Exotica [Blu-ray] [Criterion Collection]

Director: Atom Egoyan Atom Egoyan

Overview

The action in Canadian provocateur Atom Egoyan's cryptic Exotica revolves largely around the strip club, which lends the film its name, a faux-tropical hothouse where young female dancers cater to their customers' sexual and psychological needs. Among the regulars is Francis (Bruce Greenwood), a troubled taxman haunted by Christina, a young stripper played by Mia Kirshner. As the film hypnotically unfolds, their relationship is slowly explored, the narrative dovetailing with the stories of a gay pet shop owner (Don McKellar), the Exotica's pregnant owner (Arsinee Khanjian), and its embittered DJ (Elias Koteas). Like all of Egoyan's films, Exotica is a riddle, its answers only fostering more questions. The director's recurring themes of family breakdowns, voyeurism and obsession are all in the mix here as well, but essayed with a new clarity of vision and intensity.

Product Details

Release Date:	09/20/2022
UPC:	0715515276818
Original Release:	1994
Source:	Criterion Collection
Language:	English
Time:	1:43:00
Sales rank:	10,144

Cast & Crew

Performance Credits

Bruce Greenwood	Francis
Mia Kirshner	Christina
Don McKellar	Thomas
Arsinee Khanjian	Zoe
Elias Koteas	Eric
Sarah Polley	Tracey
Victor Garber	Harold
Calvin Green	Customs Officer
David Hemblen	Customs Inspector
Peter Krantz	Man in Taxi
Damon D'Oliveira	Man at Opera
Billy Merasty	Man at Opera
Jack Blum	Scalper
Ken McDougall	Doorman
Maury Chaykin	Exotica Club Client
Mychael Danna	Composer

Technical Credits

Atom Egoyan

Atom Egoyan	Director,Producer,Screenwriter
Camelia Frieberg	Producer
Ted Hanlon	Stunts
Michael Kavanagh	Special Effects
Steven Munro	Sound/Sound Designer,Sound Editor
Robert Lantos	Executive Producer
Tyler Allen	Sound Effects
Sue Conley	Sound Effects,Sound Editor
Keith Elliott	Sound Effects,Sound/Sound Designer
Paul Shikata	Sound Editor
Daniel Pellerin	Sound/Sound Designer
Peter Winniger	Sound/Sound Designer
Peter Kelly	Sound/Sound Designer
Andy Malcolm	Sound Editor
Ross Redfern	Sound/Sound Designer

Editorial Reviews

A creative coup for the endlessly challenging writer/director Atom Egoyan, Exotica is a haunting, beautifully rendered tale of obsession and sexual frustration, following six disparate characters whose lives entwine in the most bizarre of ways. Employing overlapping and reverse chronology (a staple of Egoyan's storytelling), the picture builds slowly until its revelations become apparent, and the end result is a hypnotic and moving chronicle of broken lives and loss. The performances are all affecting and first-rate, and despite its key setting (a strip joint), the film is never obscene or concerned with rubbing the viewer's face in excess. Egoyan's tale has more on its mind, and its uncanny ability to get inside the heads of its initially opaque characters is enough to leave one shaken. A breakthrough effort for Egoyan, Exotica was his first art-house success in the U.S. after several previous releases. Exotica also won a Genie Award for Best Film from the director's native Canada during the year of its release.

All Movie Guide - Jason Clark