Review for Exhibition

Real life is boring. No more is it more boring than in non-conflict, middle class, pretentious nonsense, but that is what Writer/Director Joanna Hogg thought would make for an entertaining film.

It doesn't.

D and H are artists who decide to sell their home. It's never really explained why they have to sell their home, or maybe it is, but I missed it in the monotone duologing that this film does all the time. This isn't about financial struggles or divorce, it's just about two people coming to terms with moving out of a house they love. But why? What was this story supposed to be saying? Was it an allegory for changes in life, relationships? If it was, the message was so buried deep down in the pretentious folds of this film that I missed it.

Both begin to struggle with their own creativity, which is what they need for their living. This also begins to effect their relationship. Though it seems to be a rather pointless, mundane relationship that you begin to wonder whether a separation would be the best thing for both of them.

This film is painfully bad. So much so that I wanted to contact Joanna Hogg and demand 100 minutes of my life back. I cannot begin to understand who this film was made for. NOTHING HAPPENS!? If there had been a glimmer of conflict or a goal by either of the characters I would at least have something to go along with. Instead it is simply just a tableaux of scenes ranging from D trying to figure out how to sit on a chair, reading a book, to putting on make-up, to lying around.

The sexual content of the film then becomes bizarre with one of the most awkward sex scenes I have ever seen. I am unsure what Hogg was trying to present with these frequent sex scenes, which fill the nudity quota, but these are not the highly emotionally charged sex scenes of something like Blue is the Warmest Colour, nor the erotic sub-pornography of Nymphomaniac, but just another boring scene.

Viv Albertine as D and Liam Gillick as H are lost in this pretentious mess, which is a shame because in a better film they could have shined. Albertine has a wonderful presence and body and Gillick is your typical middle-class Englishman who could fit in any film.

The only thing that may interest anyone is the appearance of Tom Hiddleston as the Estate Agent. Hiddleston is now famous for starring as Loki in the Marvel Universe films, but here has only a few minutes of screen time and his talent is wasted. But that is not enough to even warrant the curiosity to watch this film. If you need your Hiddleston fix you could go watch Tinkerbell and the Pirate Fairy, at least that was somewhat entertaining.

The set includes an Audio Commentary with Writer/Director Joanna Hogg and Adam Roberts (who Hogg introduces as 'a friend of mine'). Well, if I thought the film was bad, watching with the Commentary was even worse as Hogg spends most of the film trying to explain what she was trying to do and still I have no idea what that was.

Seventeen minutes of Deleted Scenes with no explanation of them or even a title card to show when the scene began and end. This is possibly the most pointless thing I have ever seen. Without these introductions how are we supposed to know where these scenes were supposed to go and then judge why they were removed?

A Four Minute Featurette tries to explain the film and again fails. There are four interviews with Hogg, Albertine, Gillick and Hiddleston. All four try to explain the film (and fail) and then try to explain why they did it. Finally, there is a Trailer which I am surprised does not have a 'Starring Tom Hiddleston' to try and lure in some of the Avengers fans to come and see it.

Exhibition is a bad film. Not bad because of inept filmmaking or acting, but the film itself is just insufferably boring. I can't rememer the last time I watched the film and literally looked at my watch every few minutes. Some people have said that it is a simpler film, stripping away all the chaos to bring you the reality of life. However, what they forget is that the reality of life is most of the time, dull and boring and those two words are the best ones to describe this film.