Tiresia (2003) User Reviews

Bizarre, Impressive, Intriguing and Attractive

[claudio_carvalho · 7/10 · 29 December 2005]

Yesterday I saw "Tiresia" and I do not know what kind of magic this movie has to be so attractive. I saw six times the introduction, with the awesome allegro of Ludwig van Beethoven's Symphony No. 7 and only lava on the screen. The story is very weird, beginning with in the red light district of Paris, with many travesties, most of them Brazilian and speaking Portuguese, "working" on the street, and a sick guy wandering around the prostitutes. The strange voyeur kidnaps a Brazilian travesty and brings him home without having sex, recalling William Wyler's "The Collector". In this part, there is an explicit frontal nudity of the homosexual in a very shocking and dramatic scene but never aggressive. Then the movie becomes cruel, and the identity of the abductor is disclosed and the story has a strong plot point, like in David Lynch's "Lost Highway". Although being very irregular, this last part also hooks the attention of the viewer until the very last scene. "Tiresia" is bizarre, impressive, intriguing and attractive, but recommended for very specific audiences only. My vote is seven.

Title (Brazil): "Tiresia"

Harrowing, some Inaccuracies re: TG

[galadriel-loth · 6/10 · 10 July 2009]

***SPOILERS***

Very loosely based on the Greek myth of Tiresias, Tiresia is a non-op transgender woman and prostitute. The plot is really harrowing. Tiresia is forced into prostitution by her own brother, kidnapped by an "admirer" who is apparently a rose-loving priest, tied up, isolated, blinded by her captor having her eyes punctured with a sharp instrument, dumped and left for dead, nursed back to health (albeit permanently blind) by a young woman who eventually turns out to be an opportunist, and finally killed by the apparently-selfsame priest. Through all of this vile treatment, she tries to make the best of things. In return for her inhumane treatment, the gods grant her a gift. I don't feel this movie had much to say. It just seems to be a catalog of atrocities visited on a human being. There are some inaccuracies concerning the transgender experience - or at least she is not typical of transgender women - in that I don't believe even a blinded transgender woman would wish to have her hair cut or wish to discontinue hormones and live as male or even androgyne. It is not clear that transgender Tiresia is in fact transsexual per se, but she is constantly referred to as transsexual. (She is not a transvestite though, since she takes hormones.) The movie is haunting, and it does not demean transgender people and Tiresia will be a sympathetic character to many, if only because she is a victim who, mostly, refuses to let this define her, a person who tries to adapt.

Arty ambition gets in the way

[paulnewman2001 · 6/10 · 11 October 2005]

A slender allegory of Greek mythology's blind sex-shifting seer Tiresias, Bertrand Bonello's film might be a lot more enjoyable if it didn't strive so hard to be art.

Tiresia is a Brazilian transsexual prostitute living illegally in Paris who is kidnapped by a psychopath with poet pretensions.

Deprived of hormones, he reverts to the masculine (a female actor plays Tiresia 'before' and a male 'after'), is capriciously blinded by his captor and left for dead in remote woods. Found by a quiet country girl, Tiresia recovers and becomes a local legend after apparently transforming into an oracle with the ability to see the future.

Cutting between the two actors in the lead seems an unnecessary contrivance, but isn't as confusing as sinister Laurent Lucas playing both the abductor and the parish priest who later persecutes Tiresia (but as both have a fetish for roses, maybe they're meant to be the same person?).

A largely glacial pace and inserted footage of roiling lava rivers with excerpts of Beethoven's 7th Symphony thundering on the soundtrack signal Bonello's push for profundity but it's still an intriguing film with plenty of ideas and themes to examine.

Palme D'or Nominated Film Captures The Truth In A Myth.

[scott182-1 · 3 October 2004]

Why did this film keep me up until 6 AM this morning?? Why is this film still playing over in my head? The plot(based on a Greek mythological tale) in itself is conceptually humanistic, and decidedly modern in its themes. The plot plays out in a modest tempo, allowing the viewer to soak it all in. The film has a multitude of richness. Something shines, something shocks, something frightens, something speaks, something is seen. One of the most interesting works of cinema I have seen in a number of years, Tiresia is a challenging, disturbing yet rewarding watch. The visual language is compelling(some scenes are staged to look like an oil painting painted by Velasquez taking a surrealistic turn, others look like sketches from a Dali nightmare) but the real heart of the film beats out of the sublime performances. Brave actors who put their bodies and soul on display. Parts of the film leave you feeling voyeuristic, like watching something you know you shouldn't be but can't turn away from. Highly Recommended for those who prefer a steak of a film to a bucket of stale popcorn.

