A COUCH IN NEW YORK 1998
A film review by Timothy Voon
Copyright 1998 Timothy Voon
2 :-( :-( for psychology gone wrong
Directed by Chantal Akerman Cast: Juliette Binoche, William Hurt, Stephanie Buttle, Barbara Garrick, Paul Guilfoyle Written by Chantal Akerman, Jean-Louis Benoît
Ever felt the need to just pick and leave. To simply forget about your job and where you live, the daily problems that hound you and the responsibilities that ground you. So why not post an advertisement in lets say Paris, ‘Apartment for exchange' for one in New York? No nosey personal questions, discretion is important, as long as you look after the place – it's yours for a short holiday.
So when a famous psychoanalyst, Henry Harriston (William Hurt), decides he needs a change of pace, he swaps his apartment for one in Paris - one that belongs to free spirited, Beatrice Saulnier (Juliette Binoche). When he decides to drop by home for a visit, he finds that Beatrice is counselling all his male patients, with better success than himself. He is so mesmerised by this mysterious woman with an ‘aura', that he decides to become one of her patients.
When they fall in love, one asks the question, why? They hardly know each other. She's pretending to be a psychologist, illegally accepting money from his patients, whilst he is allowing her to continue with the sick charade so he can satisfy his twisted curiosity of becoming her patient. Isn't it obviously wrong to feign illness, just because you find the doctor ‘fascinating'? Or has it been made acceptable, just because this is a movie and one can live out their love-deprived-twisted-Freudian-fantasies on screen?
With this major flaw aside, Juliette Binoche carries with her a glowing, care-freeness which is refreshing, whilst William Hurt (who speaks French well) lumbers about like a book worm needing to get laid. The ending is as empty and awkward as two strangers standing on a balcony, proclaiming the words ‘I love you', just because that's how the fantasy is meant to end.
Timothy Voon e-mail: stirling@netlink.com.au Movie Archives http://us.imdb.com/M/reviews_by?Tim+Voon Hugues Bouclier's Movies in Melbourne http://www.labyrinth.net.au/~bouclier/week/movies.html
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