The films Fire, Exotica, and Leolo all share a common interacting theme besides being one worded
titles. Each film has a personal relationship at the core of the story.
However, in the case of Fire, it is not the relationship that is a
problem, but the society in which the protagonists live. In the case of Exotica,
the relationship is proven to be a detrimental handicap that stagnates the
emotional and development of one of the protagonists. Leolo takes both
of these aspects, embodied as a character that is stagnated by this sexual
handicap, but allows him to evolve into a different person than those dictated
to by their society. By comparing and contrasting the films with each other
through music, colours, mise en scene editing, sound and specific scenes, this
essay will try to establish a common sexual narrative that can only be
succinctly described as a Canadian attribute. I will reconcile the two quotes
with this thesis; Personal relationships
have replaced a focus on "imagined communities" in Anderson's sense
and that these characters' needs to make sense of their own lives has become
the "practice" that has transcended "theory” as per Powe's quote.
These
practices however seem to be partly intrinsically Canadian; a society that
bills itself as a cultural mosaic is shown in practice by two of the films
representing two different cultures, one of India and one of the French Canada. Then lastly shows one that
is filmed as a universally applicable story of loss but ultimately giving it a
Canadian twist.
Other
locations in the film also lend credence to them transcending their imagined
communities. Outside of the apartment that both Radha and Sita share is a small
stage where traditional plays enthrall a number of people throughout the film. Sita
and Radha visit these places throughout the film as a way to develop their
relationship. However as they watch the drama play out over the course of the
movie they only are spectators. This changes in the last scene of the movie
where Radha and Sita meet on the stage. They have transcended their community
and have seemingly become the focal point of their own drama, allowing their
relationship to start. The rain also in this scene indicates the very simple
idea of washing away this imagined community of the family and starting a new
one between themselves. Also throughout the film, a young Radha is seen in a
mustard field with her family as they discuss various topics. Shonini Ghosh in
her book Fire describes the
repetition of the mustard fields as, “both
a memory and a dreamscape that shapes Radha’s selfhood, her relationship with
Sita, and perhaps even her destiny. It is a reminder of “wide open space, of
the land, of the need to see without looking.” [1] In
Exotica there is a repetition of a
field as well, however in this instance it does not represent the wide open
possibilities but rather the ironic stagnation of Francis and his inability to
let go of his daughter’s death as it slowly traps him. Nonetheless in Radha’s
case the use of the field becomes optimistic hope for something beyond the life
of a trapped housewife. In the end she
hopefully transcends from an archaic caste system and living anew with Sita.
Lastly the costumes and outfits the characters wear
throughout the film represents the different views that society has cast upon
them. In the central scene of Radha and Sita dancing while Bebe watches on,
their view points are represented through their clothing. Bebe views from the
middle a sort of wedge between the two draped in the white oppressive clothing
of the society that is forcing them apart. Sita wear’s a traditional Indian
dress and is represented to be reluctant but still accepting considering how
intimate her dance with Radha becomes. Finally Radha is shown to be wearing a
male’s suit, effectively showing her transformation into an independent woman.
The oppressive white of the society has been cast aside as well as the
traditional dress. She is reluctant to accept the idea of being a straight
woman in a very conservative society, foreshadowing her escape from the family.
Lastly in the end where Sita's clothing is forcefully ripped off by her
husband, Ashok rips and is forced to comfort Radha outside in the rain wearing
only a white sheet. The oppressive white forced on Sita is temporary but
ultimately she will cast it off again, effectively freeing herself.
Exotica begins immediately with the idea of
re-occurring themes, by using the imagery of a one way looking glass. The
customs officers who look through the window at the unaware flight passengers
are played out inside the Exotica club as well. It also is represented in the
home footage of Francis and his family, a pertinent part in most of Egoyan’s
film. In Exotica the home video and
one sided mirror represents a multitude of different themes but most prevalent
is the idea of the unknown in terms of knowing the whole piece of the puzzle.
