Rent Intimacy (2001)

Not for the easily shocked - Intimacy review by BE

Rather a sad and lonely little movie but holds the attention. Mark Rylance gives a good performance, parts of which are indicative of the Oscar winner to come (Bridge of Spies). You've also never seen him like this before (Last Tango in Paris, eat your heart out)!!

The most raw, honest & truthful film about intimacy ever made with phenomenal performances - Intimacy review by TB

I was 13 years old when Intimacy was released. Even though it was long ago, I do vaguely remember the complete & absolute hysteria in the press following its release in the UK. The allegations of pornography now being mainstream, the moral panic by right-leaning reviewers & the complete ignoring of the quality of the acting. Fast forward to 2023 & the reactions are so out of all proportion, it is almost satirical. When you compare this film to Young Adam, Blue is the Warmest Colour, Love and The Dreamers, its controversy barely registers. The only difference now is that if it was released today, the hysteria would probably propel it to No. 1 at the box office.

Predictably, the main focus point was the unsimulated fellatio scene. This scene was 4 seconds out of a nearly 2 hour film... 4 seconds. And this film is so much more than a single 4 second scene which has been completely taken out of context by a cynical & disingenuous media.

Intimacy is not an easy film to watch, but that is because it is also so raw. It is a story about 2 people who are lost in different ways & looking for meaning. And the ways they look for meaning, outside of the trysts they have each Wednesday, are the heart of the story. But it is also not an easy film to watch because it is not a standard, picture-perfect romance drama. For one, as much as it is deliberately shot handheld & with a muted colour palette, it looks very grimy, with dark shadows and cloudy skies.

Also, somewhat deliberately I feel, the sex itself is not in any way erotic. It is there to purely tell the story & evolution of the relationship between the characters. There are no waxed, tanned, muscular torsos on display. Instead, we see real people, grafting through life & getting pleasure in any way they can, even if that pleasure also feels empty once they part. Many people, particularly men, would look at a situation like this & probably think “That sounds perfect.” But when the reality of that is shown, it is a very different existence.

And that is the other reason why Intimacy is so challenging to watch. I read a quote from Mark Rylance saying that for him, the most difficult thing was “I could so easily have been that guy.” Not only did this ring true for me, but the emptiness of that existence haunted me long after the film finished.

Sadly, Intimacy does have its problems, the main one being the supporting characters within the narrative. Marianne Faithfull brings power to her role and Timothy Spall is good as Claire’s jovial husband, but in a strange way, none of them really fit within the story, especially because of the power of the two leads. When it is Fox and Rylance on screen, whether they are arguing, breaking down or banging each other, the film flies. When anyone else is on screen, it just doesn’t work for me. The film works beautifully at making you care and be interested with these 2 characters, so anything interrupting it just takes you out of the small moments.

So why 4 stars? Because of these incredible performances & the honesty within them. Intimacy haunted me when I first saw it years ago and still does to this day. This film shows what happens when you become a slave to your own ego. When you feel you have everything you want, but in the end have almost nothing, apart from the whims of your own sex drive. Intimacy shows you clearer than almost any other film the personal hell this will bring.