The Comfort Of Strangers (film)
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''The Comfort of Strangers'' is a 1990 psychological thriller film directed by
Paul Schrader Paul Joseph Schrader (; born July 22, 1946) is an American screenwriter, film director, and film critic. He first became known for writing the screenplay of Martin Scorsese's ''Taxi Driver'' (1976). He later continued his collaboration with Scor ...
, and starring
Christopher Walken Christopher Walken (born Ronald Walken; March 31, 1943) is an American actor. Christopher Walken on stage and screen, His work on stage and screen has earned him List of awards and nominations received by Christopher Walken, accolades includin ...
,
Rupert Everett Rupert James Hector Everett (; born 29 May 1959) is an English actor. He first came to public attention in 1981 when he was cast in Julian Mitchell's play and subsequent film '' Another Country'' (1984) as a gay pupil at an English public scho ...
, Natasha Richardson, and
Helen Mirren Dame Helen Mirren (; born Ilyena Lydia Vasilievna Mironov; 26 July 1945) is an English actor. With a career spanning over six decades of Helen Mirren on screen and stage, screen and stage, List of awards and nominations received by Helen Mirre ...
. The screenplay by
Harold Pinter Harold Pinter (; 10 October 1930 – 24 December 2008) was a British playwright, screenwriter, director and actor. A List of Nobel laureates in Literature, Nobel Prize winner, Pinter was one of the most influential modern British dramat ...
was adapted from the 1981 novel of the same name by
Ian McEwan Ian Russell McEwan (born 21 June 1948) is a British novelist and screenwriter. In 2008, ''The Times'' featured him on its list of "The 50 greatest British writers since 1945" and ''The Daily Telegraph'' ranked him number 19 in its list of the ...
. It was screened out of competition at the 1990 Cannes Film Festival.


Plot

Unmarried English couple Colin and Mary are vacationing in
Venice Venice ( ; ; , formerly ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto Regions of Italy, region. It is built on a group of 118 islands that are separated by expanses of open water and by canals; portions of the city are li ...
for a second time. As they meander through the city visiting landmarks, they are surreptitiously photographed by a stranger. Over dinner, Mary questions Colin as to whether he likes her two children, whom she conceived during her last marriage. While wandering through the streets, the couple gets lost. They encounter Robert, an elegant British-Italian man who offers to take them to his bar. Over several bottles of wine, Robert regales the couple with intimate, bizarre details of his life, including stories about his sadistic father, an Italian
diplomat A diplomat (from ; romanization, romanized ''diploma'') is a person appointed by a state (polity), state, International organization, intergovernmental, or Non-governmental organization, nongovernmental institution to conduct diplomacy with one ...
, as well as cruel pranks his younger sisters played on him during his childhood. He also recounts how he met his wife, Caroline, the daughter of a
Canadian Canadians () are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of their being ''C ...
diplomat. Colin and Mary attempt to return to their hotel after their night with Robert, but become lost. Mary suffers a
migraine Migraine (, ) is a complex neurological disorder characterized by episodes of moderate-to-severe headache, most often unilateral and generally associated with nausea, and light and sound sensitivity. Other characterizing symptoms may includ ...
and the two end up sleeping on the streets. At dawn, the couple awaken and visit a cafe in the square at
St Mark's Basilica The Patriarchal Cathedral Basilica of Saint Mark (), commonly known as St Mark's Basilica (; ), is the cathedral church of the Patriarchate of Venice; it became the episcopal seat of the Patriarch of Venice in 1807, replacing the earlier cath ...
. There, Mary expresses unease and wishes to abort their vacation. The two are again met by Robert, who apologizes after learning the couple slept on the street. He offers to have them over for a meal at his home, which they accept. The three are taken by a
water taxi A water taxi or a water bus is a boat used to provide public transport, public or private transport, usually, but not always, in an Urban area, urban environment. Service may be scheduled with multiple stops, operating in a simil ...
to Robert's spacious,
Moorish The term Moor is an exonym used in European languages to designate the Muslim populations of North Africa (the Maghreb) and the Iberian Peninsula (particularly al-Andalus) during the Middle Ages. Moors are not a single, distinct or self-defi ...
-styled apartment, and the couple take a nap. They awaken and are met by Caroline. She tells them Robert has left to work at his bar, and offers Mary food. As Mary spends time with Caroline, she notices that she appears to have a back injury. Caroline confesses to having looked in on the couple while they were sleeping, and remarks their beauty. When Robert returns, he continues to unfurl anecdotes about his domineering father and grandfather. When Colin insults Robert in the library, Robert punches him in the stomach. Colin does not tell Mary about the incident. After dinner, Colin and Mary return to their hotel, where they have passionate sex. Later, Mary has a nightmare, and upon waking, admits to Colin that she saw a photograph of him in Robert and Caroline's apartment. While the couple visit the beach later, Colin confesses to Mary how Robert hit him. Colin suggests they get married when they return to England, but Mary is now hesitant about the idea. While walking through the city, Colin and Mary stumble upon Robert and Caroline's residence by happenstance. Caroline, out on a balcony, notices them, and calls out for them to come and visit. Caroline and Robert inform the couple that they will be leaving the next day to visit Caroline's family in Canada. Robert insists Colin accompany him on a short trip to tend to his bar, to which he agrees. Caroline stays with Mary at the house, and finds the home is mostly packed. Caroline tells Mary that she and Robert plan to sell it when they return. Over tea, Caroline tells Mary her back injury stems from years of sadomasochistic sex that she and Robert engage in. Meanwhile, Robert tells Colin he is selling his bar. Colin asks Robert why he took photographs of him, but Robert continues to steer the conversation toward anecdotes relating to his family. Mary begins to suffer
vertigo Vertigo is a condition in which a person has the sensation that they are moving, or that objects around them are moving, when they are not. Often it feels like a spinning or swaying movement. It may be associated with nausea, vomiting, perspira ...
, and suspects she has been drugged. She is escorted by Caroline to a bedroom, where she finds the walls covered in photographs of Colin taken over the course of their vacation. Caroline explains that Robert has been
stalking Stalking is unwanted and/or repeated surveillance or contact by an individual or group toward another person. Stalking behaviors are interrelated to harassment and intimidation and may include following the victim in person or monitorin ...
him since the day they arrived, having passed the couple on the street. Robert and Colin return to the house, and Colin is alarmed to find Mary unable to speak. Colin attempts to get the couple to call for a doctor for Mary but they slash his throat with a razor as Mary helplessly watches. As Colin bleeds to death, Robert and Caroline embrace. Later, Mary is questioned by the Italian police before she goes to view Colin's body. As she is escorted out of the police station, Robert and Caroline are interrogated. As the detectives commence their interview with Robert, he begins telling the same story about his father.


