Bad TimingNicolas Roeg's Bad Timing opens with Gustav Klimt's famous painting, "The Kiss", which sets the tone for the rest of the film. Consider the painting--the embrace of two lovers in an impassioned kiss in a gilded style. The man appears to be exerting dominance, control over the woman, who both succumbs and resists the kiss. The exotic setting and vibrant color evokes a kind of foreign landscape, and contains the hint of oppressive eroticism...or maybe that's all just a matter of perspective. Like "The Kiss", Bad Timing is about perspective, control versus disorder on the battlefield of love, and explores the deeper meaning of "a kiss" as a metaphor for the perils of romance.
|
|
Bad Timing principally follows Dr. Alex Linden (Art Garfunkel), a psychoanalytic researcher who also teaches at a university in Vienna. But our introduction to Dr. Linden follows the circumstances after we see him attending to a beautiful young woman in an ambulance, a woman who we will be introduced to as Milena Flaherty (Theresa Russell). Though we are seeing the two beyond the end of their relationship, our perspective cuts away frequently to the past, in Alex's recollections during his time with Milena, his memories bleeding into the present. Through these flashbacks, sharp as the nail file Alex keeps on his person tapping away at his thumbnail--one of many nervous tics--we discover that the two Americans met at a party, flirted a bit, met again, flirted a bit more, and before we can blink, are in bed and with one another--although their respective interpretations about being "with" someone vary somewhat. Time is a crucial theme in Bad Timing--unsurprising, given the title; but the film also has a procedural component to it when Inspector Netusil (Harvey Keitel) becomes involved--deducing the events which led up to Milena's near-death state--as he becomes suspicious that Alex is withholding evidence, triggered by his reluctance to commit to the time which he came to visit Milena after receiving her call. It is established for our benefit early on that Alex is lying about the time--either by omission or outright--although the reason for his deception is not made apparent until later. Bad Timing is also a movie about lies, the falsehoods we tell one another to defend our interpretation of ourselves, to protect ourselves from the consequences of our actions. Alex becomes suspicious of Milena early into their relationship when she displays affection with men she claims she is not involved with, when she lies to Alex about her previous marriage to Stefan Vognic (Denholm Elliott), and more. But Alex cannot simply call her out on all of her lies, because he has been solicited by the U.S. government to spy on a couple of Europeans, one of which includes Milena's ex-husband.
In one of Alex's lectures, he makes the claim that life is full of spies--that we are all spies, though he defensively remarks that he considers himself an "observer". In reality, Alex is a spy, but conceals this from Milena, even though he is spying on her for his job. Furthermore, Alex also spies on Milena outside the requirements of his extracurricular occupation, as jealously eats away at him. The idea that Alex cannot control Milena tears at him, because he is such a control freak and so fastidious and obsessed with order. On the contrary, Milena is like a walking hurricane, so vibrant and full of joie de vivre, that she refuses to let herself be caged by marriage anymore, or even by the confines of a traditional relationship. At one point, Milena returns to her Stefan--if only for a short while--and it is implied that she is unfaithful to whatever kind of relationship she has with Alex. When she returns, he is waiting by the border, and sees her kissing a young man on the cheek. Alex's jealously flares up at this kiss (ironic, considering he has no idea who she was actually unfaithful with), and he capitalizes on the opportunity to rub her nose in it and thumb his nose at her efforts to beautify herself for him, because he wants her under his thumb--and this episode will not be an isolated incident. Alex and Milena are like oil and water, but both feel compelled to try to get something from one another. With Alex, he sees in Milena a kind of conquest, wishing to temper her flame with his order, and for Milena, she wants Alex to accept her for who she is. Though she's willing to make concessions to appease him, it can never be enough for the power-hungry creep that Alex is. Nicholas Roeg's films characteristically have tight editing, juxtaposing two different events in a way that closes that distance of time, blurring the lines between the past and present. The effect of this editing in Bad Timing is to put us in the role of Alex and Netusil--the voyeur and the detective--retracing the steps of the doomed lovers through their tumultuous relationship in Vienna. And Vienna is a city which seems a hub of international tastes, a place of excitement for someone like Milena, and a place of opportunity to observe for someone like Alex--pay attention in one scene in a bar for a nod to The Third Man, music performed by a zither. Other selections of music are also choice for the film, such as a selection from "Fidelio" by Mozart (famed in Vienna), Pachelbel's Canon played for irony when Milena and Stefan part ways early on, and one that give me a smirk--The Who's "Who Are You?" played as Alex is yet again spying on Milena. It's all enough to make you question whether a kiss can be simply a kiss, or if it is indeed a promise for more.
Recommended for: Fans of a romantically dysfunctional procedural thriller, which challenges your preconceived expectations of the characters and events in the film.
In one of Alex's lectures, he makes the claim that life is full of spies--that we are all spies, though he defensively remarks that he considers himself an "observer". In reality, Alex is a spy, but conceals this from Milena, even though he is spying on her for his job. Furthermore, Alex also spies on Milena outside the requirements of his extracurricular occupation, as jealously eats away at him. The idea that Alex cannot control Milena tears at him, because he is such a control freak and so fastidious and obsessed with order. On the contrary, Milena is like a walking hurricane, so vibrant and full of joie de vivre, that she refuses to let herself be caged by marriage anymore, or even by the confines of a traditional relationship. At one point, Milena returns to her Stefan--if only for a short while--and it is implied that she is unfaithful to whatever kind of relationship she has with Alex. When she returns, he is waiting by the border, and sees her kissing a young man on the cheek. Alex's jealously flares up at this kiss (ironic, considering he has no idea who she was actually unfaithful with), and he capitalizes on the opportunity to rub her nose in it and thumb his nose at her efforts to beautify herself for him, because he wants her under his thumb--and this episode will not be an isolated incident. Alex and Milena are like oil and water, but both feel compelled to try to get something from one another. With Alex, he sees in Milena a kind of conquest, wishing to temper her flame with his order, and for Milena, she wants Alex to accept her for who she is. Though she's willing to make concessions to appease him, it can never be enough for the power-hungry creep that Alex is. Nicholas Roeg's films characteristically have tight editing, juxtaposing two different events in a way that closes that distance of time, blurring the lines between the past and present. The effect of this editing in Bad Timing is to put us in the role of Alex and Netusil--the voyeur and the detective--retracing the steps of the doomed lovers through their tumultuous relationship in Vienna. And Vienna is a city which seems a hub of international tastes, a place of excitement for someone like Milena, and a place of opportunity to observe for someone like Alex--pay attention in one scene in a bar for a nod to The Third Man, music performed by a zither. Other selections of music are also choice for the film, such as a selection from "Fidelio" by Mozart (famed in Vienna), Pachelbel's Canon played for irony when Milena and Stefan part ways early on, and one that give me a smirk--The Who's "Who Are You?" played as Alex is yet again spying on Milena. It's all enough to make you question whether a kiss can be simply a kiss, or if it is indeed a promise for more.
Recommended for: Fans of a romantically dysfunctional procedural thriller, which challenges your preconceived expectations of the characters and events in the film.