Exotica Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		5.0
Video		3.5
Audio		5.0
Extras		5.0
Overall		4.0

Exotica Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Dr. Svet Atanasov August 22, 2022

Atom Egoyan's "Exotica" (1994) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Criterion. The supplemental features on the release include new program with Egoyan and actress Sarah Polley; archival audio commentary by Egoyan and composer Mychael Danna; short films; content from a press event held at the Cannes Film Festival; and more. In English, with optional English SDH subtitles for the main feature. Region-A "locked".

There are a lot of naked bodies in Canadian director Atom Egoyan’s Exotica, but this isn’t an erotic film. It is a film about people in pain who gather in a place that temporarily makes them forget about it.

The place is a stylish gentlemen’s club somewhere on the outskirts of Toronto. For a small fee, the beautiful girls who work there quickly take off all of their clothes and then talk to their clients. The girls can touch them, but they cannot be touched.

Francis (Bruce Greenwood, Being Julia, Thirteen Days), a lonely tax inspector, is a regular who loves watching Christina (Mia Kirshner, The Black Dahlia, The Crow: City of Angels) dance. Christina dresses as a school girl and likes entertaining Francis. Zoe (Arsinée Khanjian, Felicia's Journey, Speaking Parts), the club’s pregnant owner, is aware that there is a special bond between the two but does not mind. Eric (Elias Koteas, The Adjuster, Crash), the club’s DJ and Christina’s boyfriend, does not like it. He wants to know what Christina sees in Francis and why she enjoys talking to him.

Later into the film, Christina will also talk to Thomas (Don McKellar, Last Night, eXistenZ), a very shy gay pet shop owner who smuggles exotic eggs into Canada. But before she does Thomas will befriend Francis when he begins auditing his business after his latest trip to Asia. Thomas will also have a casual encounter with a handsome black man who might be interested in his illegal business.

As the film progresses the relationships between the different characters become very complicated, at one point even borderline confusing. Past and present frequently overlap to reveal different relationships that also have important roles in the giant puzzle Exotica is.

Eventually, however, Egoyan aligns the scattered pieces and everything begins to make perfect sense. It is all done in such a brilliant fashion that the viewer is essentially forced to go back and reevaluate every single character, from the tax inspector to the pregnant club owner.

As is always the case with Egoyan’s films, the atmosphere is fantastic. Light, shadow, color, and soothing music are used to create a David Lynch-esque world in which anything could happen. Needless to say, as much as Exotica is a film that tells a fascinating story it is also a feast for the senses.

Greenwood and Kirshner are both spectacular, but Koteas and Khanjian are equally impressive. McKellar’s subtle performance also leaves a lasting impression. A very young Sarah Polley has a small but very important role in the film as well.

Exotica was lensed by Egoyan’s longtime cinematographer Paul Sarossy. The two have collaborated on many of the Canadian director's very best films (Felicia's Journey, Where the Truth Lies, Ararat, The Sweet Hereafter, and The Adjuster).

The film’s fantastic soundtrack was created by Oscar-winning composer Mychael Danna (Mira Nair’s Monsoon Wedding, Ang Lee’s Life of Pi, Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris’ Little Miss Sunshine). Also used in the film is Leonard Cohen’s beautiful song “Everybody Knows”.

Exotica Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Presented in its original aspect ratio of 1.85:1, encoded with MPEG-4 AVC and granted a 1080p transfer, Exotica arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Criterion.

The release is sourced from a terrific exclusive new 4K master that was supervised and approved by director Atom Egoyan and director of photography Paul Sarossy. I think that the makeover is as good as it could have been.

Unfortunately, I cannot write the same about the technical presentation. Earlier tonight, I viewed the film and on my system and I could easily spot various darker areas where macroblocking begins to sneak in. Some of it is very light and is easy to ignore, but some of it is quite prominent and reminds of the anomalies that were present on the recent release of La Piscine. The good news is that it does not instantly collapse the grain, but on a larger screen the blotches that pop up can be quite distracting (you can see examples in screencaptures #5 and 13). Why is this happening? Well, this release has a lot of content -- in addition to Egoyan's film Calendar there are multiple shorts and bonus features -- so it is pretty obvious that it struggles to properly present all of it. However, even with these anomalies, I would still pick this presentation over the ones from the old Canadian and British releases of Exotica. Some of the brighter and daylight footage is so dramatically better that it almost feels like an odd veil was lifted to expose its natural strength. The entire color spectrum is also vastly superior, making both the darker club and daylight footage look much better. Image stability is outstanding. There are no age-related imperfections to report.

