Word: egoyan
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Nothing is quite what it appears to be in "Exotica," Atom Egoyan's latest film. This might be a result of the Canadian director's interest in investigating subjects Hollywood usually forgets about: deep feelings and authentic people which do not fit into neat formulas or fulfill obvious expectations...
...Egoyan's characters are complex, full of passion and contradiction. The ways in which they interact, constantly colliding violently, constantly moving on, make one think of Brownian motion. The director does not limit himself to the episodes in the characters' lives which are important for the main story line, but explores experiences and emotions which do not further the cause of the narrative: Zoe's contractual pregnancy, Eric's and Christina's first meeting, Thomas' pick-ups at the ballet, Francis' relationship with his niece and brother...
...Indeed, Egoyan (who wrote, co-produced, and directed the film) confirms the theory that like attracts like by surrounding himself with talent. The beautiful set of the Exotica club places film-goers in the center of the action while providing the comforting emotional barrier of one-way mirrors. The club looks so authentic that during the filming of the film, passers-by had to be turned away from the door and informed that it was not a strip club...
Besides being a fascinating and well-crafted annecdote, Exotica is an exploration of desire, loss, betrayal, obsession, and the ways in which people carefully construct reality to make their lives manageable. Egoyan does not present the viewer with a baby-food film, in which the contents are simple, mashed to a pulp, and spoon-fed. He poses questions and exposes searches, which are sometimes pleasant, often disqueting. His is a cinema of investigation, not of morals or simple answers...
...Egoyan's stories are puzzles in which most pieces have rough edges, don't fit perfectly. Even having them all does not make for a complete picture. If reality is hard to understand, Exotica suggests, it is not only because one never knows the whole story, but also because it might not make perfect sense...