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Why are Egoyan's movies so completely unintelligible?


With the one exception of "The Sweet Hereafter" all Atom Egoyan's movies are a series of random scenes with no underlying narrative or direction. Watchable, they are. Interpretable or decipherable, they are not.

Most irritating that he feels he needs to be so obscure. Surely it isn't necessary? Is he perhaps under the impression that audiences will mistake chaos for genius?

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I wouldn't say this about ALL of Egoyan's films, although they are generally mysterious and cryptic. I think EXOTICA explains far more than some of his other films-- it just doesn't give you all the information up front.

In fact, what I love about EXOTICA is that in the beginning, it makes the viewer assume things about the characters, based on their actions, that turn out to be wrong. We only learn the truth about most of the characters as the film unfolds. Yes, there is a little misdirection on Egoyan's part, but it's never overwhelming. Almost all the characters turn out to be more sympathetic than we originally imagined them.

It's a puzzle, not chaos. Most of the pieces fit together; a few are missing. But I found it clever (if not genius).

The war is not meant to be won... it is meant to be continuous.

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yes, perhaps I am being too hard on him. I do enjoy his movies, I just find them incredibly frustrating. "The Adjuster", for example, makes no sense whatsoever. What he does well, of course, is the crafting of striking imagery.

Maybe I am just too stupid to understand them. That's perfectly possible.

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I don't think you're stupid at all, because if you really were, you wouldn't entertain that as a possibility.

"The Adjuster" is certainly Egoyan's most cryptic film, perhaps bordering on unintelligible (which is not to say it's not a good film). I'd say most of his films are heavily nuanced and rather confusingly plotted at first glance. I don't generally understand his films completely at first, but after I watch them repeatedly, they all fall into place. There aren't many filmmakers to whom I am willing to devote that degree of attention.

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People who accept the possibility of being stupid tend to be not stupid. Certitude is rather the defining characteristic of the stupid.

People who don't like their beliefs being laughed at shouldn't have such funny beliefsī²

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I don't find Egoyan's films to be particularly "unintelligible". I mean they aren't like 'Eraserhead' or 'Naked Lunch'.
Egoyan films may be cryptic and hard to decipher, but if you look closer the answer(s) is always there. 'Exotica' provides an explanation that unfolds slowly during the whole movie. It's just a matter of paying attention to details.
I could say the same about 'Speaking Parts', 'Ararat', 'The Sweet Hereafter', or 'Adoration'. Egoyan doesn't makes puzzles impossible to resolve, he simply relies on the intelligence of the audience in order to find the answers.
Let's say he's somewhere in the middle between Lynch and Spielberg-George Lucas.

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Well, maybe so. I love Lynch's films. Even the completely uninterpretable ones such as "Inland Empire". So maybe it's suprising that I find Egoyan so obscure.

Jodorowsky I love too. Just watched Santa Sangre again after a very long time. Even better than I remembered.

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Why are Egoyan's movies so completely unintelligible?


Funny because that's pretty much what i think of Lynch. On the other hand, i don't think Exotica was that unintelligible. Pretty much everything becomes clear at the end and the few questions left unanswered just add spice to the movie, as for me.

I have only seen this movie of Egoyan's, so i can't judge about the rest, but i have watched Jodorowsky's Holy Mountain for the first time maybe a week ago and it showed me that unintelligibility isn't a hindrance to greatness. Haven't seen Santa Sangre though.

To each his own obviously.


People who don't like their beliefs being laughed at shouldn't have such funny beliefsī²

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I have only seen "Exotica" but I am now plannning to see the rest of Egoyan's films. I didn't think that "Exotica" is unintelligible either, I just think that the events were unfolding piece by piece and that you needed to pay attention to the actors' subtle reactions and the atmosphere of each scene in order to find the answers to some of the questions.

On the contrary, I found that the weakest part of the film was when it became too explanatory, which is when (SPOILERS) we learn the details of Francis' backstory, about his brother having an affair with his wife and the wife getting killed in a car accident. I don't think that this information was necessary in order for us to understand why Francis was depressed and broken. It could have been left out of the film and still the actions of Francis would make sense.

On the other hand, Christina's backstory was presented much more subtly and effectively: in the final flashback scene, it is implied that she has some sort of troubles at home (possibly and abusive family?), but the fact that it is left obscure is more powerful in my opinion.

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The story is not told in chronological order. That doesn't mean it's unintelligible.

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