00:00hey everyone it's me Bo back once again with another cult movie review hope everyone is
00:19doing good in today's video I'm going to be reviewing the 2001 erotic drama intimacy this
00:28is a somewhat of a forgotten movie it was kind of controversial when it came out at the time but
00:37yeah I don't really hear too many people talk about these days so yeah let's get into it oh
00:43and of course guys if you haven't already please do consider subscribing to the channel if you like
00:49the videos that I do so intimacy from 2001 was directed by the French filmmaker Patrice Chirot
00:59and star the brilliant Mark Rylance and Australian actress Kerry Fox now I've known about this film
01:08for many years it was only maybe about a year ago that I actually sat down and watched intimacy for
01:16the very first time the British actor Mark Rylance was in the lead role playing the character Jay a
01:24troubled man who had just split from his wife now living alone the loss of his family had become
01:36pretty detrimental to his life and throughout the movie we saw various flashbacks to Jay's past when
01:47he was still with his wife and kids before the breakup he had little communication with his then wife and it
01:56seemed like she neglected his sexual needs I mean in some ways you could say it become a loveless marriage and with the use of the
02:09flashbacks it did give us the audience the kind of context we needed to understand Jay's conflicted mindset
02:19Kerry Fox the Australian actress played the character Claire Jay's lover she was a married woman with a child and every Wednesday she would meet up with Jay in his place to basically have sex with him
02:37have sex with him this was a routine that they had but by any means this was not a normal functioning relationship and when the two did meet there was basically no communication they were not speaking to each other it was a purely sexual relationship
03:01relationship but with Jay's increasing inner struggles he basically found himself falling for Claire to the point where he even started to follow her after she left his place Jay wanted to know more about her like the sex between them just wasn't enough for him his lust had seemed to turn into love and he couldn't maintain
03:31this arrangement he and Claire had originally agreed to to make things more complicated Jay would later on bump into Claire's husband Andy played by Timothy Sporn Andy was this kind soft loving guy who was just a supportive husband helping out when his wife was doing acting classes
03:57he was completely unaware of what his wife was up to every Wednesday and um yeah you felt bad for the guy yeah I mean the whole narrative the whole plot was very um very interesting I mean originally when I first watched it I didn't really know where this was going but um once Timothy Sporn was introduced
04:23yeah things got really complicated for everyone unsurprisingly actor Mark Rylance delivered a brilliant performance as the lead character Jay Rylance came from a theatre background so in some ways you could describe him as a modern day thespian you know in intimacy Rylance really showed off his acting abilities playing this
04:51jilted lover lost confused and not really being able to handle his current life post breakup you know I mean he got married he had kids and I guess for him he thought that was going to be his life he was going to grow old with this woman he was going to see his kids grow up and now suddenly he'd become a weaker
05:21kid so if the club you got married he will be with this woman who lasts even now die from last them all right there he will be a woman from a man he plays off with him as a man we say he has raised the internet
05:24he studied her Jones' new life and I mean Ken dad the When I became ken dad the find of same with Jai and Claire having a heart-to-heart Jay just couldn't cope anymore
05:31he wanted Claire auditioned he want he eventually had the courage to admit that to her he wanted her to leave Andy her husband and be with him but Claire just couldn't do it and when Clair finally admitted this
05:49admitted this to Jay and he come to realization that he was going to be alone and he couldn't
05:57have Claire and the expression on his face you know the whole thing you've got a real sense of
06:06sadness and when Jay had to accept the rejection and watch Claire walk out of his life for good
06:12yeah you felt bad for him as well you know it was just brilliant work from Mark Rylance who
06:20interestingly wouldn't start in another movie until 2008. In addition to this I have to give
06:29credit to Kerry Fox who did a great job as Claire. She was a character that was unhappy with her own
06:38life dealing with her own issues. This weekly routine that she had with Jay almost acted as like
06:46a escape from the reality that she was actually living. From her interactions to her dialogue
06:55even down to her appearance it all felt very natural. Now I've been a fan of Kerry Fox ever
07:03since I saw her in the Danny Boyle film Shallow Grave which once again she gave a great performance
07:12so yeah credit to her she was perfect for the role. In terms of settings I have to give credit to the
07:21cinematographer Eric Gauthier who captured the essence of what London was and in some ways
07:29still is you know kind of grotty kind of concrete and kind of grey. The film's grubby aesthetic with the busy
07:43roads and the dingy pubs and the messy apartments they you know it was all there on a show even though
07:52this was made by a French filmmaker and obviously a French crew the film did in some ways feel very British
08:01so credit to those guys for you know making it work. Now before we get into dislikes let's talk about
08:11the fellatio scene in the movie. So there is a scene about midway through the film where Jay and Claire
08:20meet up once again. This time the scene began with Jay laying on the floor while he received oral sex
08:30from Claire. While in most movies these sex acts are simulated this time I mean there was no prosthetic
08:42penis involved it was the uh the real deal. Now I have to ask myself was that really necessary?
08:53You know it was fine for what it was I wasn't um offended in any way. I was just a little bit
08:59surprised that the director and the actors decided to take that approach. I mean both Kerry Fox and Mark
09:09Rylands are great actors and they had more enough talent to make the audience believe their lustful
09:16relationship. I mean when this movie came out in 2001 for sure that scene generated a lot of controversy
09:27and definitely gave the movie some publicity. Yeah I mean maybe that was the reason to you know
09:35get people talking about the film. I don't know but um yeah just seemed a little bit strange. I mean
09:44what did it really achieve other than enticing you know young teenage boys or sex deviants to watch the
09:52film for that sole purpose. If I'm honest it really didn't do anything for the overall story
09:58and I'm kind of surprised that Mike Rylands actually went through with this scene because
10:04he was married at the time of filming so yeah I don't know I guess he just must have a very
10:13understanding wife. In Saw Dislikes 4 Intimacy 2001. You know I must say there wasn't really
10:22any major issues I had with any major issues I had with the film. Throughout I was fully engrossed with
10:29the story and overall it had a good pace. When I think back perhaps more backstory to the main characters
10:41would have maybe improved the narrative. It wasn't a case of me not understanding the characters motivations.
10:51I mean that was you know pretty obvious. I just think maybe more scenes involving Jay
11:00and his ex-wife Susan for example potentially could have heightened the movie's quality. In some ways the
11:07lack of certain bits of information you know made the audience you know stay on its toes and kind of
11:15think about what was going on. Still I think maybe some additional flashbacks or maybe more scenes between
11:24Claire and her husband Andy would have would have been welcomed. And so ratings for Intimacy 2001.
11:35I'm going to be rating this movie a solid 7 out of 10. Intimacy is a well-made emotional drama
11:46that featured this intriguing storyline loosely based on the concept of infidelity and insecurity.
11:55It was a very believable drama about real people dealing with real emotions and having
12:02real interactions. Nothing felt forced and I found myself as I said fully engrossed with the whole plot.
12:11The sex scenes between Jay and Claire were intense but they were never erotic and
12:19I found myself as I found myself. And with that it added a true sense of realism to the film.
12:25The scenes never leaned on voyeurism or titillation which I did find quite refreshing.
12:33And unlike your typical Hollywood production this movie did feel very grounded at times more like a
12:42pseudo-documentary or something. The plot kept the audience guessing about what was going to happen to
12:49these two lovers and how it would ultimately affect their lives. I mean this is a sad film and
13:01not an easy watch. Indeed the film challenges the viewer with some compelling imagery and themes
13:10that a general audience might not necessarily like. If you've not seen Intimacy yet I'd definitely give
13:18it a go. Filmmaking like this is pretty non-existent these days.
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