Diary Entry forExotica
An enjoyable film, with some clever foreshadowing and interesting plot points. The thing I enjoy most about this is the bleak reality of stripping. It shows it for the depressing, suffocating profession which it is. It also highlights the dangers which obsession and jealousy can lead to. Pain is shown through every character in different ways. Christina shows pain when she reveals she doesn’t want to be a stripper, asking Zoe why she enjoys the club and why she doesn’t want to leave. Francis shows pain through going to the club, and by hiring a babysitter. Pinto shows pain through pretending to have free tickets to a ballet, luring men into sleeping with him by giving them free tickets. Eric shows pain through jealousy, as previously mentioned. The film links characters together well, with all stories coming together. Everyone gave good performances, nothing exceptional but all solid. It was pretty good, but not one of my favourites I’ve seen this year. 7.5 seems fair, but Letterboxd doesn’t let you go that in-depth.
Other Diary Entries forExotica
Exotica
March Around Cinema '24 (7/30): Canada 🇨🇦. Everybody knows. I won't lie to you, my expectation was inclined more towards the mystery and the tapestry/appeal that the work exudes thanks to its protagonist, played by Mia Kirsher, immersed by the soundtrack and the hypnotic force of its images, and although those of course are its main qualities, what distinguishes Exotica and Atom Egoyan, its director, from other plastic and/or intellectual authors around drama, is its very effective and hermetic way of exploring trauma, cycles, pain, and its characters acting as projections of past events and those that bind themselves until the turning point where that space of refuge no longer exists, all as an emotional puzzle. Exploring its characters to the surface in their daily suffering, and much of the soundtrack matches these personalities, apart from the aforementioned strip club, the film is emotionally complex and elegant at the same time. The title of the work couldn't fit more like a glove, highly recommended.
Exotica
rawr christina
Exotica
“𝘐 𝘸𝘢𝘴𝘵𝘦 𝘴𝘰 𝘮𝘶𝘤𝘩 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦, 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸? 𝘔𝘺 𝘥𝘢𝘺𝘴 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘴𝘭𝘪𝘱 𝘣𝘺.” “𝘐𝘴𝘯’𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘥𝘢𝘺𝘴 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘴𝘶𝘱𝘱𝘰𝘴𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘥𝘰?” “𝘕𝘰𝘵 𝘪𝘧 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘮𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘰𝘧 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘧.” “𝘞𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘥𝘰 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘯𝘢 𝘮𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘧?” Nonlinear storytelling bordering on Cronenberg and Lynch with echoes of American Beauty (https://letterboxd.com/film/american-beauty/). A soft coyness shrouded in mystery poring open gaps for thought to resemble those late night talks that lead nowhere but leave you a lot to think about. Love how the unexpected becomes hope, help, a path towards yourself to gash open traumas and make use of their fruitful truths in brutality, intimacy, and the slow-burn ascendance to vulnerability. Seedy soundtrack follows seedy nightclub, but remains sexless throughout, an interesting choice in how grimness burrows itself in the depths of the subconscious.
Exotica
“You have to ask yourself what brought the person to this point, what was seen in his face, his manner, that channeled him here. You have to convince yourself that this person has something hidden that you have to find. Check his bags. But it's his face, his gestures that you're really watching.” Absolutely not at all what I expected from this, there’s such an atmosphere here. Egoyan just has this storyline hanging by threads and stitches them all together at once, dropping bomb after bomb in the third act. So well put together with each characters acting due to their experiences with trauma and loneliness and everyone is connected by that in such an unexpected way. Uncanny is an understatement some of these scenes look like they could’ve been removed scenes from a lynch film. Nothing but respect for this. “What is it that gives a school girl her special innocence?”
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