Intimacy (2001 film)
Intimacy is a 2001 film directed by Patrice Chéreau, starring Mark Rylance and Kerry Fox. It is an international co-production among production companies in France, the U.K., Germany, and Spain featuring a soundtrack of pop songs from the 1970s and 1980s. It was written by Chéreau with Anne-Louise Trividic, based on stories by Hanif Kureishi (who also wrote a novel of the same title). This mainstream-defined film contains an unsimulated fellatio scene by Fox on Rylance.[2][3] A French-dubbed version features voice actors Jean-Hugues Anglade and Nathalie Richard.
| Intimacy | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Directed by | Patrice Chéreau |
| Produced by | Patrick Cassavetti Jacques Hinstin Charles Gassot |
| Screenplay by | Anne-Louise Trividic Patrice Chéreau |
| Based on | Intimacy by Hanif Kureishi |
| Starring | Mark Rylance Kerry Fox Alastair Galbraith Susannah Harker Timothy Spall |
| Music by | Éric Neveux |
| Cinematography | Francois Gedigier |
| Edited by | Karen Lindsay-Stewart |
| Distributed by | Empire Pictures Inc. |
Release date | 27 July 2001 (UK) |
Running time | 119 minutes |
| Country | United Kingdom France |
| Language | English |
| Box office | $4 million[1] |
The film has been associated with the New French Extremity.[4]
Plot summary
Jay (Rylance) is a bartender who abandoned his family because his wife lost interest in him and their relationship. Now living alone in a decrepit house, he has casual weekly sex with an anonymous woman (Fox), whose name he does not know. At first, their relationship is purely physical, but he eventually falls in love with her.
Wanting to know more about her, Jay follows her across the streets of London to the grey suburbs where she lives. He then follows her to a pub theatre where she is working as an actress in the evenings. Jay learns that her name is Claire, and she has a husband (Timothy Spall) and a son. Subsequently, it is made clear to Jay that Claire will not leave her family. They meet for a final time and have sex with an intimacy that has been missing during the illicit sex sessions of their previous encounters.
Cast
- Mark Rylance – Jay
- Kerry Fox – Claire
- Susannah Harker – Susan, Jay's wife
- Alastair Galbraith – Victor
- Philippe Calvario[5] – Ian
- Timothy Spall – Andy, Claire's husband
- Marianne Faithfull – Betty
- Fraser Ayres – Dave
- Michael Fitzgerald – Bar owner
- Robert Addie – Bar owner
- Rebecca Palmer – Pam, girl in squat
Reception
Intimacy was placed at 91 on Slant Magazine's best films of the 2000s.[6]
Awards
Intimacy won the Golden Bear for Best Film and the Silver Bear for Best Actress (Kerry Fox) at the Berlin Film Festival in 2001.
References
- Box Office Mojo
- https://www.theguardian.com/film/2001/jun/22/features.features11
- What Culture#8: Intimacy
- Quandt, James, "Flesh & Blood: Sex and violence in recent French cinema", ArtForum, February 2004 Access date: 10 July 2008.
- fr:Philippe Calvario
- "Best of the Aughts: Film". Slant Magazine. Retrieved 10 February 2010.
External links
- Intimacy at IMDb
- Intimacy at Rotten Tomatoes