Everyone seemingly is intrinsically linked to the death of Francis’s daughter; however they
only see it through their eyes, unaware that another individual has been
affected by the tragedy. Re-occurring
motifs play out throughout the movie, another prominent example would be the
use of parrots strewn throughout the film. In modern society a parrot is a representation
of mimicking and repeating of phrases, the parrot thus is a representation of
the stagnation that the characters suffer, unwillingly to move beyond the
singular tragedy that defines their interconnected life. For example the same
stuffed green parrot is shown on the desk where Francis does the auditing in
the bird shop, and on top of the DJ consul in Exotica. In both instances it
represents the hindrance of both characters and the mimicking of their own
actions; for Eric it’s the same introduction for Christiana when she introduces
her school girl act. His way of preserving the innocence of when he first met
her and how it was tarnished when they discovered the dead body of Francis’s
daughter with Christina. In Francis case it’s the repetitive notion of trying
to ignore his obsession with his daughter’s death and the cruel world outside
of the bird shop. This is hinted at in the dialogue between him and Thomas when
he says: “I wouldn’t think they’re not hard. Just because they’re exotic
doesn’t mean they couldn’t handle extremes.”
This is a reference to both the birds and the characters; they suffer
extreme situations and both are handled differently. Thomas pays great care to
the animals and attentive detail ensuring a personal and safe relationship.
With the humans in the film they suffer at a distance, through one way mirrors,
threat, manipulation and black-mail. As Emma Wilson sums up in her book Atom Egoyan’s, “It is after a jungle out
there, isn’t it?”[2]
Even Thomas has the re-occurring stagnation in his character represented
through the parrots he smuggles inside of the country, through the random males
he hooks up with at the opera. Instead of developing more as a character
through the relations and transcending this community, he willfully becomes
stagnated and refuses to transcend through this imagined community. He only
becomes actively involved when pushed like the characters around him.
Furthermore the parrots are not only the representation of mimicking one’s own
action but the idea of being perched upon a higher branch and watching the
drama unfold. In Eric’s instance, he watches the action throughout the DJ booth
aware of the inner workings of Exotica, and allowing it to fuel his jealousy.
Thomas, however, is a table on the upper level of the Exotica, a staunch way of
refusing his own stagnation but believing he is transcending his grief and
allowing himself to be healed. For
Thomas it’s when he meets the final man at the Opera and is sitting up in the
balconies and inevitably invites him in. After these sequences both Thomas and
Eric are manipulated rather then helped because of their predicament and are
cast down quite literally. Francis is
thrown down the stairs outside into the unrelenting and stormy night while the
morning after Thomas awakes to find his two Hyacinth macaws eggs have
disappeared. Lastly the idea of parrots is associated with pirates and the
characters throughout the films have metaphorically related to these marauders.
Both of these characters plunder the treasure of their past and rather than
appropriately deal with it and lead to their cathartic healing, they bury it
deep and refuse to acknowledge it on simple and plain terms. They set forth complicated treasure maps to
deal with these issues through complex antagonistic relationships and anger.
Rather than sharing the treasure of cathartic healing with each other, they
hoard it among themselves and refuse to share their pain. However these
characters are not unwillingly to help.
When Francis tries to get Thomas' help to murder Eric he at first uses
extortion, manipulation and black mail. However the only way Francis gets
cooperation is by plaintively asking for help, which Thomas does offer finally.
Colours also play an important thematic point throughout
the entire film, which involves the locations and parrots. The Hyacinth macaws are a blue species of
parrot and the first time we see Francis in the store he is framed with a cage
Red Macaw to his right. These two colours, red and blue, are also represented
throughout the film most predominately in Exotica, its outer vicinity and the
fields in the flashback. Exotica is washed in a blue light throughout the film
and lush foliage all around with the sounds of birds playing through loud
speakers. Emma Watson in her book Atom
Egoyan refers to this as: “Egoyan takes a nightclub interior and makes it
full, serene, and sexual, just a world away; he shows the club as it can be imagined as a fantasy space
where desire can be acted out in safe denial, with Eric’s re-assuring words folding the dancers in
fantasies.”[3]
This safe denial and fantasy ultimately suppresses the true cathartic emotions
to play out throughout the film and allows for the characters to be stagnated;
their relationships are shallow and nowhere near satisfying. The same thing is applicable to Thomas and
the theft of his Blue Hyacinth Macaw eggs; his safe denial is ripped from him,
he as to acknowledge the tangible world and forge a real relationship with
Francis and ultimately Christina. This blue light represented in Exotica was
never meant to be one of helping. Zoe in the film says: “… Exotica are here for your amusement we’re here to entertain, not to
heal.”[4] The blue
has been shed from his light and thus transcends this imagined community to one
of practice and allows himself to open up. The same thing happens with shedding
of the colours towards the end with Eric and Francis confronting each other in
the parking lot. Eric is willing to
shed the blue light from himself, the
caged red Macaw first introduced with
Francis in the same shot is now free.
