Conversations with Other Women
There are two sides to every love story.
When a man (Aaron Eckhart) and a woman (Helena Bonham Carter) flirt with each other at a New York wedding reception, the sexual tension seems spontaneous. But as the conversation deepens, their previous life together is gradually revealed. As they break from the party to a hotel room, the flirtation turns into a night filled with passion and remorse.
Member Reviews
Fresh and Entertaining! Great use of split screen! - Ptimmyj
This movie was full of well-written conversation and some great acting on the parts of the two main characters. At times it was a little play-ey for me, but other than that there isn't anything to complain about in this film.
The use of split-screen throughout the entire film is a very fresh and well-integrated style; the way the screens interacted at times and played completely different events at others intrigued me and will warrant another watch sometime in the near future.
Recommended!The Distance Of Flirtation - CharleyJames
Wedding-party lothario Aaron Eckhart – in perfect charming-cad form – eyes perplexed bridesmaid Helena Bonham Carter as she scurries about the outskirts of the crowd, trying to sneak a cigarette in what is surely a smoke-free hotel reception hall.
He sidles up with a couple of champagne flutes and dances around with pick-up lines that she matches with practiced elegance, but there's something just a little off. The pieces don't fit together. Literally.
What first appears to be the anatomy of a one-night stand soon reveals itself as a high-concept chamber drama in which the screen expresses what the two fumbling former lovers can't.
The entire film is shot in split screen. Each of the unnamed characters is photographed separately in their own slice of space, the images sutured together with a purposeful imperfection, with occasional overlap and rare moments of union. It gives them the appearance of dancing around one another, almost touching but never getting past the years of emotional scar tissue, even as they work their way to her hotel room.
Eckhart allows the audience to think the worst of him ("I wanted to see you squirm," he confesses with a trace of guilt after interrupting a phone call to her husband) while slowly revealing his heartache. Bonham Carter is equally good as she uses the emotional distance of flirtation to keep intimacy at arm's length, fully embodying the comment: "The illusion of effortlessness takes great effort indeed."
The technique could easily slip into gimmick or experimental affectation but for director Hans Canosa's measured restraint and fluid direction.
At times, slivers of memory echo through one of the frames. At others, alternate endings and second takes chop up the scenes and reframe their stories. It may sound off-putting but it's an evocative visualization of the feelings they can't express and the gulf that remains between them.
3 1/2 stars but there's no way to do this on Zip.(Him) Very cool------------(Her) Filled with real life Humor - footnote
The movie was great, I am so glad I stumbled across it. The split screen format is very fresh and inventive, and the “double takes” of the same dialogue was a great use of the format. And, shot almost entirely in real-time, it almost takes your breath away trying to keep up. The conversation between Aaron Eckhart and Helena Bonham Carter is witty, sexy and tension filled all at the same time. No guns, car chases or explosions (just a little bit of sex); but still held my “I hate rom-com” attention the whole way through.
Member Reviews
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Fresh and Entertaining! Great use of split screen! - Ptimmyj
This movie was full of well-written conversation and some great acting on the parts of the two main characters. At times it was a little play-ey for me, but other than that there isn't anything to complain about in this film.
The use of split-screen throughout ...The Distance Of Flirtation - CharleyJames
Wedding-party lothario Aaron Eckhart – in perfect charming-cad form – eyes perplexed bridesmaid Helena Bonham Carter as she scurries about the outskirts of the crowd, trying to sneak a cigarette in what is surely a smoke-free hotel reception hall.
He ...(Him) Very cool------------(Her) Filled with real life Humor - footnote
The movie was great, I am so glad I stumbled across it. The split screen format is very fresh and inventive, and the “double takes” of the same dialogue was a great use of the format. And, shot almost entirely in real-time, it almost takes your breath away ...