He sees the story as literate, elegant eroticism. The Comfort of Strangers Book Summary and Study Guide. The Comfort of Strangers plays out rather like an art-house version of the then-popular mainstream Hollywood (erotic) thriller sub-genre of the yuppies-in-peril, except it isn’t altogether clear to audiences just what peril our yuppie couple are facing, so abstract and shadowy is its approach. The Comfort of Strangers plays out rather like an art-house version of the then-popular mainstream Hollywood (erotic) thriller sub-genre of the yuppies-in-peril, except it isn’t altogether clear to audiences just what peril our yuppie couple are facing, so abstract and shadowy is its approach. eNotes plot summaries cover all the significant action of The Comfort of Strangers. I can appreciate what it’s doing (or rather what it is trying to do), but it never quite comes together. Interpreti principali: Christopher Walken, Rupert Everett, Natasha Richardson, Helen … Harold Pinter adapted it as a screenplay for the movies in 1990 (The Comfort of Strangers), which starred Rupert Everett, Christopher Walken, Helen Mirren and Natasha Richardson. The Comfort of Strangers is… a strange film. I am one of those freaks who likes to know the ending before I watch it. Perhaps it’s because the movie seems structured as too much of a thought exercise rather than a finished dramatic production. At five after nine, I closed the book and looked up, feeling euphoric and dazed. Paul Schrader, who directed it, is not interested in such a mundane approach. by Anthony Kaufman. Robert's brutal machismo, as well as Caroline's submission and her severe injuries always … Venice, ending the summer with another junket, is stranger and more crepuscular. In fact most of the film is so insignificant that without the intriguing ending the film would have simply floated away. That said, unlike many others in the horror genre, the film doesn't sexualize its terror, and the characters in peril aren't just sacrificial lambs -- the filmmakers attempt to make you care about them. In fact most of the film is so insignificant that without the intriguing ending the film would have simply floated away. And as fall steals over the lagoon, directors like Paul Schrader come to the tourist-emptied town to make films like The Comfort of Strangers. Discover the latest Discussions, Reviews, Quotes, Theories, Explanations and Analysis of The Comfort of Strangers (1990) below . "The Comfort of Strangers" contains the elements to be a violent crime story, or a lurid horror film. And please don't tell me to watch it. Crialese: I didn’t want to have a typical, happy ending, first of all. Crialese: I didn’t want to have a typical, happy ending, first of all. This little French coup de grace was the perfect ending to a sharp and elegant work of disturbingly precise prose. At 6:15pm I sat down at a cafe table with a pot of tea and opened to the first words of The Comfort of Strangers. Perhaps because its setting-Venice (unnamed, but sketched down to the detail of aroma of decay and filtered sunlight)-has not changed. The Comfort of Strangers Book Summary and Study Guide. The Comfort of Strangers is a work of art. Ian McEwan Booklist Ian McEwan Message Board. The Comfort of Strangers is… a strange film. The Comfort of Strangers sustains a remarkable sense of brooding evil throughout. These are the semi-motivations Paul Schrader strews before you in "The Comfort of Strangers." Finis. The story operates on subtext and nuance. "The Comfort of Strangers" is hardly groundbreaking. Finis. The script, by a far better writer than Schrader, Harold Pinter, is taken from a novel by Ian McEwan. . Chapter 1 Summary. from what i gathered from the book, robert and caroline were weirdos who got pleasure from hurting each other (in caroline's case it was from being hurt) and it probably had something to do with their childhoods and all that jazz.