Close My Eyes

Rating:
Summary: Dozing Off on the Job
Review: A curiously detached film about a discontented woman (Saskia Reeves) who derails her brother's (Clive Owen) life by seducing him, and how their roles gradually reverse as the affair proceeds. Overly reliant on close-ups and flattened out by amateurish lighting, the film hints at much but delivers very little. There is scant chemistry between the three main characters, and even less plausible dynamic. Rickman, the nominal lead, does not appear until a third of the way along and gives a performance as extraneous as the role itself. It is as if he, and his character, wandered in from somewhere else. Reeves, on whose character the plot hinges, fairs little better. Alternating between sullen and enigmatic, she struggles to make Natalie believable but in the end is defeated by the simple fact that the role is as unsympathetic as it is impenetrable. Aside from taking off her clothes, or staring ambiguously into space, she is given nothing by which to make the character comprehensible. Until far too late, dialogue in this film confines itself to the elliptical and/or banal. The only sympathy is generated by Clive Owen, who manages to transcend the shortcomings of the script and make Richard the only operative, credible character. Ironically, for a film concerned with passion and its compulsive, destructive aspects, where it does succeed is in its secondary storyline: that involving Richard's job as a civil planner, and the people with whom he works. However subsidiary these scenes, they are as plausible and deft as the rest are laborious and annoying. What a pity there weren't more of them. See it if you're a Clive Owen fan, or want glimpses of London's construction-boom skyline. Otherwise, keep dialling.

Rating:
Summary: A Disturbing Fin-de-siecle Romance
Review: A deeply disturbing film about an obsessive, destructive affair between a brother & sister at the end of the twentieth century. Saskia Reeves gives a powerful, deeply moving performance as the sister who is unable to resist the desire she feels for her brother. Rickman is, as always, brilliant. The film is especially interesting for its use of colour--lurid & grotesque one moment; lyrical & pastoral the next. The final shot of the film is quietly apocalyptic & elevates the story beyond the specificities of the affair. An important, often-overlooked film from fin-de-siecle Britain.

Rating:
Summary: sibling passion/rivalry/obsession...
Review: As some closeted persons in the gay world might do, use marriage to convince yourself that you are what everyone expects you to be. A women marries who could be an american man in Europe, and the realtionship is progresing on then bam, the brother shows up. He semed out of sorts in the head and the sister innocently palys the mother to him. Well things in the past began to grow up in both of them.. yeah that too. The scenery is nice the intensity is pretty good. It isn't all about them, but it's hard not to become fixated on such a taboo acted so well. I'm glad I own it, the intrigue is one for the ages. Will get DVD also. A list of taboo movies on incest is short but , the house of yes, spanking the monkey.

Rating:
Summary: Open Your Eyes To a Fiery and Passionate Film
Review: One can view the brilliant and overlooked "Close My Eyes" on a number of levels. One could look at it as the story of an incestuous affair, the pain and despair of unquenched passion, the shattering of taboos, or the story of an unfulfilled woman searching for something about which to be passionate. Each level enriches and deepens the message of the other and creates a thought-provoking film of fiery intensity.

The film is a study in contrasts and opposing forces: Alan Rickman's controlled, restrained performance is in total contrast to the fiery passion of the two lovers and the film's direct confrontation with taboos (incest, AIDS, open passion itself)slams against polite society's prevailing opinions. The film dares us to face what is difficult and deal with it in an open and honest way no matter what the consequences, no matter what anyone thinks.

The film's solemn conclusion makes clear, however, that this shattering of taboos (what we are not supposed to openly discuss) is no easy accomplishment and involves the possibility of a breakdown in society or "the end of the world." But, the risk is worth it so that nothing is left hidden, so that all is out in the open, on the table, for discussion and acceptance. "Close My Eyes" is a powerhouse of passionate, riveting acting, Merchant and Ivory like cinematography, and incisive, perceptive writing.

Rating:
Summary: Open Your Eyes To a Fiery and Passionate Film
Review: One can view the brilliant and overlooked "Close My Eyes" on a number of levels. One could look at it as the story of an incestuous affair, the pain and despair of unquenched passion, the shattering of taboos, or the story of an unfulfilled woman searching for something about which to be passionate. Each level enriches and deepens the message of the other and creates a thought-provoking film of fiery intensity.

The film is a study in contrasts and opposing forces: Alan Rickman's controlled, restrained performance is in total contrast to the fiery passion of the two lovers and the film's direct confrontation with taboos (incest, AIDS, open passion itself)slams against polite society's prevailing opinions. The film dares us to face what is difficult and deal with it in an open and honest way no matter what the consequences, no matter what anyone thinks.

The film's solemn conclusion makes clear, however, that this shattering of taboos (what we are not supposed to openly discuss) is no easy accomplishment and involves the possibility of a breakdown in society or "the end of the world." But, the risk is worth it so that nothing is left hidden, so that all is out in the open, on the table, for discussion and acceptance. "Close My Eyes" is a powerhouse of passionate, riveting acting, Merchant and Ivory like cinematography, and incisive, perceptive writing.