By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 4 cats
Director: Hans Canosa
Starring: Aaron Eckhart | Brianna Brown | Erik Eidem | Helena Bonham Carter | Olivia Wilde
Country: united_kingdom, united_states
Year: 2006
Running time: 84
IMDB: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0435623/
Michael says: “Hans Canosa’s second feature film (the first being ALMA MATER, which I had never heard of) is a two-person
piece about a formerly married couple who haven’t seen each other in many years, then re-connect at a wedding. Nearly twenty years ago the man and woman were young lovers then married before their relationship fell apart and she moved to London. Now it is the man’s sister’s wedding day and the woman is called in as a substitute bridesmaid at the last minute. When they meet at the reception, they begin by playing a game that they don’t know each other, and truthfully, the viewer has no idea that they were once married. Little by little as they continue to converse, hints of their shared past slip out. It soon becomes clear that they will spend the night together before she returns to her husband in London. She has moved on, married with children, but is curious about the man she once loved so passionately. He hasn’t seemed to be able to find his way after she left. He is dating a much younger Broadway dancer, and longs for the two of them to reconcile.
“What makes CONVERSATIONS WITH OTHER WOMEN unique, is the fact that the entire film is shot with a split screen; often with the man on one side and the woman on the other. It is clearly meant to show how they are each in their own stories, which occasionally come together. Some passages work very well, while in other scenes, the split screen is simply distracting.
Yet it’s an interesting experiment that on the whole worked well. Another strong point for me was the way the flashbacks to their earlier relationship were integrated into the film. The acting by Helena Bonham Carter and Aaron Eckhart is raw and quite strong. The two actors seem comfortable working together and you can certainly believe that there is along history between them. The biggest strength of the film lay in its screenplay. With smart, intricate dialogue, and extensive monologues,
I can’t help but think what a great play this would have made. I was pleasantly surprised to find that it made a good film as well.
Worth a look. 4 cats”