Speaking Parts
by Atom Egoyan
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DVD Cover Information
Actor: Arsin?e Khanjian, David Hemblen, Gabrielle Rose, Michael McManus (II), Tony NardiDirector: Atom Egoyan
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: French (Original Language)
Format: Color, DVD, NTSC, Subtitled
Picture Format: 1.33:1
Running Time: 92 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2001-06-26
Audience Rating: Unrated
Studio: Zeitgeist Films
Movie Reviews of Speaking Parts
Movie Review: another brilliant Egoyan film
Summary: 5 Stars
Speaking Parts begins, as do all of Egoyan's films, in the middle of a complex web of relationships, and part of the joy of the movie is to figure out what those relationships are as they are revealed to us in a very natural way. Lance is a hotel housekeeper/gigolo/aspiring actor and Lisa is another housekeeper who loves him. Since this love is unrequited, Lisa obsessively rents videos in which he appears, though he does not have a speaking part in any of them; at one point Lisa even defends this to another character when she asserts that "words aren't all that important". Clara is the screenwriter for a film that is being cast, and in her staying at the hotel, Lance sees seducing her as his way of taking advantage of a big break. Clara, in the meantime, is often seen viewing a memorial film of her brother at a mausoleum.
As the film progresses, we learn that Clara's screenplay is autobiographical, though Clara is losing control of the project at the same time she's mesmerized by Lance. Characters are often seen detached from others -- viewing rather than participating in life and watching people rather than interacting with them. Also, many of the characters look alike in an androgynous way, becoming more interchangeable and confusing the relationships we see.
Egoyan is one of my favorite directors. Whenever I start a film of his that I haven't seen before, I settle in for a good long while. I watch it and then watch it with the director's commentary and then re-watch it. They are that rich and rewarding, and Speaking Parts is no exception.
Extras include an excellent and rewarding director's commentary as well as stills and some interviews with Egoyan.
Summary of Speaking Parts
Haunting images and obsessive sexuality merge in the film which confirmed Atom Egoyan's status as one of the most talented directors of his generation. This disquieting and enthralling postmodern thriller entwines its characters in a dangerous web of psycho-sexual desire. Lance is a movie extra looking for his first speaking film role, and when the alluring Clara, an idealistic television writer, checks into the hotel where Lance works, he seduces her into casting him in the film she is working on. Meanwhile, Lisa prowls video stores, only interested in viewing and reviewing the movies in which Lance appears as an extra. Both the look and impact of video on our lives vibrate in this richly photographed film, so penetrating and original that it begs to be watched again and again.The complex plot of Speaking Parts captures the twisty psychology of its yearning characters. Lance (Michael McManus), an actor who has only had nonspeaking roles in movies, sees his chance when a movie team uses the hotel where he works as a production office. Lance seduces Clara (Gabrielle Rose), the screenwriter, who gets Lance cast in the central role of her deceased brother, who died giving a lung to her. Meanwhile, a maid (Arsinee Khanjian) in the hotel rents the movies Lance has acted in so she can watch his fleeting appearances, and Clara goes to a mausoleum where she watches a video of her brother. As in many of Canadian writer-director Atom Egoyan's movies, the characters use technology to channel emotions they can't express directly. Speaking Parts is seductive and hypnotic, full of images both eerie and sad. --Bret Fetzer
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