The Comfort of Strangers (1990)

An English couple holiday in Venice to sort out their relationship. There is some friction and distance between them, and we also sense they are being watched. One evening, they lose their ... See full summary »

Director:

Paul Schrader

Writers:

Ian McEwan (novel), Harold Pinter (screenplay)

Stars:

Christopher Walken, Rupert Everett, Natasha Richardson

1 win.

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Christopher Walken	...	Robert
Rupert Everett	...	Colin
Natasha Richardson	...	Mary
Helen Mirren	...	Caroline
Manfredi Aliquo	...	Concierge
David Ford	...	Waiter
Daniel Franco	...	Waiter
Rossana Canghiari	...	Hotel Maid
Fabrizio Castellani	...	Bar Manager
Mario Cotone	...	Detective
Giancarlo Previati	...	First Policeman
Antonio Serrano	...	Second Policeman

Storyline

An English couple holiday in Venice to sort out their relationship. There is some friction and distance between them, and we also sense they are being watched. One evening, they lose their way looking for a restaurant, and a stranger invites them to accompany him. He plies them with wine and grotesque stories from his childhood. They leave disoriented, physically ill, and morally repelled. But, next day, when the stranger sees them in the piazza, they accept an invitation to his sumptuous flat. After this visit, the pair find the depth to face questions about each other, only to be drawn back into the mysterious and menacing fantasies of the stranger and his mate.

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Plot Keywords:

stranger | wine | restaurant | marriage | venice italy | 

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Taglines:

A story of passionate obsession.

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Genres:

Drama | Thriller

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for obsessive and perverse sexuality

Details

Country:

USA Italy UK

Language:

English

Release Date:

April 1991 (USA)

Also Known As:

Cortesie per gli ospiti

Filming Locations:

Italy

Box Office

Gross:

$1,244,381 (USA)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Erre Produzioni, Rank Organisation, The, Reteitalia

Technical Specs

Runtime:

107 min

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Did You Know?

Quotes

Robert: Let me tell you something: My father was a very big man. And all his life he wore a black mustache. When it was no longer black, he used a small brush, such as ladies use for their eyes. Mascara.

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Connections

References Don't Look Now (1973)

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Soundtracks

"PER UN BACIO D'AMOR"
by Corrado Lojacono and 5 Menestrelli

User Reviews

Chilling...

This Paul Shrader movie is a 'must see' for anyone who's enjoyed 'Don't look now' by Nicholas Roeg. Once again we're back in Venice where decadence, decay and danger seem to lurk in every ill-lit corner. Just barely hiding from our eyes, but omni-present in the atmosphere.

We see Colin and Mary, a not-so-young and not-so-happy couple that have come back to Venice to decide whether or not to continue their relationship. The only plausible question to that answer seems to be a sound NO, until they meet Robert and Helen, an older couple living in a palazzo at the Grand Canal. Robert and Helen are weird, to say the least. Their marriage being a perverted mixture of violence and lust. Robert (Christopher Walken) could be a character from a James Purdy novel: a closeted mucho macho gay man who can only satisfy his need to be physically close to another man through violence. Masochistic Helen is not at all the victim she seems to be.

But who are the real perverts here? The clearly kinky older couple or their younger 'friends', that can't seem to stop having sex after their unsettling encounters? No need to tell that there can be no happy ending to this tale.

The Comfort of Strangers is a work of art. The chilling atmosphere is tangible, the characters are very convincing, the dialogue by Harold Pinter is multi-layered and the plot is slowly moving to its inevitable conclusion without the interference of a weak-hearted writer.

It makes you think about the million different methods people use to keep their lovelives alive. The movie also is a very brutal way of saying that nothing in life comes for free. By exaggerating the price Colin and Mary have to pay, Shrader seems to make us want to think about the more ordinary prices we pay in matters of fidelity, lust and love.