notice : this is a review and analysis of exotica .
the first part of this piece is the review , the second part contains some analysis of the movie which might be construed as spoilers .
if you have not seen the movie and after reading the first part you intend to do so , then save the second part for the discussion afterwards .
starring : bruce greenwood , mia kirshner , elias kosteas , don mckellar , arsinee khanijian , sarah polley director : atom egoyan screenplay : atom egoyan
exotica is a film that grows on retrospection .
exotica keeps the viewer guessing about the relationship between the various characters in the film .
all of the people know each other , but apart from that , there seems to be no other reason why to select such set and follow them in this fictional account .
the director hints for possible solutions , using a multi-line plot , so popular with critics in mystery train , and used to good advantage by quentin tarantino in pulp fiction .
exotica reaches a whole new dimension using this technique .
at the end it is surprising to see how well the pieces of the puzzle fit together , in spite their apparent unconnectedness and even misleading features .
the out-of-chronological-order technique has become ever so popular , perhaps even de rigueur , for biographical films .
similarly , we can now expect to see more movies in the future which will use , to varying extent , converging multiplots .
on a first glance , once the multi-plot puzzle in exotica is solved , there seems to be little left to look at .
but perceptive minds which take the time to dig further will be rewarded with interesting views on life or rather , commentaries on views of life .
exotica is very much worth seeing .
it opened to critic’s praise worldwide ( i first saw it in mexico city , last december ) .
in canada , it broke records for a movie of its kind , which prompted the american distributor to go for a wide release .
apart from a strong plot , acting is very convincing , and the soundtrack seems as if made for the movie .
the spoon-fed-entertainment crowd may not appreciate this movie , and thus it might last little on screen .
but if you want to try a movie a cut above the crowd , with an originality that is ever so rare , by all means see exotica .
analysis ( * * spoilers * * ahead )
what is behind the complex plot in exotica ?
first , a common theme of the quest for gratification by monetary means .
the lone tax-auditor , the repressed homosexual pet shop owner , the pregnant woman which runs the nightclub , the rich man which has the club remodeled , the audience at the movie theatre , all use personal wealth to buy palliative relief for the penuries of the soul . . . .
then we have the quest for gratification through visual means by most of the same people , including those who sit watching exotica . . . .
in that regard exotica stands for onlookers at a nightclub , for the rich man looking through silver mirrors , and poor-rich people looking at other’s people lives through a silver screen .
exotica also stands for unwanted society attention into the lives of other people , such as the tax auditor and the pet shop owner .
exotica is the customer agent looking at the pet shop owner , which in turn is looking at the core of the problems between the strip dancer and the tax auditor through the detached eye of a gay person ( no attraction to the strip dancer ) , and only interested on avoiding jail ( no personal relationship with the tax auditor ) .
in exotica everybody is watching , and what is worse , everybody knows .
second , exotica is about isolated people holding back their feelings ; about people which by voluntary or involuntary means transfer their view of reality to other characters .
the strip dancer becomes the proverbial daughter , the dj becomes the proverbial killer by means of breaking the relationship between the father and the proverbial daughter .
the niece becomes the baby sitter , the baby sitter becomes the dancer , and the dancer becomes the proverbial daughter .
the pet shop owner becomes the proverbial dj , by finding the proverbial daughter .
a chain made of real and imagined links coming around full circle , just as everything comes around to a fitting whole at the end of the movie .