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Exotica is a 1994 Canadian film set primarily in and around a Toronto nightclub of the same name. It was written and directed by Atom Egoyan.
Synopsis
Note: The story of Exotica is not told in chronological order and important information is often withheld from the viewer until late in the film. The following synopsis thus does not reflect the viewer's actual experience of the events as they unfold.
Exotica presents a disparate group of characters whose lives are interconnected through the Exotica nightclub. Christina (Mia Kirshner) is an exotic dancer at Exotica, owned by Zoe (Arsinée Khanjian). Eric (Elias Koteas) is the club's DJ, and Christina's former boyfriend. Francis (Bruce Greenwood) is a customer who comes in nightly and always has Christina dance for him, which inspires Eric's jealousy.
In his professional life, Francis is an auditor for the Canada Revenue Agency, and Thomas (Don McKellar) is the gay pet store owner whose ledgers Francis is reviewing.
Francis is eventually banned from the club when Eric manipulates him into touching Christina during one of her dances (which is against the rules of the club). Around the same time, Francis discovers illegal activities in Thomas' financial records, and forces Thomas to get involved in his conflict with Eric - and we eventually learn that Francis' obsession with Christina has much more complex roots than it first appears. The film's final scene, set many years before the others, also drastically reconfigures the viewer's understanding of the characters, especially Christina.
Themes
The film deals with issues of loss, grief and isolation. An important recurring manifestation of this theme revolves around touch - almost every time a character in the film touches another one, he or she is punished or rebuked for it. Only Thomas, already an outsider because of his sexuality, avoids this fate. He has a strategy for making physical connections: he buys opera tickets, and then tries to sell them to another man before the performance - but instead of selling the tickets for money, he takes the man home for sex.
Awards
- At the 1994 Cannes Film Festival, Exotica was nominated for the Palme d'or, and won the FIPRESCI Prize.
- Don McKellar won Best Supporting Actor at the 1996 Chlotrudis Awards for independent film.
- Exotica won Best Foreign Film from the French Syndicate of Cinema Critics in 1995.
- At the 1994 Genie Awards for Canadian cinema, Exotica won Best Motion Picture, as well as awards for the best screenplay, direction, music, costume design, cinematography and production design. Don McKellar won the award for Best Actor in a Supporting Role.
- Exotica was named Best Canadian Feature Film at the Toronto International Film Festival.
- To judge from his own account, Egoyan was quite amused by an unlikely award that this film won: the Adult Video News award for Best Alternative Adult Film of 1996.
Reference
- Egoyan, Atom, "Dr Gonad", Granta #86 (Summer 2004) touches upon Egoyan's unlikely Adult Video award.
External link
1994 films | Canadian films | Drama films | Films set in Toronto | Genie Award for Best Picture winners
"Exotica (film)"