The Loss Of Sexual Innocence *1/2
rated R Sony Pictures Classics starring Julian Sands, Saffron Burrows, Stefano Dionisi, Gina McKee, Kelly MacDonald, Femi Ogumbanjo, Jonathan Rhys-Meyers, Hanne Klintoe written and directed by Mike Figgis
As much as I hate to say it, Mike Figgis has only made one film worth seeing. That film was the gritty, heartbreaking drama "Leaving Las Vegas". And as I look back at it, the performances of Nicolas Cage and Elisabeth Shue carried a film that was merely above average. His second post-"Vegas" film(after the awful "One Night Stand") is the plotless, narcissistic and dull "Loss Of Sexual Innocence".
"The Loss Of Sexual Innocence" is essentially a series of unrelated moments in the life of Nic, a British filmmaker. The stories are supposedly autobiographical, and if that's true, then I have learned things about Figgis that I'm better off not knowing. The moments in Nic's life are pointlessly intercut with scenes of a modern Adam and Eve.
The irony of the film is that we see Nic in so many stages of life, yet at the end we still know almost nothing about him. I happen to think that Mike Figgis was just being self-important by intercutting scenes of Adam and Eve and flashing titles across the screen before each new segment, so if there's any subtlety to be found, I didn't see it.
If there is anything redeeming about "The Loss Of Sexual Innocence", it is Benoit Delhomme's lucid cinematography. There is something subtle about his own work, even though it can't add any depth to a shallow film. And what is with the title? This is not a term paper. The best that can be said about the film is that it's unconventional, but conventionality may have made this an interesting character study.
There are certain filmmakers who can turn narcissism into a fine art, as Vincent Gallo did in last year's excellent "Buffalo '66". Mike Figgis, however, needs to learn that while independent film is about our own visions, it is also about how we present those visions on film. If Mike Figgis stares at a house for five minutes, that doesn't mean it needs to be translated onto a reel. Where "Leaving Las Vegas" was compassionate, "The Loss Of Sexual Innocence" is selfish. What a disappointment.
a review by Akiva Gottlieb, The Teenage Movie Critic akiva@excite.com http://www.angelfire.com/mo/film
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