Exotica – Atom Egoyan

non è quello che ti aspetti, se ti aspetti qualcosa, e questo è già un punto a favore di Exotica.
una sceneggiatura a orologeria, con degli incastri che alla fine si svelano potentemente.

film sull’amore e sul dolore, sulla morte e sulla memoria.
film misterioso, al quale bisogna lasciarsi andare, farsi prendere per mano e restare stupiti.
un piccolo grande film che non ti dimentichi - Ismaele

ps: e come accade in altri film di Atom Egoyan l’ufficio delle dogane all’aeroporto c’entra qualcosa.

…Egoyan, who also wrote the film, surprises us in how slowly he reveals the links and even more slowly reveals what the characters know about them. When the film ends, you sit regarding the screen, putting together what you have just learned and using it to think again about what went before…

da qui

Atom Egoyan’s sad, elegant Exotica (1994) is at once intimate and remote, concrete and abstract. It was marketed as an “erotic thriller”, yet it is not very erotic (at least not in the conventional sense), and its thrills are quiet and austere. Highly original, it lures its audience back for repeated viewings, revealing a little bit more of itself each time. Its open-endedness and reluctance to definitively determine the shape of “objective truth” are its most important qualities. The viewer is thus invited to construct out of the raw material of his/her viewing experience their own particular version of the film that is relevant, significant and private to them…

da qui

… Egoyan orchestrates the intricate spectacle using a flashback structure that reveals layers of meaning slowly, as the movie progresses. To that end, Exotica employs one of my favourite edits in all of film. About 15 minutes in, we're watching Christine from Eric's point-of-view in the dark environs of Exotica itself, as she sucks, mock-innocently, on the tip of a cocktail straw. The noisy, bass-heavy sound design characterizing the club falls away, replaced by a single, synthesized chord. Suddenly, cut, and we're looking out across a field of golden-green grass as a line of people becomes visible just over the horizon, moving purposefully towards the camera. A simple piano motif begins to play. The effect isn't so dramatic on a TV set, but on a big screen, it's unforgettable; the picture is suddenly so bright you have to squint. And who are those walkers, anyway? I always thought this image had the whiff of the afterlife about it, and it's significant that this is the visual thread that will introduce death to the world of Exotica…

da qui

…It’s an eloquent film with masterful construction, sharp visuals, and flashes of intriguing symbolism (to wit, the parrots).  My only criticism is that the lead performances, with the exception of Kirshner, feel too mannered.  Koteas especially comes off more like a fictional construction than a relatable human being.  I’m not of the opinion that all actors should be naturalistic at all times (I wouldn’t be a noir fan if I was) but there was an artifice to the three male leads that seemed at odds with the humanistic themes of the film.

It’s not a major impediment, the emotional tones of the movie still get through.  People find healing and comfort and companionship in unlikely places, and emotional support can be exchanged like any other transaction.  A thoughtful piece of work.

da qui

…Exotica is an elliptical, but nonetheless, schematic film that some may not find satisfying. I like the atmosphere it creates; the suggestion that we can find what we need, at least for a time; and its linking of sex with death. These potentially dark elements of human experience carry a charge that many filmmakers have explored, but I can think of few who have done so with such sympathy, lack of judgment, and intrigue.

da qui