This is shown with him wearing a red shirt, a red car and two red doors
in the background, the entire shot now illuminated in this red glow. Francis on
the other hand is framed behind a blue wall, in a blue shirt and in the far
distance a blue car. This safe denial is ultimately trying to consume him and
the sexual fantasy in the club in the lavish blue light is now represented as a
revenge fantasy for his daughter and Christina.
Ultimately the literal embrace of
Eric by hugging Francis washes over this blue light and allows for the personal
relationships to start and heal, both characters revealing how Francis daughter’s
affected them. The safe denial is now cast aside and the red Macaw is
finally allowed to be free; a new relationship begins.
The music in Exotica
again reinforces the theme of repetition and repressed drama and
relationship. Leonard Cohen’s “Everybody Knows” is an ironic juxtaposition between the characters and their
seemingly unrelated dramas and the under currents that tie everything together.
The song both alludes to infidelity and murder which is revealed to be two
pertinent plot points addressed later on. Even the use of the song is important
to the central story and the malaise of the characters. It is the song for Christina’s
school girl routine and throughout she remains silent, only communicating with
the audience through a series of hand gestures and sign language. “Everybody
Knows” becomes a call for help and
reunification of the characters bogged down by the singular tragic effect of
the murder. This also plays out with the
house sitting of Tracey’s character, which continuously plays the same song on
her flute and piano. The song foreshadows the connections of each character and
the roles they play in eachother’s life. It becomes a musical transition
between scenes. In one particular scene
where she starts to play, Francis decides to wander over to a portrait of his
daughter and wife both revealed to be dead later in the film. Again the colour
motif plays a role, Tracy accepting of this strange and stagnate relationship
call’s it out later and in this particular scene she is wearing a red
shirt. Meanwhile Francis continues to
wear the blue, imposing the denial and fantasy world upon him. The piano music
plays on longer while it reveals Thomas buying tickets for the same repetitive
ploy at meeting men at the Opera; it then shows Francis arriving at the
Exotica. At this moment Tracey’s piano music stops and the music of Exotica starts to overpower it, ultimately sheltering
Francis and Thomas from their actions and making them content over there
non-evolution. Lastly immediately after this the flute comes back into place
and for a fleeting moment it seems that Francis has a moment of self reflection
and is about to break from the hold Exotica has over him. He looks over at the
one sided mirror and it is revealed that Eric is looking at him, foreshadowing
their dramatic confrontation at the end. However in this instance it is one of
hostility and not acceptance, the characters have not fully evolved from this
imagined community but the music helps to bridge the gap and soothe the
pain. The piano, flute, and Leonard
Cohen’s “Everybody Knows” becomes the inner self imploring for help and
ultimately receiving it.
Leolo
is a film about creativity and how personal relationships both through family
and sexuality is detrimental to the development of it; however if remained
neglected or abused it could lead towards the destruction of the individual.
This constant reminder to maintain ones creativity throughout the film is
represented through the line; “Because I dream that is not what I am.” A
constant thread of voice over re-affirms the characters' right to think and
allow for him to push the creative boundaries of his mind. The massive
labyrinth that is a library that ultimately stores Leolo’s musing becomes a
tomb, where they are trapped and his creativity is finally succumbed the harsh
reality around him.
Locations play a vital role with the theme of creativity
throughout the whole film, the romanticization of Italy as a country steeped in
history and creativity becomes the character’s desire and end goal. The
repetition of showing the same old ruins of a villa becomes a monument to the
everlasting idea of creativity. Even though his apartment building shares the
same sprawling attributes as the villa, it is ugly and dated whereas the villa
is timeless. Even in the end where the characters innocence and creativity is
finally shattered we see this as the literal building that housed him during
his creative development is literally torn down all around him. Leolo finally has succumbed to his
surroundings and the creativity inside of him is now dead. This even
represented through him finally giving up on the character Bianca, the
creativity that fueled his desire, the words he wrote and the longing for
Italy; as he pitifully makes love too the resignation which is Regina.
