Closer - film review

Closer is one of my all time favorite films because it demonstrates the ease with which people play with human emotions.  This film is based on a play by Patrick Marber, starring Natalie Portman, Julia Roberts, Jude Law and Clive Owen. 


The plot is not as complicated, as it is twisted and has been compared to Così fan tutte, Mozart's opera which is both referenced in the film and appears on its soundtrack. 


Unlike the opera, nothing is forgiven and forgotten in Closer. Rather, love is a nasty game for mature audiences.
Dan (Jude Law) is an obituaries writer, who falls in love with Alice (Natalie Portman), a young American by the name of Jane.  The film begins with Alice walking down the street, locking eyes with Dan and getting hit by a car. She survives the accident and quickly moves in with Dan, who proceeds to write a book about her.  A year or two later, Anna (Julia Roberts) takes a photo of Dan for his book about Alice. Dan accidentally introduces Anna to Larry (Clive Owen). Eventually Dan and Anna have an affair, Alice leaves Dan and becomes a stripper, Larry has one steamy night with Alice, but eventually wins Anna back, after which he tells  Dan where to find Alice (but not without telling him that he and Alice slept together).


Closer is a raw take on relationships.  It is disturbing because it goes where most films do not dare - it explores real life love drama at its core, where people are angry, dishonest, brutal, despicable, vengeful,  hurt and humanly flawed. 

All four performances are commendable, but the talent lies with Clive Owen and Natalie Portman. Owen is raw and powerful, while Portman is conniving and pure at the same time. 

Robert's Anna is more calm than deceiving, although she certainly knows that “Lying is the most fun a girl can do without taking her clothes off.”  

Both female characters are equally strong as they are weak. Their art of deception using tea is worth a mention:

“How about some tea?” – offers Anna to her husband in an effort to hide her relationship with Dan. 

“Make some tea”, says Alice to distract Dan before she runs away.

Unfortunately, Anna is not strong enough to keep her affair a secret during an interrogation by Larry:

            Larry:   Is he good?

            Anna:   Yes

Larry:   Better than me?

Anna:   Different

Larry:   Better?

Anna:   Gentler

Alice is equally pitiful in seeking reassurance from Dan after his betrayal with Anna:

Alice:    Do you still fancy me?

Dan:     Yes.

Alice:    Why? Why is love not enough?

  

Dan is also weak, giving Larry the upper hand and total control over Anna:

Larry:   I did not fuck her to give her a nice time, I fucked her to fuck you up.

            You do not know the first thing about love. Have you ever seen a human hart? It looks like a fist wrapped in blood. You writer, you liar. It’s over, accept it.

Larry:   She has made her choice … She does not want to be happy …Depressives don’t want to be happy because they have to go out into the world and live, which is depressing.

Dan:     You love her like the dog who loves its owner.

Larry:   And the owner loves the dog back.

Larry further bullies his way by ruining any possibility of Dan's relationship withAlice:

            Larry:   Dan, I lied to you – I did fuck her. Sorry for telling you, I am just not big enough to forgive you.

Frustrated, Dan takes his defeat out on Alice, who is especially interesting because her use of fake name suggests she is just playing a game to detach herself from men.  Of course, underneath it all she is suffering from betrayal and loss, which is post poignant in the scene that takes place towards the end of the film:  


Alice and Dan are in a hotel room, attempting to relive happy memories  they lost along the way.  Alice is excited about their upcoming vacation, but Dan is not mentally there.  Instead of thinking about the future, he is tormented by the past and Larry's brutal words keep ringing inside his head.  


Dan begins to question Alice about her one night with Larry. Dan's obsession prevents him from noticing that the last chance of happiness with Alice slipping away:  

            Dan:     Tell me what happened?

            Alice:    Nothing happened.

            Dan:     I just want the truth. I am addicted to it. Without it we are animals.

When Alice does not give in, Dan runs away, only to come back a minute later and change his mind. But it’s too late. Alice has had enough:

Alice:    I don’t love you anymore. Goodbye. So here is the truth so that you can hate me. Larry fucked me all night.

Dan:     I knew that. He told me. I needed to hear it from you.

Alice:    Why did he tell you? Because he is a bastard. I would have loved you forever. It’s too late now.

Dan:     I love you!

Alice:    Where? Where is that love? I cannot see it, I can’t touch it, I cannot feel it. Whatever you say it’s just words. It’s done. Go.

And so it goes - we are left with the final scene, in which Jane(Alice) is walking down the street in Manhattan.  She is young and beautiful, her every step bounces with freedom, and every male passersby stops to look at her, as Damien Rice sings:

"And so it is
Just like you said it would be
Life goes easy on me
Most of the time"

Then the screen shifts to poor Dan - he is broken and will never get over Alice or Anna. 

And the song continues:

"And so it is
The shorter story
No love, no glory
No hero in her sky"

Not many know that Jane gets killed by a car in the original play. In the film, she is walking towards a red "do not walk" light, oblivious to everything.  She is careless in her beauty and she is walking directly into her death (or maybe not, the film ending is left open to interpretation.) 

Closer ends exactly where it begins - at a cross walk - a perfect metaphor for human relationships, in which everything is replaceable, trivial, and can be taken away in one split second.