Conversations with Other Women

There are so many conventional movies about adulterous chance meetings that the prospects of another one wouldn't seem to be too promising. However, director Hans Canosa takes a rather novel approach with this small-scale 2006 indie film in looking at the illicit one-night stand with a pervasive split-screen process. Most often, the two sides reflect the perspectives from the man and woman at the center of the story, and at other times, we see their individual memories as flashbacks to their youthful courtship. Initially, the gimmicky aspect of watching the duality of the action is rather jarring, but it gradually becomes a dramatically effective means for exhibiting the dynamics of the two characters in real time. Gabrielle Zevin's sharply delineated, often amusing dialogue also helps to bring an immediacy to what could have been a predictably drawn situation.

The intimate, verbose plot itself turns on several contrivances, some more forgivable than others (like the absence of names for the lovers and the misunderstanding arising from matching cell phones). Regardless, it's really the adroit charm and emotional dexterity of the actors that sets this movie apart. Playing yet another rascally man-child, Aaron Eckhart adds shades of mid-life romantic vulnerability that make his character likeably flawed. But the picture really belongs to Helena Bonham Carter's richly textured performance as the woman, easily her best work since 1997's "The Wings of the Dove". As a complacent married woman who feels herself hurtling palpably toward forty, she provides such revealing nuance with each scene that I ended up wondering more about her character's fate than his. With her sad dark eyes and pouty mouth, she looks more like legendary French actress Jeanne Moreau as the years pass.

Shot in only thirteen days and with a running time of only 84 minutes, the movie is quite small in scope, but it is also a relatively undiscovered gem that will hopefully take on new life on DVD. Speaking of which, the 2007 DVD has a surprisingly robust number of extras beginning with Canosa's thoughtful commentary track. Also included are an entertaining 25-minute interview with an easily bantering Eckhart and Carter from the Telluride Film Festival; an insightful five-minute short with the director showing a demo of his dual-camera film-making technique; a helpful four-minute explanation of why split-screen was used specifically for the film; and a less interesting, more technical twenty-minute demonstration of how Canosa used Apple Final Cut Pro software to make his complex edits.

This movie's character development runs more like a play than a film and contains really excellent performances by Helena Bonham Carter and Aaron Eckhart. I was initially worried the split-screen effect would be distracting and irritating, however, not so! Splitting the screen allows the viewer to watch each actors performance in more depth, see bits and pieces from the past, as well as what the characters each might be imagining. I'll avoid spoiling any plot details, but will say the performances really do justice to the complexities of romantic relationships. Highly recommended for lovers of character exploration and exploring life's complexities.

Given the way the story is told, "Conversations with Other Women" plays out as somewhat of a romantic mystery demanding a slow, selective unraveling by a keen audience. It follows two deliberately unnamed characters (a man and a woman) through the latter part of a wedding reception and holds on them through their evening together. Earlier works like Richard Linklater's duo "Before Sunrise" and "Before Sunset" come instantly to mind. Although it might not literally be conveyed in real time, there's such immediacy to the conversation that ensues. Like Linklater's films the dialogue heavy film never feels overbearing and stage-like, possibly due to the writing and possibly due to the visual technique that will no doubt color many reviews and comments about the film. It's told with a constant use of split-screen, in an attempt to present two perspectives. Mostly the use of this style assists with pacing, and never fully follows through on the promise of conveying opposing story lines. Regardless the choice to use split-screen never becomes flashy, like it did in when it came into vogue in the mid-1960s, but it does seem more fueled by digital ability than narrative necessity. Whether it's this curious technique, the impressive performances of Aaron Eckhart and Helena Bonham Carter, or the subtle screen writing, "Conversations with Other Women" seems to effortlessly become one of those quickly cherished works that demands you hang onto every word, every gesture. It's really a beautiful work and has the potential to become a classic love story couples and hopeless romantics will go to for years to come. But it very likely won't.

Hans Canosa makes a strong debut with Gabrielle Zevin's intelligent screenplay (read two character dialogue) CONVERSATIONS WITH OTHER WOMEN and while some viewers may be distressed about his choice of use of the split screen presentation, Canosa's decision to be the editor of the film makes a strong argument for his artistic decision. We are able to not only see ell sides of the characters physically, but we are also allowed to step into the 'private space' created by each of the characters, a space that grows in meaning as the film proceeds. For this viewer it enhances the story.

It would be difficult to imagine two finer actors than Helen Bonham Carter and Aaron Eckhart to pull off this story. Bonham Carter has flown in form London as a last minute replacement bridesmaid for an old friend and is bored by the wedding until she encounters Aaron Eckhart whom we soon learn is the bride's brother. But coincidences don't stop there: soon the couple decide to have a night together and as they begin to share their current uncomfortable lives they recall that they were young lovers (well played by Erik Eidem and Nora Zehetner in flashbacks) and more than likely were married as first marriages.....but to say more would ruin the repartee that these two brilliant actors enjoy playing against each other.

Canosa manages to create a solid interplay between his actors and then capitalizes on the gifts of each by placing them in simultaneous and revealing views that more that provides his rationale for using the split screens as his technique. Bonham Carter is more beautiful than ever and proves she is one of our finest actresses on film, seen far too seldom these days. CONVERSATIONS WITH OTHER WOMEN is a sly look at relationships that slowly creeps up on you as you learn the secrets of each character. It is a fine piece of film-making! Grady Harp

I was lucky enough to see this movie on Monday, September 5, the last day of Telluride 2005. There were five other screenings that had sold out before that. I'd heard the about the film, but wasn't sure I had to see it until I read Roger Ebert's review of the film on his website's festival writeup.

I didn't think that a movie made entirely in split screen could be anything but a gimmick. But after seeing the film, I agree with Ebert--the split screen comes to seem necessary. The split screen is used not only to show the simultaneous actions and reactions of both characters, but also shows flashbacks juxtaposed with the present, alternate versions of the present, and moments imagined or hoped by the characters that quickly return to reality. Sometimes the present is fractured into more than one emotion for a given line or action, showing an actor performing the same moment in different ways. The editing is assured and masterful, employing storytelling techniques that couldn't exist without the split screen. The writing is brilliant, full of humor and insight. The movie is like nothing you've ever seen before.

Aaron Eckhart and Helena Bonham Carter are amazing--funny and heartbreaking at the same time. I really can't wait to see this movie again. If a movie ever rewarded two viewings, it's a movie that plays in two frames.