volume 2

you have been the one, you have been the one for me

Wednesday, April 06, 2005

closer
directed by mike nichols
jude law, clive owen, natalie portman, julia roberts

after hearing this movie was directed by mike nichols, i knew i had to see it. nichols' directorial claim to fame is dustin hoffman's acclaimed debut the graduate; a cult favorite that examines the relationship issues of sex and love involving a young recent graduate, an older married woman, and her daughter. i am a member of this cult.

nichols again goes into the issues of sex and love with this film, taking his exploration to levels that would give freud a wet dream. psycho-sexual schizo-melodrama seems to be the only genre encompassing enough. the relationships between the four characters are complex. their moods and intentions are constantly changing, and at many moments i remember saying wtf in reaction to some of their twisted conversations. its even harder to pin down the complexity of their relationships because nichols treats the passage of time in a very indifferent, almost whimsical manner. he almost doesnt care if the audience is confused about the time order of the plot.

thematically, closer draws a strange analogy between sex:love and truth:lies. all four characters experience all four of these elements, but each one combines them differently. sex is associated with truth because it is real and tangible, while love is with lies because love is a contradiction and drives us to do mad things, like lie and cheat, in order to protect love.

all film school jargon aside, this movie is the closest thing to real life that a film could ever hope to be. It lacks a straightforward plot, focusing not on action but the interactions of the four main characters and how they bounce around among each other in a sea of sex love and lies. the interactions between the couples bring up emotions and words that every single human being has felt or thought or been told by someone. it makes us think that our own fucked up love lives arent so bad or so different. in the harshness and the extremity of the words, we find comfort for ourselves because its so real.

nichols doesnt answer any of the questions he brings up. we see who dan (jude law) ends up with, but why? who should he have ended up with? is dan good? bad? is he a tragic hero or despicable villian? nichols seems to ask the same questions about anna (julia roberts) as well. all the characters are guilty of unforgivable actions, but the audience doesnt necessarily condemn them outright. nichols uses the guise of love to explain their motivations, but not to justify or demean. in the end, even after such a crazy, fucked up ride, we are left wanting to believe that love is real and that love will conquer all more than ever.

highly recommended. enjoy.

posted by accident at 12:47:00 PM +

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