BOMB 119/Spring 2012
Atom Egoyan.
Atom Egoyan’s third feature Speaking Parts is that rarity: a conceptual breakthrough as well as entertainment of the highest order. A mystery-romance set in a cavernous hotel, Speaking Parts combines the sensuality of cinema, the immediacy of video and the binary logic of drama to make a subversive statement about the power of the recorded image. No mean feat: it does this without going into self-destruct. The characters’ amorous needs and professional aspirations are wittily served by taped or interactive video, bridging chasms of time and space, the image a wanton substitute for physical presence: Egoyan makes you think as he makes you laugh. Ultimately, through Arsinee Khanjian’s Lisa as the emotional driving force of the film, (and the only one who’s not part of the image-making machine) the watchful, insidiously pervasive technology is vanquished. In a final ironic twist, fantasy loses its stranglehold, and passion triumphs over opportunity.
Aided by a superb Canadian cast and crew, 29-year-old Egoyan brought in the silky production ahead of schedule and under budget. Zeitgeist plans a February 1990 theatrical release in Seattle, San Francisco, Washington, and New York.
(Interview)