Close My Eyes

Close My Eyes is the shocking story of an incestuous relationship between brother Richard (Clive Owen) and sister Natalie (Saskia Reeves) which is as shocking as it is beautiful. Natalie is a woman who seemingly has a perfect life, married to wealthy intellectual Sinclair (Alan Rickman), but as she reunites with her brother she begins an affair with him that soon tears all three of them apart.
 
I remember watching this film many years ago and was shocked by how beautiful everything was filmed in comparison to the themes. This film has some of the most gorgeous music and cinematography that I have ever witnessed and if you were to catch a few seconds of it, you could be forgiven for thinking this wasn't some luscious Merchant Ivory production. The themes of love and the look at progress in terms of redevelopment in the middle of the 1980s recession sweep into this film like a knockout blow. It's almost like another film entirely and that's what works so perfectly about the film, rather than just being another gloomy, depressing look at life it shows some glimmers of hope within the world.
 
Performances by all three of the main cast are perfect with a young Clive Owen, proving even at such an early stage in his career why people saw him as a talent for the future. The love triangle between the three, particularly the tension and feeling of suspicion between Sinclair and Natalie is perfectly pitched to not dwell in cliché.
 
The film is accompanied by interviews with Owen, Reeves, Rickman and Director/Writer Stephen Poliakoff seem to have all been created for the DVD and it is a shame that they couldn't have contributed a commentary to the set too. However, these interviews are interesting and give a nice insight into what they thought their characters or the film was about.
 
Close My Eyes is one of those films that you should watch just to show that Film Four doesn't just create downbeat Mike Leigh films or films with Ray Winstone walking around shouting and punching things. You should definitely keep your eyes open for this one!

8/10