Directed By: Atom Egoyan
Starring: Bruce Greenwood, Elias Koteas, Mia Kirshner
Tag line: "In a world of temptation, obsession is the deadliest desire"
Trivia: The director's wife, Arsinée Khanjian, was seven months pregnant when her parts in the movie were filmed
"I wanted to structure the film like a striptease".
This is how director Atom Egoyan described his stylistic approach to 1994's Exotica, a movie in which the main setting is a high-end gentleman's club, where women strip for the pleasure of their wealthy clientele.
Like a striptease, director Egoyan moves Exotica along slowly, peeling away the layers of its emotionally charged story one at a time, all the while luring us in with a singularly enticing tone.
The Club Exotica caters to the sophisticated, offering adult entertainment to men of 'discerning tastes'.
Francis (Bruce Greenwood), an accountant with a tragic past, is one of the Club's many regulars. Each night, Francis requests that the same dancer perform at his table: Christina (Mia Kirshner), a beautiful young woman whose act sees her dress like a schoolgirl.
At one time, Christina was romantically involved with Eric (Elias Koteas), the club's DJ, and Eric has grown increasingly jealous of the 'professional' relationship that has developed between Francis and Christina.
What none of them realizes, however, is that they all share a very special bond, and when this bond is finally revealed, each will be forced to re-examine their lives.
At the heart of Exotica lies a complex tale of betrayal and loss, yet the film is in no particular hurry to reveal it's true intentions. Exotica circles around the outermost boundaries of its story in wide, sweeping motions, shielding it's mystery with a uniquely cerebral tone. As the film progresses, this tone becomes almost hypnotic, teasing and tantalizing us in much the same way the dancers work on their patrons at the Club Exotica.
Because Exotica was so engaging, I found myself completely wrapped up in it's story, and because it's style was so thoroughly addictive, I was more than happy to wait around for the payoff.
4 comments:
I've been meaning to watch this film for some time. It sounds like it may have inspired Wayne Wang's "The Center of the World" (2000)- or at least they both attempt to look beneath their shared "exotic" theme.
Klaus: I actually haven't seen CENTER OF THE WORLD yet, but I can definitely recommend EXOTICAl it is a must-see. Certainly worth a watch.
just saw this a few weeks ago after it was recommended on another blog- GREAT Canadian film, highly recommend, very artsy, had a bit of a Bob Fosse feel to it.
In "Exotica" writer/director Atom Egoyan has woven a tapestry of a haunting tale. This powerful film sticks with you long after viewing. We are so swept into this disjointed journey that pays off as the story unwinds! This is by far my favorite Atom Egoyan film I like more of his work. A mark of them is presenting original visions have great respect for his filmmaking methods!
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