The Loss of Sexual Innocence (1999)

47% of critics liked it
(30 reviews)
56% of users liked it
(1,324 ratings)

Director Mike Figgis, creator of the Academy award-winning Leaving Las Vegas, presented this film's world premiere at the 1999 Sundance Film Festival. The story is made up of non-linear, interconnected episodes about a man at different stages of his life, all of which explicate thematically the… More Director Mike Figgis, creator of the Academy award-winning Leaving Las Vegas, presented this film's world premiere at the 1999 Sundance Film Festival. The story is made up of non-linear, interconnected episodes about a man at different stages of his life, all of which explicate thematically the film's title. The film also juxtaposes a retelling of the classic biblical fall-from-grace tale of Adam and Eve. We see the leading character, Nic, at 5 years old as a boy in colonial Kenya, at age 16 in swinging London in the '60s, and as a grown man working as a film ethnographer. Each sequence shows how he lost some degree of his sexual innocence, whether it be through love, puberty, or masturbation. Shot all over the world, including Tunisia, Italy, and England, the film is an exploration of sex and loss through the life of one individual. ~ Arthur Borman, Rovi

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Rating, Runtime: R, 1 hr. 46 min.
Directed By: Mike Figgis
Written By: Mike Figgis
Genres: Drama

In Theaters: May 28, 1999 Wide
On DVD: Dec 7, 1999
Studio: Sony Pictures Classics

Critic Reviews

Cole Smithey, ColeSmithey.com
A promising movie from Mike Figgis. Where are you Mike?
Jake Euker, F5 (Wichita, KS)
The material is... indulgent. The film is ambitious, but somehow incomplete.
Dennis Schwartz, Ozus' World Movie Reviews
It seems more like a student film turned in as a project assignment.
Jeffrey M. Anderson, San Francisco Examiner
One of the worst films ever made.
Philip Martin, Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
...Figgis -- one of the most interesting and meticulous directors around -- has made a genuinely boring and confusing movie.
Michael W. Phillips, Jr., Goatdog's Movies
I see [Figgis's] point, and I appreciate what he tried ... but it left me cold.
Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat, Spirituality and Practice
Explores the twists and turns of sexual desire in the life of an English film director born in South Africa.

Read all 7 critic reviews

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Featured Audience Ratings

Dean M

This plot-free film plays like a stream of dreams. The downside is that it also feels like a film-school experiment driven by Calvin Klein ad aesthetics. The core story is about a filmmaker who has lost much more than the film's provocative title suggests. Scenes in which a… More
This plot-free film plays like a stream of dreams. The downside is that it also feels like a film-school experiment driven by Calvin Klein ad aesthetics. The core story is about a filmmaker who has lost much more than the film's provocative title suggests. Scenes in which a curious child evolves to a jaded adult are also intercut with a modern version of Adam and Eve in which a black man and white woman emerge from a small lake. There's enough philosophical and cinematic doodling here for several films.
Tim S

There are some people who can't even get these kind of shots on 35mm.
Dimitris S

Delicate approach on various,contemporary sexual topics,from the Adam-Eve standard to puzzling tales of liturgical beauty.Figgis' most allegorical film.
Anthony V

Horrible.