I saw this film at a screening in New York, and found it a fascinating exploration of the lives of two couples, one played by Julian Sands in his best and most controlled performance in years, and Julianne Nicholson, one of the most talented and alluring young actresses around, and the other by Max Beesley, an intense young English actor and musician, and Mina Badie (from "Anniversary Party"). The four come together at a beautiful old house on the water where one couple is having marital troubles and the other arrives and complicates their lives even further, in ways both sexual and menacing. The tension within each couple, and the disturbing quality of their relationship as it evolves over the course of two days and a night, leading to a surprising and shocking conclusion, reminds me of the films of Haneke. I haven't seen the DVD but have heard that the transfer quality is less than optimal. The image at the screening I saw was quite beautiful, so if that's true it's a shame. This is a visual tone poem about four people who lives so intensely in their imaginations that the rest of life becomes almost impossible.
