THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, March 31, 1995 TAG: 9503310078
SECTION: DAILY BREAK PAGE: E9 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Movie Review
SOURCE: BY MAL VINCENT, MOVIE CRITIC
LENGTH: Medium: 62 lines
FOR A MOVIE called ``Exotica,'' this has about as much steam and sensuality as Aunt Fanny's last quilting party. ``Exotica'' goes for psychological, not sensual, probing.
Directed by Atom Egoyan, the movie makes an occasionally compelling claim that seemingly disconnected people are connected in strange and often undetected ways.
A half-dozen customers at a classy-looking bar called Exotica are those disconnected souls. It takes us a long time to figure out what, if anything, these people are all about. Christina is a dancer whose speciality is dressing up like a proper schoolgirl and then flashing her naughtiness. Francis is a government auditor who comes to Club Exotica every night to see her. He seems to be hiding some tragedy. Eric is the club's disc jockey; he's dismayed that Christina is now his past lover and frustrated that he must watch while other men ogle her, particularly Francis.
Zoe is the club's owner. She inherited the place from her mother and wants to uphold its ``standards.'' She mostly stays out of sight because she is noticeably pregnant. Thomas is a nerd who smuggles exotic pets and is blackmailed by Francis to spy on Christina.
The overly pretentious symbolism of it all is notably obvious. The customers, you see, are forbidden to touch. When one does, there is trouble. In one of the talkier moments, someone tells us that to have friends, to touch, is a risk - that it is perhaps wiser to stay alone and not communicate.
Handsomely photographed, ``Exotica'' is not nearly as tawdry as you'd expect from the subject matter. It was the winner of a Cannes Film Festival prize.
It is something of a throwback to the era when soft-core porno films were plentiful - things like Bo Derek in ``Bolero.'' These films had more heated publicity campaigns than they did sensuality.
``Exotica'' lacks a big payoff because its final revelation of tragedy is not enough to support all the searching we've had to go through to get there. It is a stylish, occasionally intriguing movie but requires a good deal of patience and broadmindedness. MEMO: MOVIE REVIEW
``Exotica''
Cast: Mia Kirshner, Don McKella, Elia Koteas, Bruce Greenwood, Victor
Garber, Arsinee Khanjian
Director and Screenplay: Atom Egoyan
Music: Mychael Danna
MPAA rating: R (fleeting nudity, language, sexual situations)
Mal's rating: two and a half stars
Locations: Circle 6 and Main Gate in Norfolk; Columbus and Lynnhaven
Mall in Virginia Beach ILLUSTRATION: MIRAMAX FILMS photo
Mia Kirshner and Bruce Greenwood are among the customers of a club
whose lives are intertwined in ``Exotica.''
by CNB