Atom Egoyan has always been bold in dealing with erotic scenes, and this time the adaptation of the script is Erin Cressida Wilson, the two really hit it off. Ms. Wilson once wrote "Secretary Strange Love" (also translated: Merry Boss Qiao Secretary), this is the most bizarre SM story I have seen in mainstream movies, and it opened up a whole new horizon for me. Because of the playwright’s previous work, I found that the most critical part of her adaptation of "Nathalie" is to reverse the power structure of all the characters. Catherine in "Chloe" has become a lust teacher who has completely lost control. One of the causes of Chloe's tragedy is that she transcends the boundaries of trading and excessively promotes her desire for dominance. The motives and attitudes of the characters in the new and old versions of the character
reorganization are
like the gap between the north and the south. The husband Bernard in "Nathalie" is a businessman. He has really cheated on him. He admits infidelity but avoids communication. He doesn't want to mention the affair in every scene. Katharine wants to find someone to seduce her husband and understand how he faces temptation. Although she feels anger and grievance in her elegant heart, she has no self-pity.
The calm Katharine controls all the initiative. She didn't feel that she was old and unloved, and she was full of self-confidence. He even hooked up with a young bartender and used an affair to cure her husband's infidelity. When her husband was on the bed several times suggesting the meaning of begging for pleasure, Katharine turned around gracefully on purpose.
She has a son who is in puberty, and she hasn't seen her worry about the problem of his son and his girlfriend having sex at home. But Bernard couldn't help complaining about his son's messy hair once.
Before Katharine chose Marilyn, the two had never seen each other, which made it even more surprising. She is the creator of Natalie, named her, directed her actions, and rented a house for her. Although the ending is a big irony, Kathleen seems to be directing the overall situation all the way, but it is Marilyn's own script behind her back.
I always think that Katharine is a standard heterosexual physically, but she is unconsciously attracted to Marilyn mentally. They were awkward for the second time, but Katharine took the initiative to look back to Marilyn and reconcile.
The two women went from sharing Bernard’s secrets to sharing each other’s lives as allies. Katharine gradually understood that Marilyn worked in a beauty shop during the day, and she wanted to get away from sex work. Marilyn was also invited to be a guest at Katharine's mother's house. Their relationship is not just underground trading. When Bernard in turn suspected that Katharine had an affair, she replied: "It's been a good week, so to speak." The
director concealed Marilyn's sexual orientation, which is better than the way Sarah Waters writes Affinity. The closest moment to the mystery was when she took Katharine to Gay Bar to have fun. She said that she had no boyfriend and everyone in the store knew this regular customer. Marilyn has no obvious emotions, and always suppresses feelings. Had it not been for the incident in the east window, the audience would have heard Marilyn's confession. But looking back and savoring the context of the film, under her indifferent expression, it turns out that those gazes are all helpless longing.
In "Chloe", the husband David becomes a professor and likes to say a few more words with young women. He was not actually unfaithful, but he was suspected of being unfaithful. He may still love his wife, but when he meets a skin close, he takes the initiative to dodge under the pretext of work, which makes Katharine suspicious and thinks she is old and faint.
Katharine seeks someone to seduce her husband, on the one hand to verify her speculation, on the other hand, she wants to know what tricks those women use to attract her husband's attention. I really can't accept Katharine finally confessed to her husband that all the middle-aged crisis is out of insecurity.
The hostess of "Nathalie" looked calm and calm about her husband's affair log, and "Chloe" became an abandoned woman, tearing her nose and tears at her husband's appearance outside. Katharine was still an old mother with no status in the family, and her son would just slam the door at her, not giving her a good face. When the couple quarreled, the son still protested to her, you have no right to tell me to hide in the room. Not only him, but Chloe, who takes the money to do things, is also resisting. There is a reason to make people just leave.
From the very beginning, the screenwriter asked Katharine to notice Chloe from the high clinic, and also asked Chloe to show her affection for Katharine in the bathroom. When Katharine entered the hotel and Chloe came to sit on the stage, we probably all guessed that the two would develop an unusual relationship, just wondering why? Oedipus complex is the biggest failure of the script. It's not that lesbians don't have Oedipus complex, but that the screenwriter seems to be casual.
Xiao Nizi seems to be a high-level prostitute who runs solo. She uses Chloe from start to finish to declare her self-awareness. Don't be fooled by her opening monologue, saying that you are all the fantasies of acting as a master and being able to serve customers. In the end, what she tries hardest is to satisfy her desires.
