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When Dan, an obituary writer, meets Alice, a former stripper on a London street, their eyes lock
in friendly flirtation as if they were not total strangers. A few moments later when Dan brings Alice to a hospital after an accident, they become close friends. Soon,
they are living-in. Dan writes a book about his relationship withAlice and asks Anna, a professional photographer, to do the book jacket. Dan becomes obsessed with
Anna and eventually sleeps with her. Before that happens Dan plays a practical joke on a stranger, Larry, a dermatologist, and pretends he is sex-hungry Anna in the internet
chat room. Larry and "Anna" agree to rendezvous and he gets to meet the real Anna. They are attracted to each other and later they marry. Alice is very much in
love with Dan but Dan wishes to end the relationship and be with Anna. Alice is crushed and disappears. Larry is very much in love with Anna but she wants a divorce
and be with Dan. Tormented, Larry seeks solace in a strippers' club and accidentally finds Alice who has resumed work as a stripper. Larry refuses to sign the divorce
papers unless Anna has one last sexual tryst with him. She reluctantly agrees to get his signature. When Dan hears about this, he is incensed and confronts Larry who
tells him he has seen Alice. Dan suspects Larry had sex also with her. How will these two couples resolve the complications of their own doing?
For a movie that frankly portrays sex and infidelities in all its rawness, Closer
has surprisingly no graphic sexual scenes. Instead, one hears dialogue sizzling with sex that it becomes almost graphic. The characters talk with a certain articulateness and brutal honesty about their dishonesty. Attribute this to Patrick Marber's script which he based on his award-winning play. There is not much "dramatic action" but the main leads (Jude Law, Natalie Portman, Julia Roberts, Clive Owen) are able to convey their emotions very convincingly. There are no shouting matches nor slapping incidents but with the frequent camera close-ups, one cannot fail to see the hurts and the despair as well as the lying and the deception. This is said to be Natalie's first adult role and indeed a far cry from Queen Amidala of
Star Wars. It is also a career defining performance as she metamorphoses from a naïve, giving and vulnerable girl to a coldhearted seductress in control of her
life. Clive Owen gives a riveting performance as he becomes calculating and enjoys inflicting pains.
It is said that art mirrors life. If Closer
is considered a reflection of the way people look at love, sex and marriage now, then indeed, it is a sad commentary of our times. In the movie, all the characters are promiscuous, never reining in the desire to have sex with others in spite of a commitment to someone. For instance, Anna is married yet she continues to have sexual relations with Dan. To the characters, sex is either a toy to discard when one is tired of a partner as in the case of Dan and Anna, or as a tool for power that one uses to get one's way as in the case of Larry. There is no hint of the respect one should accord to sex as a God-given gift and its place in true love. One doubts if the characters know what love really is for all of them are bent on pursuing personal pleasure and satisfaction while love delights in pleasing the beloved, instead of hurting him/her. In this movie, violence is psychological or emotional rather than physical. There is a lot of foul language, also nudity, much insincerity and duplicity. Trust is betrayed, sex made ugly and people become less human. For to paraphrase one of the characters: without truthfulness, we are like animals.
(Date Reviewed: 8 April 2005)
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