Cast


Reception

Upon release, ''The Comfort of Strangers'' received generally mixed reviews from critics.
Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review aggregator, review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee ...
gives a rating of 54% from 24 reviews. It holds a rating of 61% on
Metacritic Metacritic is an American website that aggregates reviews of films, television shows, music albums, video games, and formerly books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created ...
from 20 reviews.
Vincent Canby Vincent Canby (July 27, 1924 – October 15, 2000) was an American film and theatre critic who was the chief film critic for ''The New York Times'' from 1969 until the early 1990s, then its chief theatre critic from 1994 until his death in 2000. ...
of the
New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...
reviewed the film positively, saying "Mr. Schrader is a director of great rigor and discipline. The movie is fascinated by the baroque behavior it observes, but without imitating it."
Roger Ebert Roger Joseph Ebert ( ; June 18, 1942 – April 4, 2013) was an American Film criticism, film critic, film historian, journalist, essayist, screenwriter and author. He wrote for the ''Chicago Sun-Times'' from 1967 until his death in 2013. Eber ...
gave the film a mixed review, rated it 2.5 stars out of 4, and said: Peter Travers of ''
Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. The magazine was first known fo ...
'' also wrote a generally positive review, commenting that "Schrader is an astute guide through the circuitous byways of sexual manipulation. His hypnotic thriller supplies intelligent pleasures as well as gruesome chills."
Slant Magazine ''Slant Magazine'' is an American online publication that features reviews of movies, music, TV, DVDs, theater, and video games, as well as interviews with actors, directors, and musicians. The site covers various film festivals like the New Yor ...
gave it 4 stars out of 5, calling it "underrated" in a more recent review. The film was released on home video by the
Criterion Collection The Criterion Collection, Inc. (or simply Criterion) is an American home-video distribution company that focuses on licensing, restoring and distributing "important classic and contemporary films". A "sister company" of arthouse film distributo ...
in 2020.


References


External links

* * *
''The Comfort of Strangers''
at the
British Film Institute The British Film Institute (BFI) is a film and television charitable organisation which promotes and preserves filmmaking and television in the United Kingdom. The BFI uses funds provided by the National Lottery to encourage film production, ...

''The Comfort of Strangers: Significant Others''
– an essay by Maitland McDonagh at
The Criterion Collection The Criterion Collection, Inc. (or simply Criterion) is an American home video, home-video distribution company that focuses on licensing, restoring and distributing "important classic and contemporary films". A "sister company" of art film, arth ...
{{DEFAULTSORT:Comfort of Strangers, The 1990 films 1990 drama films 1990s American films 1990s British films 1990s English-language films 1990s Italian films 1990s psychological drama films 1990 psychological thriller films American psychological drama films American psychological thriller films BDSM in films British psychological drama films British psychological thriller films English-language Italian films Films about vacationing Films based on British novels Films directed by Paul Schrader Films scored by Angelo Badalamenti Films set in Venice Films shot in Venice Films with screenplays by Harold Pinter Italian psychological drama films Italian psychological thriller films English-language thriller films