CLOSET LAND

By Rita Kempley

(Washington Post, March 8, 1991 )

 

There is a terrible intimacy about "Closet Land," where something akin to desire defines the relationship between a children's book writer and the secret policeman determined to break her will. Passionately acted by Madeleine Stowe and Alan Rickman, this disquieting thriller virtually chews your psyche full of moth holes.

Ostensibly a study of conflict between artistic freedom and state intolerance, "Closet Land" is also a distaff "1984," an intricate work that connects domestic with political abuse. The Woman (Stowe), vulnerable in her cotton nightgown, is taken from her bed one night and imprisoned by The Man (Rickman), authoritarian and fully dressed. Her fanciful books about flying cows and cheerful roosters have been deemed subversive, says The Man, who will set her free if she will but sign a confession.

"My stories are cheerful pieces of fluff with no more depth than cotton candy," says The Woman, who insists there must be some mistake. The Man, actually three characters in one, offers her a chance to leave, but she hesitates and the door to the Kafkaesque cell slams. "Why didn't you leave when you could?" asks The Man, who blames her for forcing him to torture her in a variety of horrific ways, such as pulling out her toenails.

Despite all manner of psychological as well as physical torments, the victim retains her dignity while The Man falters. Sexually abused as a child, she learned to escape into a fantasy realm of magical animal friends, a defense that now enables her to overcome the cruelties of her interrogator. Or is he really a doctor and she a patient in a mental hospital?

The subtext, richly mysterious, promises a fascinating denouement between the two characters, but director Radha Bharadwaj comes to the most banal of conclusions. The Indian-born, American-educated filmmaker was inspired by her husband, a member of Amnesty International, and unfortunately allows the politics of that human rights organization to co-opt the story. No matter how worthy her gesture, she has ultimately sacrificed art and its greater truths to the smallness of propaganda.

It is a testament to the talents of Stowe and Rickman that they turn this two-person thriller into so complex and compelling a duet. They manage to overcome not only the off-putting text but the horrid set, a minimalist Gothic affair by Japanese designer Eiko Ishioka. Stowe, who debuted in "Stakeout," brings winsomeness and purity to this consuming role of victim as goddess.

Rickman, who played Valmont in the stage version of "Les Liaisons Dangereuses," brings much of le Vicomte to the role of The Man. He is ruthless, dapper, weak and destructive. There is a tragedy to his villainy that allows a glimpse of the hero who once dwelt here. Still, "Closet Land" is a painful and ultimately unrewarding nightmare of a lesson movie.

"Closet Land' is rated R for violence and partial nudity.

 

 

 

Originally on KelClancy's Page