By Doug Cummings
Arizona Daily Wildcat
"Exotica," the new Canadian film from director Atom Egoyan ("Calendar") conjures up mystical atmosphere and psychological angst with its story of a grieving tax auditor who frequents a steamy nightclub to fill the emotional vacuum in his life. Unfortunately, the film is so intent on creating a sultry aura and showing lots of flesh that it never offers much more than a standard Zalman King flick.
The movie follows Francis (Bruce Greenwood), a tax auditor who struggles with the death of his daughter by clinging to a paternal relationship with his brother's daughter, Tracey (Sarah Polley), and a sensual relationship with Christina (Mia Kershner), a private nude dancer at a glittery nightclub called Exotica.
During the day, Francis audits the taxes of an exotic pet store owner, Thomas (Don McKellar), who unwittingly becomes embroiled in Francis' psychosexual angst and personal trauma.
The movie uses a running motif of one-way mirrors, first at a customs inspection at the airport and later at the nightclub where the management can watch over its clients. The theme of voyeurism is given a cathartic twist as the beautiful dancers undulate their bodies for their intimacy-starved patrons and the movie's eager audience.
But the film's sensuality never seems deeper than tantalizing gloss and as Francis trembles in frustration and gazes wild-eyed at his dancer, it is difficult to see any cathartic content. The movie tries to empower sexual fantasy and make it seem like the solution to real emotional loss, but it's never very convincing. It only seems to revel in ordinary lust.
The movie is designed as a mood piece that presents convoluted relationships with mysterious psychological scars and proceeds to explain them as the movie progresses. Unfortunately, none of the explanations elaborate or twist the plot in new directions, they merely explain why everyone is behaving so strangely in the beginning. The audience keeps waiting for a big secret to unfold that supplants the film's sketchiness, but it never happens.
Director Egoyan has an eye for beauty, both in the languorous dancers bathed in shafts of blue light, and in the film's architecture and landscapes. There is a flashback scene showing searchers crossing through a wheat field, slowly cresting the horizon, that is lyrical and vivid.
But "Exotica"'s somber atmosphere and seductive imagery fails to imbue it with any meaningful content. The characters' insecure frustrations and desires only seem depressing in their inability to develop an understanding of themselves or approach their trauma from any standpoint other than basic sensual gratification.
"Exotica" is showing at Century Park 16, 620-0750.