Exotica (1995)

In spite of its atrociously misleading packaging, Exotica is a beguiling mystery by enigmatic Canadian filmmaker Atom Egoyan, in which people and their relationships are not what they seem. What at first appear to be disparate stories of a tormented tax auditor, a lonely pet-shop owner, and a sensitive stripper and her coworkers gradually merge to reveal a larger, interconnected portrait. The sequences involving Mia Kirshner's schoolgirl stripper are particularly engrossing because of her character's intelligence and the scenes' deeper subtext. Indeed, Exotica is less about stripping than about fragile human relationships, and it is not until the truly revelatory final scene that we are able to fully absorb the film's deeper meaning. --Bryan Reesman Amazon.com

Boring, long, wrong title!

If you buy this movie thinking that you buy an exotic or "erotic" (judging by the cover) movie you are WRONG! The movie is so boring and the story so long and stupid that the director should have definately picked another title for it! Exotic? where? This is one of those "delicatessen" movies that a few people judge as good because some "real" reviewers (were they drunk?) judged as good,
There isn't really anything interesting about it and there isn't anything that keeps you from wanting to watch it to the end (besides the question: when does this movie get cool?), so don't waste your time and money on it! July 11, 2008

More of a woman's POV movie than might be expected

Atom Egoyan's Exotica is an outstanding movie. I have seen Egoyan's The Sweet Hereafter (1997) which is also very good. A father's (obsessive) love for his daughter(s) is featured in both movies, consequently the theme must mean something special to Egoyan. He is a most talented and original movie maker, a Canadian as are his players, Bruce Greenwood, (Francis Brown, the accountant whose daughter was murdered), Sarah Polley, (Tracey, the high school girl), and Mia Kirshner, (Christina, the exotic dancer). His wife, Arsinee Khanjian and Polley were also featured in The Sweet Hereafter.

What really makes the movie is Egoyan's use of time and action sequence. He cuts up the chronological order of events and then presents them in a dramatic way. This is not so easy to do. Christopher Nolan in Memento (2000) used the same technique to great advantage. I have come late to such a technique and would love to master it myself. I worked on it last year and a couple of years before. You can't just scissor it and then paste it back together. Something must be gained from reversing the order of events. When Eric and Christina are shown walking the fields in a long line of people I jumped to the conclusion that Tracey would be found dead. We don't learn that Francis lost his daughter until the film is nearly finished.

The psychology of Francis and the young girls is interesting. Christina says she gave something to him and he gave something to her. This vagueness with its unmistakable sexuality is something that always exists between young girls and older men. And, as Egoyan observes, there are rules and awkwardness, and confused emotions. However the girl wants it made unmistakably clear that she is desired physically and just talk is almost never sufficient. She often doesn't know whether she really wants to be "taken" fully, and of course that is usually, shall we say, problematic. Some great subtly is required in handled such a theme, and Egoyan realizes that. His character Francis Brown is content with fantasy and does not touch at all.

This film would have found a larger audience except for the title, the theme, and the milieu. The female audience for the most part didn't even consider watching the movie since, as one woman said, I thought it was just another movie with an older man lusting after a girl half his age. That theme bores women to death. But surprisingly at the IMDb a viewer asks how women feel about the film and several write in to say that they liked it. Another poster remarks that women over forty actually liked Exotica in higher percentages than males.

I thought the veracious and business-like depiction of the exotic dancer club was well done. The very nice side plot with the gay animal importer was just a perfect fit for the main plot. Egoyan wrote the script. It is a great script. So much surprises. It's almost too good. For me, since I have seen so many, many movies, something different, some surprises in plot, in character, in treatment are always welcome.

And the plot does surprise. Even when the protagonist, Francis waits outside the club to shoot Eric, Egoyan turns the situation on its head by having Eric appear from the side and explain something that changes Francis's attitude toward him.

I am being vague because I don't want to spoil the story. Some movies--most movies I would say, since I go back to the generation that would go into the theatre and sit down during the middle of the movie; and then four or five hours later, realize, "This is where I came in"--in most movies to know the ending or the plot would not spoil the movie. We know so and so dies at the end. What is interesting is how he dies, how the actions develops. But in this movie to know the plot would take something away.

I think. I'm not sure. Anyway Francis is a tax auditor who lost his daughter when she was less than eight years old. She was murdered. The police initially thought he did it, but he was found innocent and the murderer was apprehended and convicted. But Francis is left hollow and tries to bring her back in a way by having teenage girls "babysit" his nonexistent daughter. Egoyan teases us near the beginning by showing Francis and Tracey in his car as he drops her off at her home giving her some money and asking, "Are you free Thursday?" Very near the end of the movie we find that Tracey had a precursor in that babysitting role. You might be able to guess who it was.

