Strong performances, a depth of emotion, and intelligent directing from Atom Egoyan make this Canadian "erotic thriller" quite a contrast to the big American film set in a strip club the following year, Showgirls, and I mean that in a good way. The way the story is pieced together is a gradual reveal, intriguing at each step of the way, and the theme of grieving becomes more powerful than anything else. Egoyan establishes the fact that were at a strip club, but he doesn't beat us over the head with gratuitous nudity. There is a melancholy atmosphere achieved through moody cinematography, helped by the use of the Leonard Cohen song "Everybody Knows,", which fit perfectly.
I didn't quite connect with it on the same level as others did, however. The main issue for me was in the father (Bruce Greenwood) becoming mesmerized by a stripper with a "schoolgirl" routine (Mia Kirshner) after his daughter had died. There is a reason for it that we eventually see, but it didn't ring true, and aside from that, ew. I just couldn't imagine a distraught father turning to this as his outlet, and in any event, connecting this kind of grief with that kind of eroticism seemed odd/disturbing to me.
More realistic was the relationship the man has with his niece (15 year old Sarah Polley), and how the reality behind that was slowly filled in was brilliant. The way the pet shop owner/smuggler (Don McKellar) was eventually connected was also very well done, and there are some interesting parallels in what that character gets up to (e.g. Secret desires, the ballet instead of the strip club). All in all this is one where I liked the artistry in the weaving process more than the completed whole. Worth checking out though.
I didn't quite connect with it on the same level as others did, however. The main issue for me was in the father (Bruce Greenwood) becoming mesmerized by a stripper with a "schoolgirl" routine (Mia Kirshner) after his daughter had died. There is a reason for it that we eventually see, but it didn't ring true, and aside from that, ew. I just couldn't imagine a distraught father turning to this as his outlet, and in any event, connecting this kind of grief with that kind of eroticism seemed odd/disturbing to me.
More realistic was the relationship the man has with his niece (15 year old Sarah Polley), and how the reality behind that was slowly filled in was brilliant. The way the pet shop owner/smuggler (Don McKellar) was eventually connected was also very well done, and there are some interesting parallels in what that character gets up to (e.g. Secret desires, the ballet instead of the strip club). All in all this is one where I liked the artistry in the weaving process more than the completed whole. Worth checking out though.