Intimacy (2001)
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65% of critics liked it
(69 reviews) -
55% of users liked it
(4,064 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… 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
- Directed By
- Patrice Chéreau
- Written By
- Patrice Chéreau, Anne-Louise Trividic
- Genres
- Drama, Adult
- In Theaters
- Jan 19, 2001 Limited
- Studio
- Empire Pictures
Critic Reviews
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Eric Harrison, Houston Chronicle
There is an interesting story here, but the movie circles it at a distance.
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Joe Baltake, Sacramento Bee
For all the sex and vicious psychological game-playing, Chereau's movie is strangely forgettable.
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Marta Barber, Miami Herald
A film with a few floundering moments that becomes a powerful description of what it means to be intimate.
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Steven Rea, Philadelphia Inquirer
Its somber ruminations on passion and desire, marriage and aloneness, resonate with unmistakable force.
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Stephen Hunter, Washington Post
It does get at the messy totalitarianism of uninvited emotions, and in that sense, it's haunting.
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Cast
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Mark Rylance
as Jay
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Kerry Fox
as Claire
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Timothy Spall
as Andy
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Alistair Galbraith
as Victor
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Marianne Faithfull
as Betty
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Susannah Harker
as Susan
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Rebecca R. Palmer
as Pam
- Alastair Galbraith
- Phillipe Calvario
- Fraser Ayres
- Philippe Calvario