She is the initiative and the dominator between the beds. Although Katharine unbuttoned Chloe first, it was Xiao Nizi who took over and promoted the game. She is the giver who pleases Katharine, and when she copulates with Katharine's son, she transforms into a taker in the upper position, and she is not allowed to touch her. The movie tragedy laid the foundation for Chloe’s uncompromising desire for control, and she had no way to stop her exit, so she had to end it with self-destruction.
Why does this version of Katharine have sex with Chloe? One of the reasons is that she is not like a bartender in "Nathalie" as a vent channel. The film’s Kathleen is attracted to Chloe both mentally and physically, and her desire for intimacy, sexual desire and youth. But such a desire is full of fear, and she realizes it herself, so she often feels uncomfortable being close to Chloe. In addition, Katharine is a weak person, and when she encounters Chloe who is deliberate, she has only the fate of being knocked down.
The communication dilemma of alienation from the illusion
In addition to ideology is ridiculous, I have to admit that its lens language is delicate, and the art design is very textured, allowing the film to maintain a considerable degree of viewing. The most prominent achievement of "Chloe" is to describe the communication dilemma of the characters. Whether it is virtual contact with technology or out of context in the real world, it is more refined than the original version.
Glass and mirrors often appear in the scenes of "Chloe". The large transparent glass in Katharine's home and clinic trapped the heroine inside. The glass greenhouses appearing in the ice and snow in the Northland are the best footnotes like a dream. The director constantly uses a lot of mirror images that are repeatedly reflected, implying that one-sided images are not the truth.
Technology products provide multiple virtual communication channels, but for Katharine, it is the isolation between people. For example, when the husband chats online happily, he quickly closes the window when he sees his wife entering the door. The son talked about breaking up with his girlfriend on the video, and the mother was also forbidden to enter.
Chloe provided Katharine with the warmth of having a long conversation face to face. However, the power of her use of technology is shocking, and the screen of each text message represents control over and over again. She indicated that she did not love the Internet, but relying on Katharine's son's web page to find another way to invade.
Finally, Chloe kept mentioning authenticity. Yes, she provides real sensory contact: auditory, taste, smell, touch. But all perception is not to establish truth, but to strengthen illusion. The scene after sex in a restaurant is the most classic example.
Chloe is good at using objects to spread her influence, and the fragrance of the cream indirectly proves her ability to attract attention. But the starting points of the two movie versions are quite different. Kathleen of "Nathalie" happily turned it into her own brand, which made Bernard feel unbearable. "Chloe" Katharine's little cream on her hand only caught David's attention for a few seconds, and she was so angry that Katharine looked back to Chloe. In addition to cream, what other skills should he use with it?
To cite a few more examples of differences: the day after Chloe and Katharine’s skin relationship, Xiao Nizi gave a lot of flowers, hoping that the other party could smell the flowers, which is a bit of a symbol of reminiscence of yesterday. The interpretation of "Nathalie" is very special. Katharine heard that the created Natalie had a climax in the task, she was more pleased for Natalie than angry Bernard, so she bought a lot of flowers for home decoration the next day.
There are deliberately leftover meals in the hotel room. Katharine of "Chloe" chose a cup with lip prints to drink the rest of the wine, which is Katharine's desire to show. In "Nathalie", Marilyn poured a glass of wine to Kathleen, "Drink with my glass", that is Marilyn's desire to show.
The hairpins that constantly appeared in "Chloe" did not appear in "Nathalie". It has different meanings to Chloe and Katharine. Hairpin is both Chloe's love and her hatred. When she liked Katharine, she offered her sleek side and asked for acceptance. When she resented Katharine, she hurt her with an acute angle upside down. Too strong feelings are easy to love and hate.
Some people say that Katharine wears a hairpin at the end of the film because she is obsessed with Chloe. There is a bit of such a taste, but the psychology of compensation occupies a greater part. But I think it also implies that she is safe and secure. I still remember their husband and wife having a dinner with another couple. The male friend told Katharine that his hair was old and his long hair was attractive. Katharine hurried to the bathroom to put down her long hair.
The end of the film was supposed to be a joyous graduation banquet for the son, but it was overwhelmed with the smell of funeral. The three people looked at each other from a distance, with strong smiles on their faces. Katharine put on the hairpin and tied up her long hair. She no longer has to worry about lack of attractiveness, is it because she has regained her confidence? Or does she never dare to radiate attraction anymore? I tend to be the latter. Hairpin is a "tightening curse" on my head, always reminding myself not to enter.
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