“I wanted to make a horny film,” Ira Sachs, writer and director of Passages, told The Film Stage. The result, in which a gay couple’s marriage is thrown into crisis when one of them begins a passionate affair with a woman, is mission accomplished. Although horny tragedy would be more apt. Franz Rogowski’s Tomas, a compelling blend of charisma and self-indulgence, steers the ship, dragging long-suffering husband Martin (Ben Whishaw) and new girlfriend Agathe (Adèle Exarchopoulos) in his wake. Sachs’ camera ingeniously mimics Tomas’s limited worldview, casting his partners in shadow or, in some scenes, obscuring them totally from view. It’s hard to miss the menacing role sex plays as a conduit for exploring lust and longing but mostly for manipulation. This is an almost painterly depiction of flesh that is neither delicate nor crass but an honest take on the messiness of human relationships.
Photograph Guy Ferrandis/ SBS Productions
