Exotica - Character analysis

A detailed Summary of Exotica - Character analysis

"I wanted to make a movie about believable people doing believable things in an unbelievable way." stated Atom Egoyan of his recent film The Adjuster. The Canadian director has recently been acclaimed for his imagination and originality, which is more than evident in his latest work Exotica. In this film Egoyan masterfully uses the popular technique of a multi-line plot in which the plot moves back and forth across time, so that links among events and characters surface slowly with increasing intensity. This creates some confusion for the viewer, and one is kept guessing about the relationship between the various characters in the film. However, as time goes on, their initial unconnected appearance evolves into an unbreakable chain of dependence. The characters seem completely real even while they appear to be acting without any apparent explanation - and then seem even more real when we understand them.

Exotica clearly illustrates the importance of character in film. It is common in the classic Hollywood film to simply portray one principle character and create the story around him/her. However, Egoyan's Exotica differs in this respect, as he portrays five principle characters, each with separate desi

The murder of Lisa causes great disruption and turmoil within Francis thereby leading him through a period of mental instability. He therefore finds release and inner-peace by utilizing the other characters in the film as doubles for both the people and times he has lost. This produces a chain that flows in a complete circle linking all of the characters together and effectively driving the narrative forward. Francis once played the role of father for Christina, she returns the father by acting as a daughter for Francis, Eric represents the murderer causing Francis to turn to Thomas for help and he becomes the DJ as he retrieves the daughter (Christina), Tracey takes on the role of babysitter, the babysitter becomes the dancer, and finally returning to the beginning of the chain, the dancer becomes the proverbial daughter. It is only at the end of the film that we truly understand the connections and convoluted relationships between all of the principal characters. Atom Egoyan's plot for Exotica coils back upon itself, revealing one layer of mystery after another. Essentially, it deals with people whose lives, once we understand them, reveal a need and urgency that only these mysteries can satisfy. The role of the character Francis in Exotica is fsevidently instrumental in propelling the narrative, as he links all of the characters together through his attempt to fill the void in his life marked by the loss of his wife and daughter.

The mental relief that Francis gains by watching Christina dance is destroyed when the DJ Eric, tricks him into touching her. Eric was a former lover of Christina and he is jealous of the relationship she has with Francis. He therefore tempts him into touching her and then when he does he banishes him from the club as he violated the "no-touching" rule. In this way, Eric becomes the proverbial killer by means of breaking the relationship between the father and the proverbial daughter. This induces enormous anger within Francis, as he now has no place to release his inner pain and tension. He therefore decides he must kill Eric, just as he would kill the real man who murdered his daughter. This leads to another connection, or link on the chain, between the principle characters of the film. Francis turns to Thomas, the pet-shop owner whom he is currently auditing, for help. Francis is aware of a smuggling operation which Thomas has set up and therefore uses this information to his advantage. He comes up with a plan whereby Thomas would go to the club and touch Christi

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Approximate Word count = 1694
Approximate Pages = 7 (250 words per page double spaced)

Category: English