I was truly surprised by the emotional depth and haunting quality of this film, which could easily have felt merely cheap and tawdry because of the abundant nudity and almost explicit sex that dominates it. The excellence of the performances, however, acts as a counterbalance to the sexual titillation.
In acting this tale of the struggle between sheer lust and real love, both leads radiate a subtlety of emotion through facial expression and body posture that makes the largely non-conversational characters "speak" in articulated ways. The sparse voice-overs effectively assist the development of the relationship. In a society where wide sexual experimentation at early ages exposes many to the pitfalls this film explores, this is a strong statement about the human hunger for love and real relationship.
In acting this tale of the struggle between sheer lust and real love, both leads radiate a subtlety of emotion through facial expression and body posture that makes the largely non-conversational characters "speak" in articulated ways. The sparse voice-overs effectively assist the development of the relationship. In a society where wide sexual experimentation at early ages exposes many to the pitfalls this film explores, this is a strong statement about the human hunger for love and real relationship.