# Naked (1993)

### reviewed by
Chloe Wright

     ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** **
     ** These two reviews of NAKED (#2301, #2302) were written by      **
     ** two different people, though the posting account is the same.  **
     ** We saw the movie together, compared notes, experiences and     **
     ** discussed it over calzones and beer at a local bar.  I think   **
     ** you'll find the differing perspectives illuminating.           **
     **             -Cloe                                                                        **
     **             -Tak                                                                       **
     ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** **

                                   Naked
                             A film review by Cloe
                placed in the public domain 1993 by Cloe Wright

Whoa! Be ready to ride that emotional roller coaster. We go from laughing, to being captivated by the intellectual wit of Johnny, our vagrant main character, and are then thrown into repulsion, disturbance and disgust through graphic, and stomach-churning rape scenes. A goal of Naked is to illicit strong emotions from the viewer, and this goal is one well accomplished. The film transforms the viewer into an active participant through the manipulation of very deep emotions. I left the Preview Theater in Seattle disturbed and astonished ... but I loved the film.

The film centers around the life of a man who lives on the outside of "society." Johnny runs around spouting various apocalyptic philosophies onto unsuspecting strangers, such as a neck-twitching weirdo and his squatter girlfriend. Most of these apocalyptic ideas are ones which we've all heard before, nontheless, the movie pulls off the "intellectually superior tortured soul" routine rather well. We are captivated by Johnny's ramblings more often then not.

Johnny encounters people who exist on differing levels of society, and there are various messages embedded within each encounter. For example, Johnny happens upon a night security guard who lets Johnny into the building which he is watching over. The guard represents a person "playing the game" in society. He represents order, through being older, clean-cut, and (the big marker of social worth) he holds a full-time job. The tedium of the security guard's job is highlighted, thus making us question who really has it "better," a vagrant living on the streets, who at least gets to spout his own opinions and ideas, or the rest of us who are tied down to alienating jobs which have little or nothing to do with our individuality.

An important premise of the movie is exposed on a dark staircase during this encounter with the night security guard. Drawing on a recurrent theme that good cannot exist without evil, rather then evil being a necessary agent in the maintenance of the overriding power of good, Johnny expresses his belief that good and hope are just tools for the maintenance of the overriding power of evil. Johnny's actions throughout the film embody this concept of evil--most blatantly through his behavior towards the women whom he encounters.

One man highlighted in the movie is an asshole rapist from Hell. Literally, the character was granted no positive qualities. He differs from our main character Johnny because he is rich and well-groomed, and has nothing interesting to say. The two strangers share an evil side, in this sense they are connected in the manufacture of evil. However, the rich guy was more of an asshole, and represented the epitome of the abuse of power. This seemed to be a blatant commentary on wealth. The rich guy exploits his privilege as an apartment owner and invades Sofie and Louise's home.

A cool scene is towards the end when the rich asshole is standing at a bedroom door and Louise, Sofie and Johnny are cowering at his feet. This is after Johnny gets beat to a pulp, so here Johnny switches roles, from the one who is in control, to the one who is exposed and defenseless. Hence, we see the cycle of abuse full circle, the abuser is also the victim.

During the film, our senses are assaulted through disturbing scenes which are meant to stay with the viewer long after he or she leaves the theater. The graphic rape scenes don't allow the viewer to maintain a safe distance from the movie's commentary on evil and abuse. Rather then distant observers, we are forced participants. Thus, we ourselves are stripped Naked of our defenses.

Women, watch out! The level of violence was close to intolerable. I almost walked out on one potential rape scene in lieu of multiple ones before. It was as if the director, Mike Leigh, had enough sense to realize that emotional disturbance limit, although he sure pushed it as far as it could go! Having been forced to endure this level of powerlessness, you'll leave the theater angry. The Andrea Dworkin side of me was screaming, "this is wrong of this film-maker to show this brutality against women ... especially since a *man* made this film and he doesn't know how disturbing it is for a woman to watch this shit!"

However, I soon learned that my male companion was equally as disturbed. Men and women tend to identify with the same gender character. Hence, an interesting dynamic is created when a woman is forced to identify with the rape victim and the man is forced to identify with the rapist. According to my movie-going male companion, being in the perpetrator's shoes, so to speak, is as violating as being the recipient of that abuse. So I could venture to say that all will leave the theater needing a close friend to vent their feelings with.

Never-you-fear, you PC-hacking mongrels, the freedom of artistic expression side kicked in and said, "now let's look at the violence in the context of the movie, and the film's attempt to explore certain concepts and emotions." Thus, the movie gets an A+ for it's portrayal of humanity's dark side. The intensity of the scenes was an important part of the film-makers' goals ... they wanted you to feel the abuse happening, not just observe it. We are also somewhat empowered in a scene where Louise, the relatively strong female character, almost pulls a Mrs. Bobbit, in order to defend herself and reassert her power.

Naked explores abuses of power, it juxtaposes differing lives, and dazzles us with it's strangeness. It even has us laughing hysterically at times. This is a must see movie, but bring your cast iron stomach and a friend, so you can debrief afterwords over a latte or a beer ... and don't forget to play your 7 Year Bitch album when you get home.

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