Closer:

How proximity rule governs relationships

By Dilshan Boange

There are love triangles. Since the dawn of 'love' in the narrative of human existence just as lovers come to be in duos, the third dimension of making 'triangular' complexities would surely not have been too far away. But what happens when a fourth factor comes into play and makes it quadrangle? Between the superb acting talents of Jude Law, Julia Roberts, Clive Owen and Natalie Portman what comes alive in the movie 'Closer' is a depiction of what spirals when four people find themselves in a play of deceptive, desire driven schemes that purports to blur the lines between sexual attraction and love.

Closer speaks of the truth that the factor of physical intimacy and sexual satisfaction can never be discounted from the recipe for a successful relationship between a man and a woman. But it also depicts as food for thought the question of how solid and salutary are decisions made on the urge of an 'irrepressible attraction'? And what is the price, finally, for the decisions believed made in answer to the undeniable call from within? In the scenario of deceptions and denials in Closer what is clear is that an altogether perpendicular status is not granted to all four unwitting participants in the 'love quadrangle' which clearly leaves the character played by Portman the most slighted and disadvantaged.

Between the two males -Dan Woolf played by Law and Larry Gray played by Owen, the latter is definitely the one more in control of his 'emotional direction' and shows a sense of inner stableness. The grittiness that comes off much more strongly from Larry than Dan makes quite a statement in the light of understanding how the 'oestrogen and testosterone dialectics' work in human relationships where the unevenly contesting factors of emotional needs and sexual needs have to blend or make compromises to make a relationship last when temptations come to your doorstep or in this case one's sight.

Love relationship

The element of how powerful a mere sight can be to determine what our decision will be even in something as serious as a love relationship comes out strongly through various schema in the movie. Anna Cameron played by Roberts is a photographer. It is in the course of photography that Dan and she meet; their 'sights' come to meet.

And it is at the photo exhibition that she holds where Alice Ayres played by Portman meets Larry for the first time, and Dan makes his secretive advance for conquest of Anna and to top it all off, one cannot neglect how the theme song of the movie sung by Damien Rice sings out in an emotionally charged voice the repeated line -I can't take my eyes off of you.', and teeters towards the end with the line -I can't take my mind off of you. The tone almost speaks of a moment of self discovery, that it is not only the eye alone that is now beyond retraction, from a sight of all commanding beauty.

One of the strongest messages that come out of the film as is the truth that physical intimacy is a decisive factor that determines the path of a relationship. When Robert's character Anna confesses to her husband Larry the reaction that ensues on his part is an aggressive unrelenting insistence to know of how much physical gratification Dan provides her. He insists that he needs to know what he can offer her needs as opposed to what he gets from her.

The reply blurts out that Dan is gentler and that the gentleness makes her feel less sexually objectified like a prostitute which is revealed as what Larry's more domineering maleness impresses on her during their conjugal intimacies.

Sexuality

An intriguing point to note on what psychologically affects and characterises the femaleness of Anna in terms of sexuality is the comparison of what she herself admits as the need and being drawn to the gentleness factor with her final decision to get back together with her estranged husband Larry after he coaxes her to sleep with him one last time in exchange for his signature on their divorce papers which she is desperate to obtain.

This facet of what makes her change her mind about Dan and reunite with her husband Larry finally, may show that her character is of the kind that submits to the alpha maleness and finds her place of femaleness and womanliness in the possession of a man who is the testosterone driven man of aggressive conquest.

What can be seen of Portman's character Alice whose real name turns out to be Jane Jones, is that the whole episode makes her proven of her resilience and enables her to stride stronger which is what comes out in the final visual as the film ends.

The path towards the strengthening of her self esteem and elevation of character is one where she must contend with the emotional turbulence she must undergo with Dan and his obsession for Anna while he shows being in a committed relationship with Alice/Jane.

The integrity she shows in the face of the betrayal at the hands of Dan paves the way for an eventual guiltless encounter with Larry which is later revealed to have developed into a night of intimacy. Dan is tormented by this revelation and thus reveals how he seems to consider Larry his opponent not only in claiming Anna but also sees him as his competitor in proving sexual prowess that can captivate the women who form the love quadrangle.

Fickleness

In the scheme of assessment of strength of character on the matter of fidelity, Larry and Jane come out as the strong ones where as Dan and Anna are shown to be weak due to their fickleness of both moral fibre and ability to maintain a decisive stance in the face of temptation. On the other hand one could also argue that neither Larry nor Jane were posed with temptations that tested their commitment to fidelity since neither was clearly faced with seducing allure out of their committed relationships by another.

The sexual relationship between Larry and Jane happen when their relationships have fallen apart and no longer morally bound to be committed to their former lovers.

On one side 'Closer' speaks of human frailties in relationships that reveal the weaknesses that ensure defeatism for the fickle- minded which is shown through Dan who is left with no compensations; while the stronger will triumph, shown through Larry who finally is the claimant of Anna and also Jane who emerges the more empowered and liberated person.

Perhaps on a note more poetic than critique, one could say that Closer shows how the closer people get to the inner self of their partners the more distance from each other becomes their destiny, as 'thunderous friction' may result from a 'cloudy closeness'.