Intimacy (2001)

65% of critics liked it
(69 reviews)
56% of users liked it
(3,850 ratings)

One man's sexual obsessions and emotional weaknesses are laid bare in this controversial drama. Jay (Mark Rylance) is a cold, emotionally distant man who abandoned his wife and children several years ago andnow works in a nightclub. Jay enters into an affair with a married woman, an amateur actress… More One man's sexual obsessions and emotional weaknesses are laid bare in this controversial drama. Jay (Mark Rylance) is a cold, emotionally distant man who abandoned his wife and children several years ago andnow works in a nightclub. Jay enters into an affair with a married woman, an amateur actress named Claire (Kerry Fox), in which their emotional needs barely enter the picture; they meet once a week and have sex, talking as little as possible and parting ways once they're done. One week, Jay follows Claire after their weekly encounter and sees her meeting her husband Andy (Timothy Spall), a cheerful and good-natured cab driver. Jay becomes curious about Andy and strikes up an acquaintance with him; as they become friendly, Jay begins sharing with Andy the details of his affair with a married woman, without mentioning his lover's name. Claire has already begun moving away from her affair with Jay, and when she discovers that he's been meeting with her husband and sharing information about their relationship, she becomes understandably furious. Intimacy was the first English-language film for French director Patrice Chereau; the film received its North American premiere at the 2001 Sundance Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

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Rating, Runtime: R, 1 hr. 59 min.
Directed By: Patrice Chéreau
Written By: Patrice Chéreau, Anne-Louise Trividic
Genres: Drama, Adult

In Theaters: Jan 19, 2001 Limited
On DVD: Jan 6, 2004
Studio: Empire Pictures

Critic Reviews

Eric Harrison, Houston Chronicle
There is an interesting story here, but the movie circles it at a distance.
Joe Baltake, Sacramento Bee
For all the sex and vicious psychological game-playing, Chereau's movie is strangely forgettable.
Steven Rea, Philadelphia Inquirer
Its somber ruminations on passion and desire, marriage and aloneness, resonate with unmistakable force.
Stephen Hunter, Washington Post
It does get at the messy totalitarianism of uninvited emotions, and in that sense, it's haunting.
Desson Thomson, Washington Post
Chereau ... creates a wonderful minor-chord symphony.
Steven Rosen, Denver Post
Despite the efforts of Kureishi, Chereau and co-screenwriter Anne-Louise Trividic to make us believe in its realism. Toward the end, there are too many speeches.
Emanuel Levy, EmanuelLevy.Com
Chereau's first English-speaking feature, based on Hanif Kureishi's stories, is a bold, full-frontal (literally) exploration of the mysteries of male and female sexual desire. As such, the audacious film will divide film critics and get NC-17 rating
Nick Schager, Lessons of Darkness
Pulsates with desperate, miserable passion.
Ron Wells, Film Threat
It's ironic that a film exploring the mysteries of how people succeed and fail to connect with each other then fails to really connect with its audience.
Jean Lowerison, San Diego Metropolitan
I'm sure Chereau meant this to be a searing portrait of psychic distance, and it certainly is bleak. What it is not, unfortunately, is riveting cinema.
Dennis Schwartz, Ozus' World Movie Reviews
It's a brave art film only because of its porno sex scenes, but it is not necessarily a perceptive one.
Jon Popick, Planet Sick-Boy
It's a frighteningly realistic look at completely passionless sex, and Fox and Rylance both do a good job of making us uncomfortable as we watch.
Jim Lane, Sacramento News & Review
Rylance and Fox, fine actors, bravely grapple through some astonishingly convincing copulation (did they or didn't they?), and even more bravely struggle with Chereau's unspeakable lines.

Read all 13 critic reviews

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Featured Audience Ratings

Randy T

Lust leads to intimacy. Intimacy leads to love. Love leads to turmoil. The sex scenes may be explicit and controversial but there is a lot more to this film than Mark Rylance's boudoir and Kerry Fox's booty.
Dean M

This is a surprisingly compelling film. Surprising, because a viewer may expect only to be titillated, or perhaps to be bored. Kerry Fox is alert and brilliantly self-contained as Claire, also hot in her nudity and sex scenes. French director Patrice Chéreau looks upon these… More
This is a surprisingly compelling film. Surprising, because a viewer may expect only to be titillated, or perhaps to be bored. Kerry Fox is alert and brilliantly self-contained as Claire, also hot in her nudity and sex scenes. French director Patrice Chéreau looks upon these characters with a complexity of vision and the candor available to an outsider. He understands both the value and danger of anonymous erotic encounters. Each succeeding sex scene in the film reveals less, physically, and more, emotionally, about the characters.
Mark A

A somewhat difficult film to watch, as relationships and motivations were not always apparent. The sex was desperate and almost brutal and belied the title, as intimacy seemed to be the one thing missing from the affair. The lead Actress, Kerry Fox, while not a classic beauty, still… More
A somewhat difficult film to watch, as relationships and motivations were not always apparent. The sex was desperate and almost brutal and belied the title, as intimacy seemed to be the one thing missing from the affair. The lead Actress, Kerry Fox, while not a classic beauty, still managed to command the screen. Mark Rylance brought a simmering rage to his character, as Jay, the obsessed lover. And Timothy Spall was quietly understated as the cuckolded husband who evoked pity more than empathy. It was good to see Marianne Faithful as the ditzy friend, Betty, who nevertheless causes Claire to face her dilemma with honesty.
Brian R

"Intimacy" is a pretty depressing picture. A guy named Jay is having an affair (well more like a Last Tango In Paris affair) with this mature woman named Claire. The meet, have small talk, and then have quick sex. How these two meet in the first place? and wouldn't… More
"Intimacy" is a pretty depressing picture. A guy named Jay is having an affair (well more like a Last Tango In Paris affair) with this mature woman named Claire. The meet, have small talk, and then have quick sex. How these two meet in the first place? and wouldn't Claire have anything to say Jay since they keep meeting every Wednesday afternoon? Later on Jay stalks and finds a bit about Claire's personal life (an amtaure theater actress) and meets even Claire's husband played by Timothy Spall. I knew a bit about Jay's personal life in this film. Two kids and an ex-wife, works as a head bartender, befriends a gay man who gives honest suggestions about Jay's personal affair, another friend who keeps crashing by his place, and Jay's frustration dealing with loneliness. This film wouldn't be so bad if their was some sort of connection between the main character Jay and Claire but there isn't really and left me with the feeling of hollowness. The raw sex becomes reptitive and dull since it's clear there is no real intimacy between the two lonely souls. Sad.
Dimitris S

My ridiculous decision...to form a one-night stand course of actions,break the norms by activating emotions and ultimately,reverse my fortune's bastardization by puking truthful sequences.What's the point from the beginning is there's no remorse,no… More
My ridiculous decision...to form a one-night stand course of actions,break the norms by activating emotions and ultimately,reverse my fortune's bastardization by puking truthful sequences.What's the point from the beginning is there's no remorse,no maliciousness.Brilliant Dogme angles,I love you Kerry Fox....