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22 of 22 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Puzzled? Watch again...Still puzzled? Watch again..., 21 Sep 2000
By A Customer
This review is from: Exotica [VHS] [1995] (VHS Tape)
An unnerving yet strangely satisfying film. The story revolves around a man, his fascination with a strip club and one stripper in particular. Throw in a pet smuggler, a crazily intense M.C at the strip club and copious flash backs to a child murder years before and the cocktail is one heady brew. In particular the soundtrack by Mychael Danna is deserving of a mention - mixing minimalist piano with middle eastern instruments and vocals means the soundtrack will linger in your head for weeks. Leonard Cohen growls 'Everybody Knows' to one of the most clinical, measured strips of all time, and yet the whole moment becomes strangely beautiful and tastefully erotic. Oh heck, this film just doesn't make sense on the page - buy it and check out a complete one off that will stay with you forever.
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18 of 18 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
claustrophobic, beautiful, 1 Mar 2006
This film very skilfully induces a sense of claustophobia, of suspicion and unease. A posh, slightly sinister club: Leonard Cohen's 'Everybody Knows' kicks in as a young woman dressed as a schoolgirl begins her striptease, watched by a disturbingly intense MC, Elias Koteas, and a disturbingly intense accountant, Bruce Greenwood. A heady, worrying atmosphere of lust and obsession, of perverse beauty and terrible need. And from this unlikely cauldron comes a tale of simple redemption, compassion and something of the magical, almost religious resolution of Kieslowski's 3 Colours Trilogy, of Shakespeare's last plays. Highly highly recommended. Mia Kirshner very pretty, too.
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12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A Subtle and Beautiful Masterpiece., 24 July 2006
It is hard to review this film without giving too much away. Exotica is, in my opinion, Egoyan's finest work to date. The film is slow, carefully considered and full of mystery. Although the mystery that concerns the characters primarily, is the murder of a young girl, the main area of intrigue for the viewer is simply: who are these characters and how is ensemble cast connected? The film is executed with such subtlety, that you find yourself slowly being drawn into the mystery on a very powerful emotional level. The reviews of Egoyan's films as being emotionally cold and detatched have never made sense to me, as I have always felt as if I was being drawn into a very emotional landscape.
Beautiful, funny (in parts), moving and simultaneously unsettling, Exotica is one of the most unique and provocative film experiences I have ever had. I simply cannot reccommend it enough.
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