Why do schoolgirls seem so innocent? Over the years, a person begins to realize that all the people around him and himself carry a certain load, and this load constrains their movements. So what do we do? Well, you can ignore it, you can abandon friends, or you can carry it, and at the same time continue to communicate with friends.
(c) Exotics
The tax auditor, the owner of a pet store, a stripper, a DJ with a higher education are the heroes of the film of the eighth feature film by Canadian director Atom Egoyan. As it turned out, so many different characters can be closely linked in a fictional strip club.
Key topics. The disparate thoughts of a person who has survived a trauma and is trying to seize on the “caressing” memories. Interdependence of people as a saving bridge of terrifying moments of the past and saving dreams of the impossible present. “Exotic” is a film in which you can immerse yourself only with your head, enter the trance proposed by the director, to fence off at least an hour and a half from yourself, but at the same time reflect yourself.
Heroes. All the characters in the film are interconnected. This is not only a strange plot relationship of their meetings and acquaintances with each other, but also a mirror relationship of their inner sensations and experiences. Each presented image is the established character of a loner, wandering and experiencing almost the same reproduction of his own stories. Thomas is a salesman and owner of a pet store, filling the need for human communication in acting out the plot with an extra ticket to the ballet. DJ Eric repeats over and over memorized monologues and asks the most frequent question "Why do schoolgirls seem so innocent." (Schoolgirls aren’t innocent, they’re just reminders of a time when a cloudless life is still in danger of getting shots.) And of course, Francis, unable to accept the present and visiting club "Exotica" again and again.
The theme of duality and similarity of characters in the film is played out by the frequent use of mirrors, and translucent (the so-called mirrors of Ghezzel). All the characters only seem to look at the transparent side, but actually see the mirror. You can also note the use of mise-en-scene scenes in which two characters in the left and right side of the frame look at each other through some vertical barrier (whether it is a ladder or a window). This separation and alienation of the characters is the central theme of the film.
The main place of action is a strip club. A space for freedom of thought, the flight of fantasy and the sharing of one’s loneliness. Its name - "Exotic" mirrors the dissimilar appearance of the city of Toronto. Here is the concentration of inner peace of mind of the characters, a gradual immersion in their thoughts against the background of musical motifs that take away from reality. Like the whole film, here we are haunted by three colors – green, yellow and blue. It is a juicy but at the same time calm natural combination, so often found in nature. In fact, it is the sun, sky and greenery - the most naturalistic symbols of the surrounding world. In the film, this successfully emphasizes the calmness and peace of the inner world of all the characters, their possible humility with a wildly disparate and complex world. In addition, the camera in the club is as caressing as Eric’s speeches, introducing the necessary meditativeness.
Music, consisting most often of three notes, enhances the effect of immersion, introduces all the characters and viewers into a small thoughtless “stick” before what is happening. In general, everything works again to create an atmosphere of detachment and isolation. A little strange may seem and the use of a rather harsh excerpt from the opera “Romeo and Juliet” “Dance of the Knights”, perhaps these are hints of a fateful meeting that will follow in the subsequent plot.
The nonlinearity of the narrative is a frequent companion of paintings of humility. We wander through the timeline and as if measuring the thermometer emotional degree of the characters. But you can see how carefree, to some extent slow the past seems in the characters. Here everything is balanced, calm - it is either happy family sketches, or soothing landscapes of grass, sky and sun. These are memories of important memorable and at the same time not the most emotional. After all, turning to the past, many people seek primarily peace and harmony.
The film of Egoyan, a Canadian director with Armenian roots, can be perceived as a journey to the end of an era. A kind of forerunner of the undoubted masterpiece of 1999 "American Beauty" by Sam Mendes. Modifying the seemingly predictable reality of each character, the film carefully presents the isolation of each.
In any case, traveling through the abyss of memories as a way of humility and finding yourself is a win-win for any author.