My boner for Clive Owen has been rock hard since 2002, when I first saw Croupier (1998). In Croupier Clive plays Jack, an aspiring author working a Casino job that his father got him. Jack is sharp and dry, and sort of ruthless and empty. I watch Croupier like I watch Donnie Darko, every few years, for a week straight on repeat. After this year's Croupier Marathon I read up on Mr. Owen's IMDB and proceeded to track down Close My Eyes (1991).
Dear. God. Close My Eyes is intense. It opens slowly, but ten minutes into it you've got an idea what's going on. What you don't know is how the hell it's going to play out. Natalie is fucking her younger brother, Richard (Owen), and for a good while there I kept hoping someone was going to reveal they weren't actually related (like in Lovers of The Arctic Circle). That moment never came.
This film is full on about incest. I can't decide if I want to call it a love story though, because I don't know that I believe they were in love with each other.
The purpose, I feel, of any story is to make you think and feel. A good story get this done without unduly confusing its audience, that is to say the story itself should be presented clearly. Only your response should confuse you - because you've been forced to think.
My confusion from Close My Eyes came from my own feelings toward the subject, my feelings toward Natalie, and I suppose toward myself as a woman. You see, from the beginning Natalie is needy. Her lover's left her, she's admittedly unhappy, she isn't doing fulfilling work, and she's dependent on her younger brother for something that isn't quite clear. She's sort of pathetic, really.
My confusion from Close My Eyes came from my own feelings toward the subject, my feelings toward Natalie, and I suppose toward myself as a woman. You see, from the beginning Natalie is needy. Her lover's left her, she's admittedly unhappy, she isn't doing fulfilling work, and she's dependent on her younger brother for something that isn't quite clear. She's sort of pathetic, really.
Here's the thing though. I can identify with Natalie. Minus the fucking my brother part, I'm sure most women have, at some point, felt utterly unfulfilled, or lost. This shit happens. And something else that happens is every now and again you encounter a lover that sets you on fire. Just one look, minimal proximity and you're dunzo, set-a-fuckin-blaze.
But your brother? Bro. Come on! Natalie puts the move on Richard first, and when they finally act on it, he becomes practically obsessed. Natalie does very poorly to remedy this, and I often wondered whether or not she truly cared to. It was bad enough that she leaned on Richard so much to begin with, that she kissed him that first night. But as the situation progressed, to even allow the situation to progress, seemed emotionally irresponsible on her part.
But your brother? Bro. Come on! Natalie puts the move on Richard first, and when they finally act on it, he becomes practically obsessed. Natalie does very poorly to remedy this, and I often wondered whether or not she truly cared to. It was bad enough that she leaned on Richard so much to begin with, that she kissed him that first night. But as the situation progressed, to even allow the situation to progress, seemed emotionally irresponsible on her part.
Questions of sex and attraction are what they are. I don't know why people do what they do or like what they like, but sleeping with your younger brother is weak and predatory, no? By the end of the film, Richard's come undone, and I felt like Natalie was just an attention whore drama queen.
Here sets in the discomfort. Barring that her lover is her brother, I get Natalie. I understand that need to be coveted, and enjoyed. I see that in myself. Who wouldn't want a lover that simply could not do with out them? Maybe, stronger, more confident individuals. But an impossible, unquenchable lust has always seemed to me like the ticket. If you can't do without me and you absolutely can't stand the thought of sharing me, then I'd know you meant it.
Here sets in the discomfort. Barring that her lover is her brother, I get Natalie. I understand that need to be coveted, and enjoyed. I see that in myself. Who wouldn't want a lover that simply could not do with out them? Maybe, stronger, more confident individuals. But an impossible, unquenchable lust has always seemed to me like the ticket. If you can't do without me and you absolutely can't stand the thought of sharing me, then I'd know you meant it.
Ultimately though, I see this as a weak trait. Because the truth is anyone who needs to be needed that badly, to the point of playing games and having affairs, has really low self-esteem. And if anyone wanted me so desperately, I'd have to admit I'm only human. I don't know if I could respect their feelings for me enough not to power trip and play with their heads.
That's the thing with a movie like this; it holds up the mirror. It shows you relatable, and fractured, characters; it shows you that humans are messed up and don't think clearly, and it reminds you that you don't always do the right thing by people either, forces you to question whether or not you would.
But it's not the same, you try to rationalize. I'd never fuck my brother/sister. But you would probably fuck with someone's head if you could. I feel like I know so many people who've done just that. Because they wanted some nearly undeliverable absolute of emotion from someone else, they behaved in the most button-pushing way, unapologetically sending the other party's feelings into a typhoon status.
But it's not the same, you try to rationalize. I'd never fuck my brother/sister. But you would probably fuck with someone's head if you could. I feel like I know so many people who've done just that. Because they wanted some nearly undeliverable absolute of emotion from someone else, they behaved in the most button-pushing way, unapologetically sending the other party's feelings into a typhoon status.
All that aside, I really loved how Close My Eyes was shot.
Visually, it was very beautiful, and soft. For the most part the story moves at a languid pace, but it works in so far as it lends more tension to the love/fight scenes, and more suspense to the conclusion. I thought the love scenes were pretty impeccable, how hungry yet tender the characters were with one another. I liked the contrast of nature versus construction. I enjoyed how cold and real Richard's boss was. And I loved the brain on Sinclair (as played by Alan Rickman).
Visually, it was very beautiful, and soft. For the most part the story moves at a languid pace, but it works in so far as it lends more tension to the love/fight scenes, and more suspense to the conclusion. I thought the love scenes were pretty impeccable, how hungry yet tender the characters were with one another. I liked the contrast of nature versus construction. I enjoyed how cold and real Richard's boss was. And I loved the brain on Sinclair (as played by Alan Rickman).
And let's be real. I loved Clive Owen's dick.
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