I think this film is fantastically erotic and well acted. Lee Williams and Marc Warren do an excellent job of making you care about their characters, despite their flaws. This film is a journey into the the various stages of love. It is also an examination of the duplicity of love and the old saying "there's a thin line between love and hate."
The pacing of the film moves along, until we get to the character Isabel, then it seems to drag. The the love Tim professes for her doesn't seem as heated as what he had for Ivo. I don't think the actress cast for Isabel was the right person, because she and Williams had no chemistry. All of their scenes felt contrived. But then again, maybe that is the point, she is a way out from Ivo for Tim. His passion for her isn't real. The tempo picks up and keeps going once we get to the "murder" of Ivo. The twist where we find out Isabel is Ivo's sister was interesting. Ivo and Isabel's scene in the bedroom was creepy, but she too was unable to resist Tim's charms, even though she knows who he is from the beginning and what he meant to Ivo. Maybe this was her form of rebellion against Ivo and her husband. Otherwise, her character is shut down and devoid of the ability to change her nature. She is walking damaged goods, just like Tim, Ivo, and her husband. They all suffer from weaknesses they are aware of, but choose to swim in them anyway, instead of making internal changes.
Through flashback scenes, the audience finds out Tim was molested as a child. When someone tells him they love him (as his molester did) he shuts down. Tim is aware of this fact, but does nothing or maybe can't do anything to change this sadness within himself. Ivo walks around the university and seems shut down also, which could explain their attraction, beyond the physical. However, the audience comes to find out that Ivo, despite being the elder, is the vulnerable one in the relationship, though you fear for Tim at the beginning. Ivo realizes Tim doesn't love him, yet hangs on anyway, just as many people do in real life.
The final scene between Ivo and Tim, where Tim tries to return Ivo's money and coat he gave Tim, is touching and sad. Ivo realizes how unreceptive to love Tim is and rightly calls him a selfish bastard at one point during their conversation. Yet there is still something between the two. Tim seems to reach a point of clarity and understand that Ivo did love him. His childish attempts to make amends (returning the money/coat) are correctly rebuffed by the wiser Ivo, who doesn't want to dance to Tim's tune again. Tim wants to play the chase game again. When Isabel, "they only person he's loved" comes to see Tim at the end of the movie, she looks like a mirage, she is blurry and unreal. The love of his life comes to him, yet he won't open the door, because she isn't the love of his life (Ivo) which Tim realizes too late. Tim is holding Ivo's pictures and perhaps finally on a conscious level, realized he loved Ivo. This realization paralyzes him and you know he can't open that door.
As far as settings, Alaska was the right place for a love that was on its deathbed. At the end of the movie, it was appropriate for Tim to go back to his dank little town, where he constantly ran into reminders of his real self. There was also some humor, e.g. when Tim questions Ivo going off to teach a class in a leather jacket and when Ivo forces himself on Tim on the boat, the announcer in the background says "No one knows glaciers like Dr. Ivo Steadman."
Kudos to the actors for showing the complexities of people and relationships. This film lets you know you are responsible for your actions and the people who choose to love you, whether you love them or not.
The pacing of the film moves along, until we get to the character Isabel, then it seems to drag. The the love Tim professes for her doesn't seem as heated as what he had for Ivo. I don't think the actress cast for Isabel was the right person, because she and Williams had no chemistry. All of their scenes felt contrived. But then again, maybe that is the point, she is a way out from Ivo for Tim. His passion for her isn't real. The tempo picks up and keeps going once we get to the "murder" of Ivo. The twist where we find out Isabel is Ivo's sister was interesting. Ivo and Isabel's scene in the bedroom was creepy, but she too was unable to resist Tim's charms, even though she knows who he is from the beginning and what he meant to Ivo. Maybe this was her form of rebellion against Ivo and her husband. Otherwise, her character is shut down and devoid of the ability to change her nature. She is walking damaged goods, just like Tim, Ivo, and her husband. They all suffer from weaknesses they are aware of, but choose to swim in them anyway, instead of making internal changes.
Through flashback scenes, the audience finds out Tim was molested as a child. When someone tells him they love him (as his molester did) he shuts down. Tim is aware of this fact, but does nothing or maybe can't do anything to change this sadness within himself. Ivo walks around the university and seems shut down also, which could explain their attraction, beyond the physical. However, the audience comes to find out that Ivo, despite being the elder, is the vulnerable one in the relationship, though you fear for Tim at the beginning. Ivo realizes Tim doesn't love him, yet hangs on anyway, just as many people do in real life.
The final scene between Ivo and Tim, where Tim tries to return Ivo's money and coat he gave Tim, is touching and sad. Ivo realizes how unreceptive to love Tim is and rightly calls him a selfish bastard at one point during their conversation. Yet there is still something between the two. Tim seems to reach a point of clarity and understand that Ivo did love him. His childish attempts to make amends (returning the money/coat) are correctly rebuffed by the wiser Ivo, who doesn't want to dance to Tim's tune again. Tim wants to play the chase game again. When Isabel, "they only person he's loved" comes to see Tim at the end of the movie, she looks like a mirage, she is blurry and unreal. The love of his life comes to him, yet he won't open the door, because she isn't the love of his life (Ivo) which Tim realizes too late. Tim is holding Ivo's pictures and perhaps finally on a conscious level, realized he loved Ivo. This realization paralyzes him and you know he can't open that door.
As far as settings, Alaska was the right place for a love that was on its deathbed. At the end of the movie, it was appropriate for Tim to go back to his dank little town, where he constantly ran into reminders of his real self. There was also some humor, e.g. when Tim questions Ivo going off to teach a class in a leather jacket and when Ivo forces himself on Tim on the boat, the announcer in the background says "No one knows glaciers like Dr. Ivo Steadman."
Kudos to the actors for showing the complexities of people and relationships. This film lets you know you are responsible for your actions and the people who choose to love you, whether you love them or not.
