Media Review

Movie: Conversation(s) With Other Women

I brought home the movie Conversation(s) with Other Women (directed by Hans Canosa, 2006) from the library knowing nothing about it; I chose it because Helena Bonham Carter is in it. It turns out that she and her costar, Aaron Eckhart, are the only actors in it, aside from two very short appearances from very minor characters near the beginning.

We never learn the names of these two people, only that they were once a couple, probably married, who have been apart and not seen each other in 15 years. Carter describes the film as a "requiem for a relationship" that ended long ago.

The entire film is dialogue, and is almost entirely character development. Eckhart's role is the most vulnerable I have ever seen a man in a movie. His honesty and wear-my-heart-on-my-sleeve talk with this woman he has been obsessed with over the years is refreshing compared to typical male roles. Carter is her usual, slightly-wild-looking woman who subtly conveys her character over the course of the film.

The whole thing is shot in split screen, with one character on each side of the screen. The technique is disconcerting at first, but it does not take long to grow accustomed to it and then to appreciate it. It feels more like you are overhearing this conversation when you can see each person's face, rather than the usual cut back and forth between speakers. The film could easily have had the feel and look of a play based on the script, but the director's choice to use the screen this way makes it a completely different experience than a play and than most movies. And the dialogue is certainly strong and honest enough to stand up to the challenge.

I recommend this movie to anyone who does not need things to blow up to consider a film good.

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