A superb British film, set during a summer heat wave in late-1980s London, CLOSE MY EYES examines the unorthodox relationship between a brother, his sister and her husband.
Since leaving home, Richard Gillespie (Clive Owen) has given up a well-paid job for one in the government monitoring rampant urban real estate development, while his sister Natalie (Saskia Reeves), whom he sees only occisionaly, has drifted from job to job, finally marrying the rich but stuffy
Sinclair Bryant (Alan Rickman), who has made a fortune in, as he puts it, "trends and analysis," and lives in an opulent mansion on the Thames. Meeting Natalie and Sinclair for lunch, Richard is struck by the attractiveness and maturity of his sister, who has always flirted with him, and their
natural affection for each other inadvertently develops into overt lovemaking. Although nearly as ardent, Natalie attempts to end the affair, which Sinclair suspects, throwing Richard into a depression that culminates in a failed suicide attempt. His frustration boils over into anger: he accuses
Natalie of using him. But by film's end, he appears to accept the end of his obsessive love: the final image has Natalie and Sinclair walking off together, followed a few paces behind by Richard, into the season's first cool weather.
British writer-director Stephen Poliakoff (better known as a prolific playwright although he directed 1987's HIDDEN CITY) uses his incest theme absolutely without prurience (unlike, say, BUTTERFLY or Bertolucci's LA LUNA), as a forceful metaphor for the irresponsible, success-without-thought 80s,
which is symbolized by the new gleaming glass and steel commercial buildings in London's Dockside redevelopment. The buildings also seem largely empty, with their interiors underlit, as if hiding their occupants from the glaring sunlight outside.
Poliakoff's characters are exceptionally well written, developing the movie's themes in expert detail, and the three performances by Owen, Reeves and especially Rickman (a British stage veteran who takes welcome leave from his delightfully sinister villains in films like DIE HARD and ROBIN HOOD:
PRINCE OF THIEVES) are exceptional. Only occasionally overloading the dice (Richard's boss is dying of AIDS) and belying his limited screen experience, Poliakoff directs with nuance, sustaining the subtle air of tension and often surreal menace of his tale. Well mounted by producer Therese
Pickard, the movie features exquisite production design by Luciana Arrighi and cinematography by Witold Stok. (Sexual situations, nudity.) leave a comment
