Passages

Passages by Ira Sachs

I lived in Paris as a student. I was beyond British in my time. Some surreal moments, some scary ones, mostly centred around not knowing the language and adapting to a different sense of sensibility around me. In many waBeingant was like being a performer, not in the idea of me being on display. But also in the sort of wry affectatious way, one is expected to be so cool with everything and everyone around them. Sometimes, you have your boundaries and self-esteem, and self-esteem doesn’t want to look soft. Until you end up cutting things off, and then people complain you’re the villain. I say people; I mean men. 

This is a film about a toxic man. Of the traits that are not singular to men, but somehow they get away with within any country of patriarchy, which is all of them. The ability to bully and abuse others while scrambling and vrvaryingictim when called on is a singular trait I loathe. With a complete, frank, and genuine sense of that man in Tomas, this would always be a stickler for me.

There is much to be said about how sexually explicit this film is. It’s never gratuitous and emphasises how cinema is changing its gaze, but it shows the emotional connections with the physical and how Tomas can abuse that for their self-worth. Ben Winshaw plays such a heartfelt and affectionate partner. You can’t help but root for him to move on and find a new beau. Sometimes, the promise of a solid relationship for him is too teasing.

Agathe is played with the similar disaffection Tomas exhibits, but sadly, it is the most under-written of the three. The film gives her children as a teacher and makes her a child with her parents’ involvement; she could have so much more on screen, and the dynamic doesn’t hold. Yes, she has left a dullard of a boyfriend for Tomas, but there’s never any sense of agency within her dreams outside the most facile.

It’s a shame that a film that has, on one level, broken so many precedents in mainstream movies in its depictions of relationships and ripples. From the Rita Sue and Bob to the Jules et Jim days. But it can’t get over an almost European cliche of filmmaking where every third word is another sentence or judgment.

The actors are fantastic and bold in these roles, giving them subtle nuance. The sex scenes also outre and push the envelope for many films. But the story itself felt too flat to sustain the 90-minute sojourn.

It is ultimately dated in its own way. To be viewed on channel four, when dads upstairs, and with a red triangle in the top right corner.