Sleek, sexy, sensual, romantic, chaotic and vulnerable is one hell of a collection of adjectives to prescribe to a film, but Ira Sach’s new tale of a triptych love affair and the narcistic bisexual director at the core of it, really is all of those things in a very refreshing and entertaining way. Passages is by no means a film overloaded with plotting and narrative and the film’s overall arc is entirely built around this trio of people consisting of a married gay couple and the woman who one of the men embarks on an open affair with, and how many times over the course of 90 minutes the trio can break up, get back together and break up again, even in a third act shift attempting a healthy version of a relationship including all three of them. I can’t say that I completely was enamoured by Passages, but I did like it a hell of a lot and as much as Sach’s directing and writing (with his writing partner Maurico Zacharias) is stunning and well crafted, the film is above all else a showcase of the work of its three chief wonderful performers.
Sachs has put
at the centre of his film a character so chaotic and selfish that the film has
what can only be referred to as ‘shock scare revelations’ time and time again,
I mean this in no cheap way to remove from the films emotional arc, but the
many selfish and narcissistic acts of our lead character are what propel this
film and always so very surprising and shocking. In that sense the arc is less about
our central charismatic turn by Franz Rogowski, but reveals itself instead to
be about what happens when those caught in the solar system of this man’s powerful
energy learn that they must break free of it. Ben Wishaw and Adele Exarchopoulos
offer two brilliant performances that make this arc work as Sachs chooses to
unravel it for us. Sachs understand the powerhouse charisma of his leading man
with Rogowski and in many ways pulls back from screenplay tricks or exposition
of a sense to highlight just how charismatic the character of Tomas is,
Rogowski is just pure charisma and chaos and the allure of the compelling nature
of the man is so entirely visible that the propulsive and reckless decisions he
makes are no less infuriating to watch, but are no less believable that Wishaw’s
Martin and Exarchopoulos’s Agathe are pulled back in over and over again. Exarchopoulos
is the most reserved of the three performances and the vulnerability, calm
sadness and ultimate empathy we feel for her character grows as the film
continues, whereas how we feel for the so terribly endearing Wishaw is a more
immediate presence. Exarchopoulos breathes an energy of empowerment into the
film that is naturally stripped away in the most pained and subtle of ways
leading to an ultimately quite upsetting and earned conclusion for her
character. But ultimately for me this is Wishaw’s movie with his supporting
turn being equal parts biting, tender, sexually powerful and stunningly
composed. It’s a masterclass in subtlety and the surface and brings everything
home to a core as we ‘enjoy’ and ‘squirm’ at the actions of our lead. Overall Sachs
has composed a portrait of modern romance in the most frantic and then most
pained of ways, this is a film that doesn’t exactly punish its character but
does highlight the manner in which actions have repercussions.
A stunningly sensual and emotional 8/10 that although didn’t work overall for me is undeniable in its quality of performance and overall image. Our lead trio of performances are all stellar, with Sachs putting at the core of his film a series of tender, sexual and vulnerable interchanges that mark the trajectory of this chapter of these characters lives. Rogowski and Exarchopoulos are stellar, but Wishaw is my undoubted standout of the film and a firm favourite supporting performance this year thus far.
P.S. Let’s not litigate here another torrid and dull conversation on the importance of sex scenes in movies, this conversation has clearly arisen as Sachs has commented himself on a lack of movies focussed on adult issues. Bring back such adult fare and bring back sexuality that furthers plot, or for that matter is in many ways the plot itself. Passages is a fine example in any argument for the importance of intimacy on screen when done well and presented with purpose as it is in this case so brilliantly.
- -Thomas Carruthers
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