Passages: Film Review
Love triangles don’t get messier than the one between Franz Rogowski, Ben Whishaw and Adele Exarchopoulos in Ira Sachs‘ latest film Passages.
The film follows Tomas, a German film director living in Paris with his British husband Martin (Whishaw). Their marriage has become loveless and cold so Tomas looks so love and excitement elsewhere. Enter Agathe (Exarchopoulos): a schoolteacher he meets at a nightclub.
Passages is a fascinating and infuriating portrait of a self-destructive person who wants to have his cake and eat it too. He seems to think he can just pick up and drop lovers as he pleases. You just want to give him a shake and tell him to sort himself out. While I didn’t like him as such, he made me laugh at times because of how brutally honest he is. Also, I found his journey totally compelling and was intrigued by his complicated character.
Sachs trusts that his viewers are intelligent people who don’t need everything spelt out for them. We are dropped into the middle of Tomas and Martin’s marriage and we have to figure out their history from what’s going on in the present. Sachs gives us enough information to understand what’s going on and enjoy the story but I would have happily taken some more details.
However, there are times in the movie when Sachs actively withholds meaty dramatic conversations from us. They either take place off-screen (and you can tell because of what happens next) or the characters choose to avoid addressing the issue. It’s quite maddening. There are a couple of conversations that would have been very juicy to watch but instead, he skips ahead or gives us a tidbit. Thankfully, we do get satisfying confrontations later and the pay-off is worth it.
The only thing I knew about Passages beforehand was its sex scenes. There are quite a few and a couple are pretty full-on but they all serve the story really well. In fact, I would go so far as saying they are essential. Regarding sexuality, it’s also refreshing that nobody’s preferences are labelled or defined, they are just allowed to be whoever they are.
Rogowski is the star of the piece as the uncontrollable and insatiable Tomas, who is loud, obnoxious, selfish and brutally honest. However, his co-stars bring their A-game too. Exarchopoulos is most effective in the quieter moments when her face says everything we need to know. Whishaw’s Martin buries his head in the sand and avoids addressing issues because he feels very vulnerable. He eventually learns to stand up and advocate for himself and it’s so satisfying to watch.
There are certain scenes I would have liked in this film, but despite that niggle, Passages is still a terrific movie with three excellent performances.
In cinemas from Friday 1st September