A
philosophy teacher in his forties in the throes of a mid-life crisis,
Martin is fed up with teaching and unable to make any headway on the
book he's been planning. One night, having wandered aimlessly into
a bar, he saves a disconsolate artist from a drubbing by paying his
tab. When he tries to visit the man a few days later, he learns that
he has just died while having sex with one of his models. Charles
chances upon the model, a husky, laconic 17-year-old, whom he cross-questions
then arranges to meet later. Charles thus steps into the artist’s
shoes and embarks on an affair which, beginning as a strictly carnal
amusement with a woman he regards as boring and stupid, turns gradually
into an all-consuming struggle to "possess" her completely
in a manner which proves to be unachievable through sex. When he discovers
she's having an affair with a boy her own age his jealousy fuels his
obsession and threatens to destroy him. Kahn portrays Martin as a
man struggling with unrecognized depression. He immerses himself in
unbridled carnal pleasure as a rejuvenating force, only to realize
that its lure is a will-o’-the-wisp leading him down a path to
unconsciously-desired oblivion.
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| PHOTO Courtesy
of Phaedra Cinema |
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