A Myth Is As Good As A Mille

[writers_reign · 5/10 · 17 July 2005]

Other than good, bad or indifferent it's difficult to classify this one. Okay, it's based on a Myth so the director needs to find modern equivalents but this still leaves unanswered questions. Number one must be why Laurent Lucas picked this particular hooker to kidnap. There's no indication that they had met previously and by extension that Laurent would know Tiresia was a pre-op transsexual. Number two, why do none of her hooker colleagues come looking for her and/or report her missing; given the precarious nature of sex-with-strangers it's reasonable to suppose that hookers write down and/or memorise the numbers of the cars they and their colleagues get into. Number three, where does Lucas get his money? He appears to have no job yet lives in a large several storey house - albeit dilapidated - and drives a car without a visible source of income. To these can be added others such as what, if any symbolic meaning has the hedgehog in Laurent's garden which he is constantly feeding and why - other than the fact that it fits the original myth - does he opt to blind Tiresia rather than killing her outright or breaking say an arm or a leg. Then we can throw in why does Laurent double the role of a priest in the second half of the film. Though I kept watching til the end these and other questions punctuated the viewing throughout, not the best sign for a filmmaker whose objective surely is to make you forget you're watching a film.

astonishing

[digiroud · 10/10 · 28 April 2006]

I'll never forget this movie I've seen with my boyfriend by chance, one night, on cable TV. Beginning with the highest symphony ever made (Beethoven's 7th), a burning volcano, then the cold and frightening voice of Lucas (one of the best french actors)...you just have to let yourself go in this symphonic movie, in between calm and tough unexpected moments of violence. So you stay nervous till the end, and even if you know a part of the key of the mystery before its end, it doesn't matter, as the actors keep you under their control. I wont tell more about this piece of pure art, to keep its secret. Just watch it, no matter where and how !

Snailpaced and Pretentious

[artwk · 2/10 · 21 July 2006]

This is one of the most incompetently directed movies I have ever struggled through. The subject material is worthwhile, and it could and should have been a good movie.

Unfortunately, again and again, scenes that have little point, for example Anna simply walking up a street, are filmed at some length, while important points in the plot , which ought to have been given some space, appear to have finished up on the cutting-room floor, so that the continuity is a shambles.

The street-walking scenes in the Bois de Boulogne near the beginning go on and on, as do the early scenes of Tiresia's captivity, and are so tedious that the first time I tried to watch the film I gave up out of sheer boredom. When the film was re-screened on TV I managed to watch it all the way through, but only by fast-forwarding through the scenes where absolutely nothing was happening, or where the same information was given over and over, such as Tiresia's explanations about her/his precognition.

The two roles (or it is one?) played by the male lead appear to have many viewers confused. Some commentators wonder why he played two roles, whereas others, like myself, took it that the abductor and priest were the same person. I did wonder why Tiresia failed to recognise him (and vice versa?) but I accepted that as just one more clumsy error in a pretentiously bad script.

Given a better script, a competent director and a professional editor, this could have been a film worth watching.

Dark, fearless, haunting, impressive

[DJMrB · 8/10 · 20 October 2003]

VERY MINOR SPOILERS

I am excited for two reasons - first, having moved to France I can now drown myself in French cinema. Secondly, this may be the first time that I have been the first to comment on a movie for IMDB. I might even actually be convincing you cinema-goers out there to see a film that I liked. How wonderfully,innocently exciting.

And, yes - I am trying to persuade you to see this film. Watching Tiresia is not an easy Sunday night at your local multiplex, but it is a good film.

Shocking, disturbing, horrifying in places, Tiresia is suberbly acted by a strong cast, with special note to both actors in the eponymous role. In places the camerawork is a little shoddy but this is easily overcome with dramatic set pieces and chilling imagery that will leave you with nightmares for weeks. Trust me.

Tiresia, the story, is of a transexual prostitute who is captured and brutally stabbed, to survive and rebuild what remains of this character's seemingly hopeless existence. However the beauty in this film is not to be found in its story, but in the incredible transformation of Tiresia. Without wishing to reveal too much, watch carefully as the director forces us to see Tiresia change.

I highly recommend this film, although you rednecks and scousers out there (you know who u are)might not find it at your local cinema. Hunt it down where you can. 8/10

Visually stunning and shot well.

[rjfromtoronto · 8/10 · 9 January 2023]

So watching this you ask many questions, why did he kidnap Tiresia? What was his motive? In the end I deduced he was just a sick man who likes to observe and gain trust before he lashes out and destroys that that entertains him. The Hedgehog was a metaphor for what he was capable of, watch, feed, observe, and when he tires of you? He's a twisted sick man, the depressing tone of the movie parallels his and Tiresia's pain and outsider status. It's funny how he has to kill or think he killed and T has to be savaged and blinded to come to terms with who they really are and what their calling in life is. Then they meet again, how Tiresia doesn't recognize his voice is beyond me, he had her locked up for weeks at least and was a bit psychic, or maybe he/she did know amd ignored it because life was better as a blind sage who was looked after. And how he just stumbles on this village is again a stretch if he wasn't a father while imprisoning her, are we supposed to believe he is anyone other than who he is? Other reviews suggest it's a different character, but isn't it funny he runs the male version of Tiresia over at the end if so?? There's two crazy people running around the same countryside or one mad Padre, I think he dumped his victim(s) there because he is familiar with the place and works there, he just didn't expect to find her alive when he came back from his absence or sabbatical and decided to finish off the threat realizing T is a clairvoyant or gifted. All in all a cinematographic masterpiece in the use of light and shadows, like a Carravaggio painting. The plot was weak, the premise was weak and I know nothing about Greek mythology so can't comment on that side. Worth a watch for the visuals and interesting cast, other than that? Watch Chocolate for the visuals and story line if you want big scale 80s independent cinema or Manon Of The Spring from the 90s instead, the latter being french language with great cinematography as well as a decent story.