The sound track features "Everybody Knows" by Leonard Cohen.
April 19, 2008

Great movie, poor transfer

I won't go very far into discussing the content of the film here - suffice to say that I think it's probably one of the greatest movies made in recent years and well worth 5 stars. Atom Egoyan is a genius and this is probably his best film to date - an atmospheric mystery which keeps the viewer guessing until the final reel. The script is a masterpiece, Egoyan deftly handles the story and the actors (even the very young ones) all play their roles with the right level of depth and subtlety. As others have said, although the story takes place in and around a strip club this is not your average soft porn strip club movie - not at all, it's a different thing altogether - even the movie's title has many meanings and layers, as does the story itself. Exotica is a deeply thoughtful mystery where no one and nothing is what it seems and where those who appear at first to be villains can be saints. It's a psychological drama that takes place not in the strip club but in the minds of the characters. Those with enough patience will find a real treasure worth many re-viewings.

But in this review I'm mostly choosing to focus on the technical aspects which I feel detract from the DVD.

This DVD (ASIN: 6305428107) features a transfer that is known as 'matted widescreen' which works fine on smaller 4:3 TVs, but which looks awful on larger screen or widescreen TVs. I believe that every DVD today should be made in 'anamorphic widescreen' format so that the image is enhanced for viewing on a larger screen. If it's not then I think that the low image quality should be clearly marked in some way, as the lack of an anamorphic transfer makes a big difference in quality. In the case of this particular movie the image is very poor mostly due to the matted widescreen format that results in what's known as 'gutterboxing' (black bars all around the image) when the movie is played on widescreen TVs. Some TVs allow zooming in to fill the screen in cases like this, but then the image becomes very grainy - so much so that it's probably better to watch it in the 'gutterboxed' mode.

So in conclusion, those with the older standard 4:3 TVs under 30 inches probably won't notice any loss of resolution. But for folks like me with big screen TVs I advise waiting until this movie gets an updated DVD treatment. Alternatively, if you own a good quality up-converting DVD player that can play region 2 discs, the British version (ASIN: B0009PZ88K available from Amazon.co.uk) is an anamorphic transfer. November 27, 2006

"You Have To Ask Yourself What Brought The Person To This Point?"

This is an undiscovered gem of a film with an incredibly inventive and powerful script that is sure to suprise and please. 'Exotica', a "Gentleman's Club", is the focal point of a world in search of meaning. Men come not just to watch beautiful women sensually dance in various stages of undress. They come to forget, however briefly, the pain and suffering they have experienced in the world outside.

Christina (Mia Kirshner) and Eric (Elias Koteas) work at the club, Christina as a dancer, Eric as the DJ. As the customers watch the enchanting Christina perform on-stage and privately, Eric watches the customers watch her. As you might have guessed, while moods and emotions are generally muted and controlled within the confines of Exotica they are forever on the verge of breaking through the illusory nature created and sustained by alcohol and sexual stimulation. There are untold stories to be brought into the light of day and only when the truth is known will the many tangled relationships and reasons for being there finally make sense.

Director Atom Egoyan has conjoured up a place outside of time and space, a purgatorial oasis where all regrets, memories and hopes converge into the incessant drone of the music and the tantalizing movements of the dancers. Truly a stunning vision that will stay with the viewer for quite sometime. Definitely not a film for everyone, 'Exotica' deals with adult situations and contains numerous scenes of nudity and some mild homosexuality. However this thoughtful, probing tale ultimately transcends most of the dark, depressing elements and offers a ray of hope and forgiveness. If you're the adventureous type who is looking for something different 'Exotica' is definitely the film for you.

Mia Kirshner and Elias Koteas (two of my favorite actresses/actors) are fantastic. Also wonderful performances by Bruce Greenwood, Don McKellar, Arsinee Khanjian and a young Sarah Polley. January 16, 2006

Seductive, Mysterious, Revealing

Having seen "Exotica" several times now, I can say that knowing the ending does not detract from the seductive power of the film. Very watchable, a multi-layered plot and aural feast - I want to work at the Exotica! If you enjoyed the movie "The Usual Suspects" for its left-field conclusion, this film should appeal to your puzzle solving nature, although the two movies could not be less alike in their sensitivity, style, and humanity. I thought of giving it 4 Stars because it didn't quite connect effortlessly, but any film as surprising, original, and provocative as this deserves a 5. For a literate review, read the "Amazon.com review", not the one above it, which is a mish-mash. December 28, 2005

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