Intimacy

Intimacy was for me an accident at work. It was bound to happen: when digging in art sooner or later one stabs his fingers upon intentional ugliness. (It is remarkable, in fact, how little this happens in art film compared to other genres of purported art – installation par example).

The germ-concept of the script was interesting: two lovers meet once a week to make love; their love making is silent. It is anonymous: they do not know each other at all. This goes on for some time as it appears to suit them both. But eventually they meet outside of their usual setting, learn to know about each other, speak. It turns out a bitter disappointment. “I thought you were silent because you knew something I didn’t, because you were light years ahead of me in some way. How I hoped one day you would choose to speak to me to tell me,” says one of them, meaning “you don’t, you aren’t”: the ancient advice “be beautiful and do not speak” proven true again. I have observed it work: the main reason why Asian women appear desirable is that they are silent and therefore mysterious. Piercing the veil of that mystery destroys all: the holy of holies turns out empty: there isn’t anyone there. It’s all the in the veil. (If you know what is good for you, don’t pierce it. The heroes of intimacy, like most people, do not know what is good for them).

But there’s a problem with the picture: the sex. The disappointment happens when the heroes go from physical intimacy to conversation. It would be understandable because the conversation is so bad; but it is not because, well, the sexual intimacy is also – bad. There is a lot of it, it is pretty explicit and the clear impression is that it is ugly and – brief. The intercourse lasts two minutes, with stiff wind in the back: three. One is hard put to understand what is so great about it that contrasting it with the brains of the partners would turn out disappointing.

The only conclusion seems to be that the film presents average people: people with average brains and average looks and therefore both average possibilities and average expectations. Perhaps for the average sort – who look and talk like that – even this sort of sex is great.