The Comfort of Strangers (1990) – Paul Schrader
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Saw The Comfort of Strangers (1990) on VHS; at the same time I went to the Fnac and read bits of this 100-page novella. With a runtime of 107 minutes it is probably a better idea (quicker and better) to read this story than see it.

Nevertheless: What will you miss when you read instead of see:

• Music by Angelo Badalamenti
• Armani’s 1980s chic clothing
• Sumptuous interiors of Venetian villa and views Venice itself (armchair travelling)
  
• Saint George slaying the dragon painted by Paolo Uccello
• Christopher Walken
• Screenplay by Harold Pinter
  

Notes:

• Paul Schrader is probably the most ‘European’ of American directors
• Compare the throat slashing in Comfort with the one in Haneke’s Caché.
• What was the drug that Everett’s wife was given: it left her conscious but unable to move?

Most memorable moments:

• “Robert started to hurt me when we made love … Though it took a lot of time, … I liked it.”
• Walken striking Everett in the stomach

Rating (film): Psychological realism 4/10, feelgood factor: 3/10, Oddity value 5/10.