Afterglow - 2004-06-20

Afterglow - 2004-06-20<br>Director: Alan Rudolph<br>Cast: Nick Nolte, Julie Christie<br>USA, 1997, Color, 113 minutes<br>Director Alan Rudolph is a master of romantic staging mixed with bitterness and sweetness, reminiscent of the unique globalism of filmmakers like Noël Coward, Cole Porter, and Billy Wilder. In this film, he takes this technique to its peak, and the freshness of the film is surprising. Afterglow is a high-level cat-and-mouse game of sexual tension between two Montreal citizens: Julie Christie plays 'Phyllis,' who was once a star of horror films, but now her career has faded, leaving her with nothing but regret. Nick Nolte plays Phyllis's husband 'Lucky,' a jack-of-all-trades day laborer who not only fixes plumbing issues and does carpentry but also does not shy away from providing his services to a lustful housewife. On the other side of the generational gap is a young couple, including Marin, a warm woman, and her husband Jeffrey, who holds a position in a large company and enjoys spending his leisure time with older women, often leaving Marin alone. Marin, who is both sexually deprived and wishes to have children, hires Lucky to build a nursery and, essentially, to make a baby. Meanwhile, the older woman, who Jeffrey has encountered by chance, is Phyllis, Lucky's wife, who is looking for an opportunity to take revenge on her unfaithful husband. Alan Rudolph skillfully manages the intersections of fate and lost connections in the complex lives of these four characters, resulting in a delightful fluidity from scene to scene, alternating between tragic moments and extremely comic scenes. Julie Christie, making a successful return to the big screen after a long absence, delivers a brilliant performance as the older woman in a romantic relationship, making her deserving of an Oscar nomination. This truly beautiful performance establishes a tone of playful irony and satire throughout the film. The film is filled from beginning to end with hollow gestures and overly melodramatic movements that appear absurd due to their incongruity with the narrative conditions. At the fragile center of this romantic comedy lies a philosophy about life that suggests one must accept the nature and decline of life and lean towards compromise. After the initial flames of love have subsided, one can still find a pleasant warmth in the afterglow of that love.