Passages (French/English)

This film attempts to explore the complexities of human relationships and the fluidity of sexual orientation. It s a brutal, almost realistic take on messy modern relationship with twist of sexual fluidity adding more to the complication of the relationships. From the very first scene of the film we are given to believe that our lead Tomas obsessive need for control without compromise: offering detail-orientated notes that quickly become demeaning. For cinephiles, they would know what to expect of the characters behaviour going forward.

Tomas is a film director married to his husband Martin who have known each other for 5 years. At the wrap part you his film, Martin goes back home since he is tired and Tomas ends up dancing with Agathe, a French schoolteacher with a beautiful face and a bright, inquisitive nature. The night ends in them both having sex. The next day when he reaches him, he casually tells his husband that he had sex with a woman whose reaction is subdued saying “This always happens when you finish a film,” he retorts. “You just forget.” Sadly, things are worse now. Tomas starts seeing Agathe and as you would expect his relationship with Martin starts to fail. Soon Tomas moves in with her and Martin tries to move on with a. Budding writer who he had recently met. But Tomas won't give in on his eccentric ways and he still wants Martin in his life finding opportunities to be with him and to have sex with him, leaving Martin also very confused. When Agathe becomes pregnant, Tomas convinces Martin that they should be together since this is the only way they can ever have a family and kids which they always wanted. A native Martin agrees to it. But Agathe is no fool. She soon realizes that the regrowing fondness between Tomas and Martin is not going to be good for her. She gets an abortion , but Tomas purposely never tells Martin about it. When Martin finds out, he realizes how big of a fool he was and finally he breaks up for good with Tomas, who goes back to Agathe pleading sorry for his behaviour, but thankfully the girl knows better. Tomas is left all to himself.

Tomas has got to be one of the messiest characters written. A person who thinks more like it's my way or highway. He likes to be in control and as per his convenience fall in and out of love with both Martin and Agathe.  In contrast, Martin and Agathe are both heart-breaking characters: fully aware of how Tomas is about to hurt them but repeatedly drawn into his orbit regardless. To be honest, while all this messiness is happenig, we are drawn to Tomas despite the emotional devastation he wreaks, maybe because we sense something of ourselves in him. We may not want to admit it, but I do have a string feeling about it. The film is about love and also equally about sex without making it a love story.  The extended sex scene between the male characters Tomas and Martin are filmed entirely from behind which makes it weirdly voyeuristic as if you were watching from a doorway. The camera knows whose pleasure it wants to capture, and what that says about the power, assurance, or desirability these people actually seek through sex. Ben Whishaw (an amazing actor and someone whom I really look forward to watching his work) is really great in portrayal of Martin, a man so much in love with his husband, knowing very well his faults is heartbreaking and so is the actress playing Agathe. It’s a captivating tale of self-immolation, born from both a fear of, and a consuming need for, intimacy. One other things that stand out in the film are the costumes. They are somehow representative of the characters, their choices and there mental thought process around feeling free or in control.

Passages as a whole film really grapples with the notion of choice. Whether or not the right choice is made feels secondary on some level to the very idea that we have a choice in the first place. It's an interesting depiction of modern day fucked up relationships, in which tone honest, I do not feel that I have the right to judge anyone for their actions. Sometimes people are who they are and behave the way they do. (8/10)