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The Comfort Of Strangers
1990
Adapted by Harold Pinter from Ian McEwan's novel, THE COMFORT OF STRANGERS follows a pair of indifferent lovers, Colin and Mary, who travel to the beautiful, romantic and mysterious Italian city of Venice to rekindle their love. As their emotionally icy relationship shows signs of thawing, the couple meets another duo: Robert .. Read more
| Starring | Rupert Everett, Natasha Richardson, Helen Mirren, Christopher Walken |
|---|---|
| Director | Paul Schrader |
| Genres | Drama, Gay/Lesbian |
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The Comfort Of Strangers
Adapted by Harold Pinter from Ian McEwan's novel, THE COMFORT OF STRANGERS follows a pair of indifferent lovers, Colin and Mary, who travel to the beautiful, romantic and mysterious Italian city of Venice to rekindle their love. As their emotionally icy relationship shows signs of thawing, the couple meets another duo: Robert and Caroline. Little do Colin and Mary realise, Robert and Caroline have been following them, with the most sinister plans in mind. To many, Venice is a city made for lovers, to McEwan's characters the location's romantic image simply disguises a forbidden world of dark sexuality and murder.
| Starring | Rupert Everett, Natasha Richardson, Helen Mirren, Christopher Walken |
|---|---|
| Director | Paul Schrader |
| Studio | MGM ENTERTAINMENT |
| Run time | DVD: 1 hr 40 mins |
| Certificate | |
| Genres | Drama, Gay/Lesbian |
| Language | DVD: English |
| Released | DVD: 01 Mar 2004 Production year: 1990 |
| Format | DVD |
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Critics' reviews (3)
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The novels of Ian McEwan have proved irresistible to film-makers, but so far few have transferred to the screen with any degree of success. Like The Cement Garden and The Innocent, this brooding drama lacks both the elegance and the bite of McEwan's prose. Paul Schrader is one of American cinema's most literate directors, but his over-deliberate approach means this cat-and-mouse tale drips with pretension rather than significance. Christopher Walken seems uncomfortable in a role that should have been tailor-made for him, while Helen Mirren is reduced to onlooker status as he lures tourists Rupert Everett and Natasha Richardson into his trap.
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Its lush visuals concealing a core of fetid malevolence, Schrader's film of Ian McEwan's novel inhabits a strange,... read more on Time Out
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Most helpful member's review
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10 out of 13 people found this review helpful
What, no dwarf?
A diverting enough, but ultimately risible attempt to step from the shadow of Don’t Look Now as a sinister Venice-set movie, beset with fundamental problems: Pinter’s script sees him at his most overripe; Schrader’s direction is set on portentous, bordering on pretentious; Everett and Richardson are rarely any great shakes, especially when we are asked to take them seriously; and Mirren and Walken are lumbered with pointless (and very shakey) accents.
Walken still impresses, naturally, but the main problem lies with Ian McEwan’s story which, like most of his earlier work, is just rather silly. The effects of sinister unease and fear of the foreigner (the only excuse for the accents) for which the film appears to be striving are attempted in only the most basic terms - Walken is a bit of a weirdo, slightly sinister and somewhat unpredictable; Mirren is just a weirdo; Everett and Richardson are a nice uncomplicated middle-class couple whose relationship is going through a crisis so passionless it’s hard to believe they care, never mind stirring oneself to do so. And as we all know it’s easy to get lost in Venice after dark.
The denouement is perfunctory and pointlessly derivative; the coda is simply pointless, and typifies the superficiality of the whole enterprise. That said, Dante Spinotti’s photography is almost edible and there are a good number of chuckles to be had at the po-faced seriousness of the whole thing, but it’s strictly for venetophiles and lovers of high camp only. -
Most recent members' review
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4 out of 6 people found this review helpful
Approach with caution
On the face of it this looks promising:
Adapted by Harold Pinter from the Ian McEwan novel, directed by Paul Schrader and starring Christopher Walken, Helen Mirren, Rupert Everett and Natasha Richardson.
The story is that a youngish couple holiday in Venice to revive their relationship, where they meet an older couple who have a sadomasochist agenda.
The main problem lies with the script, which is so dull it gives the cast nothing to work with; the direction also lacks pace and drama.
Basically its all so tasteful it amounts to very little. Disappointing. -
News and features
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Adapted by Harold Pinter from Ian McEwan's novel, THE COMFORT OF STRANGERS follows a pair of indifferent lovers, Colin and Mary, who travel to the beautiful, romantic and mysterious Italian city of ... -