Exotica Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		5.0
Video		3.0
Audio		3.0
Extras		2.5
Overall		3.0

Exotica Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Dr. Svet Atanasov September 22, 2013

Winner of Best Canadian Feature Film Award at the Toronto International Film Festival, Atom Egoyan's "Exotica" (1994) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of British distributors Artificial Eye. The only supplemental feature included on this release is an archival documentary. In English, without optional English SDH subtitles for the main feature. Region-B "locked".

The club

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 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 also has a small but very important role in the film.

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 an aspect ratio of 1.78:1, encoded with MPEG-4 AVC and granted a 1080p transfer, Atom Egoyan's Exotica arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of British distributors Artificial Eye.

From all of the Atom Egoyan films Artificial Eye have released on Blu-ray, Exotica is the least impressive one. The high-definition transfer has been struck from a dated source and it clearly shows. The overwhelming majority of the footage from inside the striptease club as well as most close-ups look disappointingly soft. Due to various filtering corrections, all of which are obviously inherited, clarity is also quite inconsistent. Even during sequences with plenty of light the image often looks flat. Colors are stable but never look lush and healthy. The good news is that there are no traces of serious sharpening adjustments. Image stability is also very good. But the larger your screen is, the easier it will be for you to get distracted by the above mentioned issues. (Note: This is a Region-B "locked" Blu-ray release. Therefore, you must have a native Region-B or Region-Free PS3 or SA 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 Dolby Digital 2.0. For the record, Artificial Eue have not provided optional English SDH subtitles for the main feature.

Exotica is a film that needs a lossless track. The fantastic music that is heard throughout the film is part of the unique atmosphere. The footage from inside the club, in particular, needs the lush music to be effective. The lossy track occasionally provides the film with decent depth, but it is easy to tell that the sound could be much better. Generally speaking, the dialog is stable and relatively easy to follow. Also, there are no audio dropouts or distortions to report in this review.

Exotica Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Formulas for Seduction: The Cinema of Atom Egoyan - in this long documentary feature, director Atom Egoyan discusses the unique themes and structure of his early films, some of the key differences between the American and Canadian film industries, how he likes to interact with different actors, etc. Mr. Egoyan also mentions a very famous gift he received from Wim Wenders as well as some some of the directors whose films inspired him to step behind the camera. In English, not subtitled. (54 min).

Exotica Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Exotica is my favorite Atom Egoyan film. Unfortunately, this new Blu-ray release does not quite match the quality of Artificial Eye's previous releases of the Canadian director's early films. I am aware that there is a Region-A release of Exotica out in Canada, but I have not seen it. I will do my best to get a copy and offer a review of it as soon as possible. RENT IT.