Customer Reviews

Naked (Criterion Collection)

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I love this movie. It contains one of the most blistering portrayals ever put on film. David Thewlis as Johnny gives a magnificent performance and its the best reason for seeing this movie. You can't be unmoved by him.

I'm sure after seeing Thewlis playing Professor Lupin in the third Harry Potter movie that a lot of people are wondering what else he's done.

Why isn't this movie available on DVD?!

This film possesses a hypnotic pull that I am unable to resist. It demonstrates a clear argument against most human interaction. Johnny is on the run from doing something he probably shouldn't have. He leaves Manchester and heads for London, where his ex-girlfriend Louise works and lives. Their initial reunion is filled with tense silences and overt hostility. Johnny is antagonstic towards everyone and everything he sees. Yet, he does see, which is more than can be said for the rest of the characters in the film.

Clearly, Johnny is a stranger wherever he goes. He's an outsider who loathes the hypocricy he associates with the inside. It isn't that he is hopeless. Nor does he lack desire. He desires that which exists beyond the palty grasp of human desire. He has heretofore avoided being nailed to the floor with compensations for thwarted, vulgar human desire. There is no pleasure in consuming for Johnny. There is no pleasure in most things that he, or any other human, might covet.

Johnny believes in an angry, vengeful Judaic god that hates mankind. He seems to believe that humanity is a scourge on the planet. He obsesses over eschatological xtianity. He seems rather unimpressed with the basic living apparatus most civilized humans take for granted. He certainly finds it most economical to degrade women as he sees fit. Johnny is rare. His truths are scalding to those careful, complacent types who make up the world of false ideals and false hopes. He will forever be alien in their world. He will forever spit on their world. But he is human. He longs for attention, if not affection. He is capable of feeling something other than the pure balm of hate.

The performances are all stunning in this film. I particularly enjoy the late Katrin Cartlidge's turn as "wicky-wacky" Sophie. She's so wonderfully disturbed. Her bouts of hysterical gibbering, her pathetic desperation to be cared for by anyone at all--are prize winning entertainment. Cartlidge makes Sophie completely reprehensible in the end. That is quality work. Claire Skinner as Sandra is possessed with some festering inability to complete any of her sentences. She's so perturbed yet so efficient in administering medical aid. She is also excruciatingly appealing--her 5 seconds soaking in the bath are tantalizing and simply evil in their allure. As Jeremy, Greg Cruttwell creates an elitist who specializes in psychological torture. He's quite nasty and possesses no redeemable qualities. He is quite like Johnny, except he is apparantly loaded. He really likes violent sexual encounters--consensual or not. He's cool, confident, and destined to remain an enigma. It is the rare film that allows such a consummate bastard to walk away. His deeds go unpunished and poor little Sophie whines and sniffles her way to absolutely nowhere.

Then, of course, there is David Thewlis as Johnny. Quite a lot of praise has been bestowed upon his performance. He's so rabid and manic. He must speak. His mind is racing and he'll tell anyone who is listening what is in his head. Except, unlike a person who is undergoing a manic crisis, his thoughts are lucid. Nevertheless, there is nobody listening. It is sad, brutal, ugly and very much true-to-life for many individuals. Johnny represents what happens with good minds that cannot be yoked to systematic measures of untrammeled "truth". If he possessed more will he would certainly make Jeremy look like a slap-happy schoolboy with his first fisting mag.

The finest film ever made. Yes, I mean it.

Why no DVD?

My husband introduced me to this movie while we first started dating. It is his favourite movie. I have only seen it a couple of times and each time a pick up a little bit more from this astonishing movie. It leaves you thinking about many different things and haunts you for a long time .

The character of Sabashian was such a frightful and scary one, that I thought of him often. I know that there was so much symbolism in this movie , especially with the two men at the end touching hands . A lot of it went over my head , and it is one of those movies you have to see again and again to truely appreciate , but it is well worth it .

A wonderful masterpiece. A must see .