Franz Rogowski and Adele Exarchopoulos raise a sensual and volatile tornado of lust
Transitions
Story: The film follows Thomas (Franz Rogowski) and Martin (Ben Whishaw), an odd couple from Paris. When Thomas begins a passionate affair with Agatha (Adele Exarchopoulos), a young schoolteacher, Martin begins an affair of his own, much to Thomas’s envy.
Review: Focusing on the mess that modern relationships can become, director Ira Sachs refreshingly opts for a subdued tone that works both for and against the film. Though the script, which Sachs co-wrote with Mauricio Zacharias and Arlette Langmann, studiously avoids any big, dramatic confrontations that would be easy to get into given the nature of the material, underneath the surface things are palpably and volcanically unstable. The dramatic effects are deliberately restrained to show that the characters are intimately aware of each other’s habits. So when Thomas returns to the apartment the morning after the film’s wrap party and admits to his husband that he had sex with the woman, Agatha, Sachs keeps the entire scene extremely muted. While Thomas tries to make amends and explain himself, saying that he felt something he hasn’t felt in a long time, Martin calmly reassures him that everything is fine. “When you finish a movie, you always forgetMartin’s single sentence eloquently tells us everything we need to know about their relationship. Thomas’ actions are not new; Martin was used to it, including his pathetic, hidden excuses.
Transitions explores what it’s like to be stuck in the loop of a toxic relationship and the contradictory and tumultuous journey it takes to break free from it. No matter how Martin tries to break away from Thomas, the latter, completely oblivious to anyone, storms in and leaves without the slightest feeling of remorse. He is barely left behind to deal with the tangle of confusion and uncertainty he creates. Despite moving in with Agatha, he feels fairly entitled to appear at Martin’s whenever he pleases. Throughout the film, Thomas constantly flits back and forth between Martin and Agatha, never finding his feet and being so designed to believe that everyone will just float merrily along with his impulses. So when he accidentally shows up at Martin’s one day and finds another guy in his bed, he is alarmed and angry. If he had his way, Martin’s life would revolve entirely around him and be accessible only to him. In his bitter, envious self-absorption, he cannot bear the thought of Martin being with anyone else.
Martin can’t help but be drawn to him again and again, despite his slight disappointment at the terrible decision he makes in staying with him and believing in him. He continues to succumb to his emotional manipulation. Agatha is also upset about her relationship with Thomas. There were moments when I wanted to reach across the screen, give Martin and Agatha a good shake and force them to finally admit that being around Thomas only entails constant disaster and constant emotional loss. Sachs recognizes the difficult and painful process of trying to rid himself of toxicity. Martin and Agatha are equally motivated to see and evaluate what is best for them, and ultimately agree to distance themselves from Thomas and his destructive actions.
Thomas’s tendency is not carelessness, but extreme, spectacular irresponsibility and a complete lack of understanding of the feelings of another. The fact that someone else might get hurt doesn’t seem to factor into his extreme narcissistic worldview. In the first scene of the film, Thomas is presented as a demanding director, barking at people for not following his exact instructions. However, in his personal life, Thomas acts as if he has no control over his decisions, being as free and wildly impetuous as imaginable without taking an ounce of responsibility for his actions. He doesn’t care about the consequences, and as someone told Martin, he is one of those people who cannot be changed, no matter how hard he tries. He rushes to meet his whims, fed up with their influence, even if it destroys those around him. At dinner, when Agatha’s parents are visiting, Thomas, deliberately provocative in a leopard-print crop top, gives only a small glimpse of his stubbornness.
Earlier, he even has the audacity to hint to Martin that he should be patient with him, to which Martin throws caution to the wind. In one scene, after kissing Martin in the next room with Agatha, he curls up in her bed in the middle of the night, completely unaffected by the consequences of his behavior. It is only in the electric ending that there is any semblance of his feelings and the elaborate chaos he created that finally overtook him.
He’s a deeply unlikeable character who almost revels in his own faux pas, going where his desires take him. In the hands of a lesser actor, Thomas could have turned into a completely alienating character. Sachs obviously pushes the viewer to become invested in Thomas’s malevolence, and it is Franz Rogowski’s blazing charisma that keeps us fully engrossed. Desire and sex are central to Transitionsand Sachs, along with cinematographer Josie Deshaies, shoot the titular characters’ numerous sex scenes in a way that is crucial to the narrative direction, understanding the thrill of novelty as well as the rare pleasures of routine. During their first meeting, neither Thomas nor Agatha say much, instead succumbing to the sheer force of attraction. The emphasis on Thomas’s face in the sex scenes with Agatha contrasts sharply with the scenes with Martin, where we simply see bodies at a greater distance from the camera.
Verdict: Transitions in the latter sections it loses some of its edge, especially in Thomas’s writing style, which becomes somewhat narrowed within the intended characterization. However, thanks to Sophie Raine’s sparse editing, the film never really flounders and is lifted enormously by the lead trio of actors. While Rogowski gets the meatiest role, it’s Adele Exarchopoulos, given limited material, who easily and quietly tears up the screen whenever she appears. Sachs makes short work of Agatha’s character. However, in one of Agatha’s final scenes with Martin, when she tells him that between him and Thomas she will simply disappear, the gracefully executed scene offers a glimpse into what pushed Agatha to realize her relationship with Thomas. Exarchopoulos and Whishaw convey immediately and vividly what motivates Agatha and will lead Martin to his final reckoning. With such hot, detailed performances, Transitions leaves a smoldering impression.
Share
Where to see