Exotica (film)
From The Art and Popular Culture Encyclopedia
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Exotica is a 1994 Canadian drama film set primarily in the fictional Exotica strip club in Toronto. It was written and directed by Atom Egoyan and stars Mia Kirshner, Elias Koteas, Sarah Polley, Bruce Greenwood and Don McKellar.
The story concerns a father grieving over the loss of a child and obsessed with a young stripper. It was inspired by Egoyan's curiosity about the role strip clubs play in sex-obsessed societies. Exotica was filmed in Toronto in 1993.
Marketed as an erotic thriller on its release in Canada and the United States, the film proved to be a major box office success for English Canadian cinema, and received positive reviews. It won numerous awards, including the FIPRESCI Prize at the Cannes Film Festival and eight Genie Awards, including Best Motion Picture.
Plot
Francis Brown, a tax auditor for Revenue Canada, is a regular visitor to a Toronto strip club called Exotica. He always has Christina, an exotic dancer dressed in a schoolgirl uniform, give him a private dance. This inspires the jealousy of the club's DJ, Eric, Christina's former boyfriend who has also impregnated the club's owner, Zoe. While at the club, Francis pays his brother Harold's teenage daughter, Tracey, to "babysit". However, Francis has no children and the girl merely practices music alone until Francis returns and drives her home. Francis' relationship with Harold is strained, as Francis found out that Harold and Francis' wife were having an affair after she died in a car accident, which also left Harold a paraplegic. Francis' daughter was kidnapped and killed a few months before the accident, and he was one of the suspects but was later exonerated. These events have left a huge psychological scar on Francis.
In his professional life, Francis is sent to audit Thomas Pinto's pet store pursuant to the suspicion that Thomas is profiting from the illegal import of rare bird species. Thomas has been smuggling hyacinth macaw eggs, and his operation is worth hundreds of thousands of dollars a year.
Francis is eventually banned from Exotica when Eric manipulates him into touching Christina during one of her dances, which is against the rules of the club. Around the same time, Francis discovers illegal activities in Thomas' financial records, and blackmails Thomas to go to the club to learn about what happened the night he was kicked out. In the process, Francis realizes Eric intentionally set out to get him banned and vows to kill him. Confronting Eric with a gun, Francis is defused when Eric reveals he and Christina were the ones who found the body of Francis' daughter. Christina also reveals to Thomas that she and Francis share a relationship of mutual dependency; in the past, when she used to babysit his daughter, Francis would comfort her about her troubled life at home.
Cast
- Bruce Greenwood as Francis Brown
- Elias Koteas as Eric
- Mia Kirshner as Christina
- Don McKellar as Thomas Pinto
- Arsinée Khanjian as Zoe
- Sarah Polley as Tracey Brown
- Victor Garber as Harold Brown
- David Hemblen as Customs inspector
- Calvin Green as Customs officer
- Peter Krantz as Man in taxi
- Damon D'Oliveira as Man at opera
- Jack Blum as Scalper
- Billy Merasty as Man at opera
- Ken McDougall as Doorman