Initially, Calendar appeared on Blu-ray via Artificial Eye in the United Kingdom. It is the only other release I have in the film in my library. I think that Criterion's presentation of the film is extremely similar, though nowadays some of the limitations of the existing master begin to show. Regardless, the basics -- delineation, clarity, depth, and color reproduction -- remain quite good, which means that the film has an attractive organic appearance. (Note: This is a Region-A "locked" Blu-ray release. Therefore, you must have a native Region-A or Region-Free player in order to access its content).

Exotica Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

There is only one standard audio track on this Blu-ray release: English DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0. Optional English SDH subtitles are provided for the main feature.

The lossless track is outstanding. I rushed straight to the club footage where there are a couple of outstanding electronic tracks to test it, but the entire soundtrack is superb. I thought that the audio had great intensity and produced some terrific dynamic contrasts, so I would say that it is a notch better than the lossless track is present on the old Canadian release of Exotica. The dialog is very clear and clean, and remains stable throughout the entire film.

Exotica Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Atom Egoyan and Sarah Polley - in this exclusive new program, Atom Egoyan and Sarah Polley recall their collaboration on Exotica and what the film meant for them, and discuss the character Polley played as well as some of the key themes that emerge throughout the film. The program was recorded in Toronto in June 2022. In English, not subtitled. (23 min).

• Audio Commentary - director Atom Egoyan and composer Mychael Danna discuss the production history of Exotica (the entire film was shot for less than two million dollars and clearing the rights for some of the songs that are heard in the club, for instance, was not at all easy), the specific rituals seen throughout the film, the sexual overtones, the sense of "suspended moment" and its importance, the scoring of the film and the nature of the contrasting music themes, etc. The commentary was recorded in 2012.

• Calendar - Atom Egoyan directed Calendar in 1993 and we previously covered Artificial Eye's Region-B release of this film here. The film can be seen with an exclusive new video introduction by Egoyan.
  
  1. Calendar - in English, not subtitled. Dolby Digital 1.0. (94 min).
  2. Introduction - in English, not subtitled. (16 min).

• Short Films - presented here are three short films. Atom Egoyan made Peep Show in 1981. during his studies at the University of Toronto. In 1991, six of Canada's most talented directors collaborated on Montreal vu par..., a cinematic tribute to the city of Montreal on the occasion of its 350th birthday. Egoyan's contribution, En passant, conjures a Montreal where language seems to exist only as a series of symbols, signals, and signs. Artaud Double Bill is a short film made for the 2007 anthology film Chacun son cinema, commissioned for the sixth edition of the Cannes Film Festival.
  
  1. Peep Show (8 min).
  2. En passant/In Passing (20 min).
  3. Artaud Double Bill (4 min).

• Cannes, 1994 - presented here is audio content from the press conference that was held after Exotica premiered at the Cannes Film Festival in 1994. The press panel features Atom Egoyan, actors Bruce Greenwood and Arsinee Khanjian, and producer Camelia Frieberg. In English, not subtitled. (23 min).

• Leaflet - an illustrated leaflet featuring an essay by author and filmmaker Jason Wood as well as technical credits.

Exotica Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Exotica is my favorite Atom Egoyan film, so I was very much looking forward to receiving this Blu-ray release. The new 4K master that Egoyan and cinematographer Paul Sarossy supervised and approved is as gorgeous as I expected it to be, but the Blu-ray release has some issues in the video department. I must say that Calendar, which is another lovely film, should have been placed on a separate disc so that the technical presentation of Exotica is optimized as best as possible. To be completely honest, I even think that Exotica should have been made available on 4K Blu-ray as well. I am going to recommend this release because at the moment it offers the best presentation of Exotica, but the U.S. high-definition debut of this terrific film could have been more convincing. RECOMMENDED.