Event Archive

Wednesday, July 6th 2005
Exotica with Jason Wood


Introduction	Jason Wood

The post film discussion for Exotica was led by Jason Wood, a freelance film consultant, who co-directed ‘Formulas For Seduction’, a full length documentary on Atom Egoyan.

The film split those attending the discussion fairly evenly. Some were captivated and others fell asleep during the screening!

Jason was evangelical about the film and gave us an excellent overview of the meanings of the film, how the film fits into the rest of Atom Egoyan's work and how it includes some of the director's biographical details.

He started the discussion by pointing out how Exotica was Egoyan's most commercial film at the time and on the surface could be accused of being titillating. But this surface is just one of many superficial elements of the film that hide a reality that is slowly exposed throughout the film. The presence of layers and surfaces make this film a "user manual for Atom Egoyan".

Jason went on to explain the significance of the film's title (Exotica is something we wrap around people and things in order to give them a heightenend meaning that may often hide the true reality - such as the exoticism of the pets in the pet shop and the dancers in the club) and the director's inclusion of video footage, a regulat Egoyan motif that is again just a representation of reality but not the true reality.

The discussion was opened up to the audience and a number of questions were raised :-

What is the significance of mirrors in the film? - again this seems to be about a reflection of surface and reality.

What is the explanation for the central relationship between Christina and Francis that at first appears to be just one of dancer and client? This relationship slowly unfolds to explain possible reasons for Francis's visits to the club that may be more about protection than exploitation. The relationship also seems to be about the two characters using each other for therapy.

Another point was raised that the relationships in the film seemed to be about people negotiating with each other and substituting people with the role of someone else. Francis psychologically replaces the real Christina with a representation of his daughter. Similary Francis becomes the protective father to Christina whose real father may have abused her.


Question..	..and answer

Film Notes

Director: Atom Egoyan. Starring: Bruce Greenwood, Don McKellar, Mia Kirschner, Arsinee Khanjan, Elias Kotehs. Canada, 1994. 103 mins.

"In telling the story of exotica, I wanted to structure the film like a striptease, gradually revealing an emotionally loaded history. The characters in the film move through a series of rituals and routines that define their loneliness and sense of despair. At times these activities may seem perverse or absurd as people transform their pain into self-made myths and legends. It is my belief that human beings find nothing more absorbing than the exoticism of their own experience." Atom Egoyan.

Atom Egoyan’s Exotica is a poetic exploration of loss and desire. Disturbingly detached but slowly illuminating, Exotica is both a clinical and provocative foray into the lives of people coming to terms with their pain and longings.

Constructed like an intricate thriller, dotted with clues and revelations Egoyan hypnotically weaves together the characters encountered at the ‘Exotica’, unveiling unexplored places where past experiences are confronted, and human sexual fantasies are generated and dissolved. The film is an examination of mutual need and exploitation, and of the ways people structure their lives - and each other's - around intrigues and fantasies. It ends with a brilliant flashback sequence that illuminates the rather disconcerting narrative.

By day Francis is a tax inspector, assigned to examine the books at a dimly lit exotic pet shop, whose owner Thomas is involved with smuggling rare eggs. At night he visits the mysterious, lush Exotica Strip Club and obsessively watches a young dancer Christina do her "schoolgirl" act. They are in turn watched jealously by the club's DJ/MC and the club owner Zoe (played by Arsinee Khanjian, the director's wife) watches Eric and the clients watching the dancers. Exotica is also about ‘watching’ and ‘watching over’ - about protectiveness and healing through Egoyan’s quite transgressive poeticism.

A film programmer, Jason Wood co-directed ‘Formulas For Seduction’, a full length documentary on Atom Egoyan. He is also the author of six film books, the most recent being ‘Nick Broomfield: Documenting Icons’ and ‘100 American Independent Films’. His forthcoming book is on ‘Mexican Cinema’.