Kerry Fox is absolutely brilliant in this... I really admire her for taking on a role like this.🙏

Why on earth would she be so offended by someone just being a dick?

As for the movie, it was pretty mediocre... I watched it ages ago, so I can't quite pin down the specific flaws, but I vividly remember feeling absolutely nothing while watching it.

goldenhound32 said:So you're annoyed because she was being difficult?

The movie is mediocre... I watched it ages ago, so I don't remember exactly what missed the mark, but I know I felt absolutely nothing while watching it.

I'm not really into vulgarity. For me, the film wasn't about the explicit sex scenes—it was about the fact that it actually has a strong, excellent story. And Kerry Fox is a fantastic actress, at least in my book.

Even after ten years, I can still see it all so clearly... the raw emotion, the characters, those specific episodes, the little lessons it left behind... it’s just stayed with me. I guess that means it actually meant something.

Susan Taylor72 said:Even after ten years, I still remember it vividly—the emotions, the characters, the specific episodes, the whole message... it really stuck with me. That’s how you know it actually meant something.

Looks like you're a fan of this movie too. What was it about the film that actually clicked for you?

Well, just like with anything else in the arts, it’s never really about the "what," it’s all about the "how"... and honestly, the director and those two leads totally sucked me in. They managed to pull me right into this messy, heavy story about longing, craving intimacy, running away from it, and then pushing past every boundary in sight. It was actually pretty tense watching him try to build some kind of unconventional connection, wondering if she was even going to go for it... her husband was actually kind of heartbreaking to watch too, you could just feel the weight of the drama there, and I found myself trying to wrap my head around the whole female perspective and stuff... anyway, it was just a really well-told story.

It actually reminded me even more of a similar flick I saw on TV a few years back: a scandalous affair (which I think they called an affair of passion over here), has anyone ever seen that? It's such a darkly funny, high-tension movie about a couple who meet up at a hotel strictly for kinky sex—though we never actually see what they're doing—and somehow these feelings start bubbling up between them while they talk directly to the camera *** (I won't go any further because I don't want to spoil it)

And as for the fact that the sex scenes are so explicit, I actually think there's a purpose to it. Since most movies usually play it safe by being vague or non-explicit—you know, where nothing really happens and everything is just heavily romanticized unless it's a thriller—taking that step away from the norm helps the audience realize immediately that this isn't your typical Hollywood romance. It makes it clear that this isn't about "making love," it's just pure, raw sex. It's a really effective way to use cinematic tools to get the point across.

Right in the middle.

To be honest, the movie caught me completely off guard—it was actually quite shocking. I watched it in a theater, and man, what a masterpiece. It’s hard to put into words the whirlwind of emotions I went through, sitting there among a crowd of strangers, witnessing someone else's raw intimacy...

Seriously—whenever I get into a conversation about cinema (and I mean actual filmmaking, not those blockbuster pieces of trash), this is one of the first movies I bring up.

Susan Taylor72 said:Well, just like in any art form, it’s not about what’s being said or shown, but how it's delivered. The director and the two leads actually managed to pull me in; I was emotionally invested in this whole story about longing, craving intimacy, avoiding it, and pushing—then crossing—boundaries. Watching his search for some kind of different connection was tense, especially wondering how she’d react. Her husband was actually somewhat touching; you could feel the drama there, and I found myself trying to empathize with her perspective... etc, etc. Basically, the storytelling just worked for me.

And it reminded me even more of a similar French movie I caught on TV a few years back: a scandalous affair (English title: an affair of passion). Has anyone seen that? It's incredibly entertaining and tense, about a couple meeting up in a hotel strictly for kinky sex (we never actually see what they do), which eventually sparks some real feelings, and they end up talking directly to the camera *** (won't spoil any further)

As for the explicit sex scenes, I think there’s a purpose to them. Since most movies tend to be non-explicit—you know, where nothing is actually shown and everything is heavily romanticized (unless it's violence)—stepping away from that standard makes it clear right away that this isn't your typical Hollywood romance. It emphasizes that this isn't about lovemaking, but about 'pure' sex. A very efficient use of cinematic tools, really.

The film pulled me in too. I was genuinely interested in following the development between the two leads. Claire is such a provocative character because you don't run into a woman who wants nothing but sex from a man every single day. Usually, women link sex with emotion.

My take on this: http://www.e-north American.net/kultura/5901...-preljubu.html