The use of water throughout the film plays prominently
into the themes of creativity and the fragile relationships of the family. It
becomes a mean of escape, the representation of the endless creativity that
Leolo submerges himself to escape the family fate of failure and mental
illness. He is literally forced to drown in a small pool by his grandfather, submerging
his head underwater, forcing him to open up to the new creative side in his
life. He describes himself finding a treasure at the bottom of the small pool,
the rewards and endless wealth that creativity can bestow upon an individual.
However this takes a further turn where his creativity and sanctuary starts to
be manipulated and tainted. Later his
brother using him to dive deeper into a lake, using Leolo’s creativity to steal
things from the bottom of the lake; a metaphor for the artist selling out. Furthermore Leolo continuously sees his
grandfather bathing in the family bathtub while Bianca sexually satisfies him,
while she clips his crude toe nails and throws them in the tub. The purity of the water now tarnished, the
family has ultimately invaded his creative sanctuary and forces him to suffer
the same mental lapses that occur throughout his family. In the end his
creativity is gone; Leolo is scurried off to a private ward in the hospital
after a botched suicide attempt, where he is placed in a bath of cold water.
Music like in Exotica
plays a prominent role in Leolo as
well. There is a repetition of chants, Tom Waits “Cold Cold Ground” and the Rolling Stones “You can’t
always get what you want.” Bill Marshall in his book Quebec National Cinema describes this use of music as “international and daring.”[5]
Again the idea of escapism is represented and shown again; instead of the use
of water it is music that seemingly spans the globe. However again the music
gets tainted and incorporated into the family’s shortcomings which ultimately
consume Leolo. In the end “You Can’t Always Get What You Want” plays over the
destruction of his house and his ultimate sexual “conquest” over the prostitute
Regina.
Lastly the important scene of Fernand over the Anglophone
bully plays a central role to the plot but not what is obviously on the
surface. Lauzon states in an interview with Claude Racine that “there
was no question at the beginning, in the screenplay, that he would be an
Anglophone. He was simply your typical loudmouth such as one often meets in the
alleys.”[6]
Here Lauzon specifically states that the message is not one of Quebec
nationalism or the Canadian identity but of something else entirely. The larger
than life Fernand is the testament to the creativity and mind of his brother, a
figure we see through Leolo’s eyes. Leolo throughout the film tends to
exaggerate things. His version of how he came into being, the hunting for
treasure in the waters and his love for Bianca.
This massive brother is another representation of the strong power of
creativity that is seemingly riff with potential and strength. However due to
the businessman which is the Anglophone who wields the power with money and
connection, Fernand and hence creativity is rendered powerless. This point can be backed up by a previous
quote by Lauzon in the interview; “I
wanted my film to be a kind of homage to a dream. We knew the epoch of Brel and
Bob Dylan when the arts and poetry carried a much greater weight. Today we seem to be in a world where power
belongs to merchants, lawyers and accountants.”[7]
Ultimately this film is regarding personal relationships with us and our own
creativity. We must transpire and transcend from the imagined communities of
mental illness and troubles (both internal and external) and focus on a way to
make ourselves complete and happy human beings.
In the end Fire,
Exotica and Leolo are cut from
the same cloth of creativity to represent multiple cultures through different
means. In Fire the literal approach of showing a couple struggle with the
antagonistic society and characters that plague the film are laid out for us.
The relationships in Exotica are
pieces of a puzzle that requires thinking and a very satisfying pay off and
finally in Leolo it’s a more subdued
and submerged film where the murky depths of the film are open to vast
interpretations and how creativity influences our relationships with the world
and one another. This is in a nutshell describes the Canadian
identity, not a singular idea of community or struggles but however the
multiple interpretations of it and the different applications for all the
inhabitants.
Bibliography
1.) Ghosh,
Shohini. Fire. Vancouver:Arsenal Pulp
Press, 2010.
2.) Wilson,
Emma. Atom Egoyan. Chicago:
University of Illinois Press, 2009
3.) Egoyan,
Atom. Exotica. Toronto: Couch House Press, 1995
4.) Marshall,
Bill. Quebec National Cinema. Montreal
and Kingston: McGill-Queen’s University Press, 2001
5.) Edited by, Melynk George. The Young, The Restless, And The Dead Interviews With Canadian
Filmmakers. Waterloo: Wilfred Laurier Press, 2008
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