Exotica's' Stealthy Glances Seethe with Complex Desires

Exotica

directed by Atom Egoyan

starring Mia Kirschner, Don

McKellar, Bruce Greenwood

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.

The viewer tries to understand what goes on in the characters' minds, constantly making asumptions, only to have them shattered by the film's subtle revelations. What we think is a pederast trying to work out his personal obsession turns out to be something completely different. A glance, a word, a silence suffice to make our misconstructions apparent.

The storyline is a bit simpler than its flashbacks and interrupted narrative make it out to be. Just a bit. Thomas (Don McKellar) is a gay petstore owner who makes ends meet by smuggling exotic pets into Canada for private collectors. Francis (Bruce Greenwood) is a smug tax auditor by day, a patron of Exotica, a table dancing club, by night.

When Francis discovers Thomas' illegal operation, he offers to let him off the hook in return for a small favor: going to Exotica to talk to his favorite dancer, Christina (Mia Kirshner). She is the light to which all characters are attracted, including the club's owner Zoe (a very pregnant Arsinee Khanjian) and her ex-lover Eric (Elias Koteas), the club's deejay.

Christina is a table/lap dancer with the looks of a beautiful ingenue (complete with wide-open eyes and school-girl uniform), and the cold precision of an experienced butcher. Impenetrable, enigmatic, she reveals nothing about herself, yet provides those around her with insights about themselves and others.

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.

This results in interesting characters, not mere cardboard facades. "Exotica" works in large part due to the intense and talented cast, who understand the depths and complexities of human emotions and are able to convey them with amazing subtlety.

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.

The stirring soundtrack includes original compositions by Mychael Danna, a piano piece by Schubert and Leonard Cohen's impossibly catchy "Everybody Knows." Danna's music, which uses Indian instruments and draws on classical, popular Indian influences, contributes to the director's exploration of exoticism and desire. Cohen's song reflects on the characters' situation: everybody knows something is going on, yet no one can see the whole picture or address the situation.

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.

Chekov once stated that in theater, a gun presented in act one should go off by act three. Guns, in Exotica, do not need to go off. People don't kiss and make up. The labour of living and dealing always goes on.

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.