“She”
places a personals ad for a man to fulfill her longstanding sexual
fantasy. “He” likes what he reads, responds to the ad, and
the two arrange to meet. They go to a hotel where they perform what
remains an unnamed, unseen deed. Satisfied with the encounter, they
meet again the following week. Conceived as an exclusively sexual
affair, their relationship unexpectedly develops into a deep mutual
affection, in spite of their remaining almost strangers to each other--without
names or any life outside the cafe where they meet and the hotel they
retire to. One day they decide to have sex the “normal”
way; contrary to expectation, the experience is profoundly gratifying
and, by virtue of its ordinariness, draws them into greater intimacy.
Faced with the reality of their growing love, which soon renders the
sexual fantasy impossible, they decide they must either break off
their relationship or establish a long-term commitment on more traditional
grounds. Far from prurient, the film evokes the wistful melancholy
of two middle-aged professionals, lonely and lost. The documentary
interludes, in which each character talks privately about the affair
after it has ended, ground the film in everyday reality while simultaneously
infusing it with a sense of doomed love.
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| PHOTO Courtesy
of Fine Line Pictures |
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