Photo: Mark Rylance as Jay and Kerry Fox as Claire in Patrice Chéreau's Intimacy
Every Wednesday afternoon, Claire (Kerry Fox) knocks on Jay's (Mark Rylance) door. They exchange discordant gazes before throwing their clothes to the ground. Jay's grubby London flat is the setting for this fiery sex-play. Like animals, these figures claw their way toward each other from opposite sides of the room. Claire exits, leaving Jay in silent comfort; the primal ecstasy they seem to get from this physical love becomes the unspoken promise of her return. Not since Last Tango in Paris has a film so ravishingly explored the many fine connections between desire, physical intimacy, and romance. It doesn't matter where Claire came from or where she met Jay, because the genius of Patrice Chéreau's Intimacy is its unspokenness.
Every Wednesday afternoon, Claire (Kerry Fox) knocks on Jay's (Mark Rylance) door. They exchange discordant gazes before throwing their clothes to the ground. Jay's grubby London flat is the setting for this fiery sex-play. Like animals, these figures claw their way toward each other from opposite sides of the room. Claire exits, leaving Jay in silent comfort; the primal ecstasy they seem to get from this physical love becomes the unspoken promise of her return. Not since Last Tango in Paris has a film so ravishingly explored the many fine connections between desire, physical intimacy, and romance. It doesn't matter where Claire came from or where she met Jay, because the genius of Patrice Chéreau's Intimacy is its unspokenness.
