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Center Of The World
Artisan // Unrated // December 18, 2001
List Price: $24.98 [Buy now and save at Amazon]
The Movie:
It's an interesting thing to watch when controversy arises and no one seems to be the least bit interested. This was the case with "Center Of The World", an erotic drama that was released by Artisan earlier this year that was met with audience indifference. The picture (which was originally rated NC-17, but released without a rating) was marketed as a sleek, sexy drama, but it's really nothing of the sort. The film offers up erotic imagery, but there's something particularly cold and unemotional about it that keeps the audience at a distance.
The film stars Peter Sarsgaard as Richard, a dotcomer who has made a sudden fortune for himself, but he still remains displeased with his social situation. To him, computers are the "Center of the world", able to connect those who use them with everything they desire - entertainment, shopping, whatever. He makes an offer to a stripper/drummer named Florence (Molly Parker) to spend a whole weekend with him in Las Vegas for $10,000. She offers up an entire list of rules that he must follow if she's going to do it - both agree, and they're off.
The two are initally uncomfortable with one another, but Florence reaches a point where she realizes that Richard might not be a bad guy and that she might actually be begining to like him. This leads her to back off, scared that this might become something other than a business transaction. There's an interesting drama about isolation, relationships and reality in the age of dotcoms and heavy computer use, but it never really rises to the top here.
"Center Of the World" seems a bit more concerned about the one element that the film used as a selling point in both the ads and the film's website: namely, sex. There's nothing wrong with showing, but it's not particularly interesting if there's not really a point behind it. Many of the film's more explicit scenes seem to just be there to knock the rating towards the NC-17 mark, rather than bring us any closer to understanding who these characters are or really caring about them. The film's promotional push also seemed similar - boasting of the film's sexuality more than anything else about the picture - the performances, etc. The film that these scenes (and the entire film, for that matter) is shot in somewhat grainy digital video makes some of them rather creepy, as well.
The performances aren't bad though. Molly Parker is especially strong as Florence in a terrific dramatic performance. Sarsgaard believably becomes a person whose life has been driven by computers. The film's best moments are a few quiet ones early on that the characters spend together talking about their lives. These are solid enough performances to make the moments where the characters open up to one another interesting enough to watch. We're not quite sure if these people are telling each other the truth at first, but there are subtle gestures to make us believe that the emotional barriers between the two are starting to break down. Of course, it's only moments before they're built back up again.
There's definitely not enough of these moments, though. The film tries to explore several different areas, but during its 88 minute running time, not only does it not deeply explore the topics at hand, but it doesn't really develop its characters that well, either. For instance, we learn that Richard is essentially away from meetings and ruining his chance of an IPO during this time, but we don't know why. There are little bits of interest, but the rest of the picture is essentially empty, cliched and neither sexy or engaging. I found myself more and more bored as it went on. Atom Egoyan's 1995 "Exotica" is a somewhat similar, but considerably better, picture.
The DVD
VIDEO: Artisan presents "Center of the World" in 1.85:1 anamorphic widescreen. The film, which is shot in digital video, certainly does not show the kind of quality that film offers and this particular picture doesn't even show the kind of quality that some other digital video pictures I've seen offers. Filmed in decidedly unslick fashion by usual action cinematographer Mauro Fiore ("Driven", "Lost Souls"), the picture offers images that are not consistently sharp; while they remain crisp, there are moments that look soft and darker scenes that appear murky.
There are some concerns that come up throughout the film, aside from the picture's gritty digital appearance. Some print flaws do appear on occasion throughout the film, such as specks and mild marks. These problems come up only briefly, but are noticable. Only some slight pixelation appears, as did a couple of light instances of edge enhancement.
Colors are a bit richer and warmer during the current sequences and washed out during the flashbacks. Colors do look a bit smeared at times, but not terribly so. This is an okay presentation, but nothing remarkable.
SOUND: "Center of the World" is presented in Dolby Digital 5.1. The film's audio is not particularly active, but given the fact that this is a film that generally takes place indoors, in a hotel room, there's really little need for anything beyond center channel use. The film's audio seems nicely open early on, as the film's score fills the room, but it essentially folds up after that. Quality remained decent, as dialogue seemed clear, but a tad rough at times.
MENUS: The menus (as well as the cover art) continue the feeling that the studio is desperately trying to sell the sexual aspect of the film, as instead of the usual options, we get "explore me", etc.
EXTRAS: Extras include a commentary from director Wayne Wang and post production supervisor Patrick Lindenmaier. Interestingly, this is only a "scene-specific" commentary, rather than a full-length track. Also included are two alternate endings, "behind the cyberscenes" featurette about the making of the website, teaser and theatrical trailer as well as DVD-ROM material, including song clips.
Final Thoughts: "Center of the World" contains two respectable performances in a film that seems like a largely empty space around them, populated by little besides cliches and underdeveloped situations. Artisan's DVD does a fair job presenting the film's audio/video and provides some decent supplements as well. Still, I found little of interest in the film and don't recommend it.
It's an interesting thing to watch when controversy arises and no one seems to be the least bit interested. This was the case with "Center Of The World", an erotic drama that was released by Artisan earlier this year that was met with audience indifference. The picture (which was originally rated NC-17, but released without a rating) was marketed as a sleek, sexy drama, but it's really nothing of the sort. The film offers up erotic imagery, but there's something particularly cold and unemotional about it that keeps the audience at a distance.
The film stars Peter Sarsgaard as Richard, a dotcomer who has made a sudden fortune for himself, but he still remains displeased with his social situation. To him, computers are the "Center of the world", able to connect those who use them with everything they desire - entertainment, shopping, whatever. He makes an offer to a stripper/drummer named Florence (Molly Parker) to spend a whole weekend with him in Las Vegas for $10,000. She offers up an entire list of rules that he must follow if she's going to do it - both agree, and they're off.
The two are initally uncomfortable with one another, but Florence reaches a point where she realizes that Richard might not be a bad guy and that she might actually be begining to like him. This leads her to back off, scared that this might become something other than a business transaction. There's an interesting drama about isolation, relationships and reality in the age of dotcoms and heavy computer use, but it never really rises to the top here.
"Center Of the World" seems a bit more concerned about the one element that the film used as a selling point in both the ads and the film's website: namely, sex. There's nothing wrong with showing, but it's not particularly interesting if there's not really a point behind it. Many of the film's more explicit scenes seem to just be there to knock the rating towards the NC-17 mark, rather than bring us any closer to understanding who these characters are or really caring about them. The film's promotional push also seemed similar - boasting of the film's sexuality more than anything else about the picture - the performances, etc. The film that these scenes (and the entire film, for that matter) is shot in somewhat grainy digital video makes some of them rather creepy, as well.
The performances aren't bad though. Molly Parker is especially strong as Florence in a terrific dramatic performance. Sarsgaard believably becomes a person whose life has been driven by computers. The film's best moments are a few quiet ones early on that the characters spend together talking about their lives. These are solid enough performances to make the moments where the characters open up to one another interesting enough to watch. We're not quite sure if these people are telling each other the truth at first, but there are subtle gestures to make us believe that the emotional barriers between the two are starting to break down. Of course, it's only moments before they're built back up again.
There's definitely not enough of these moments, though. The film tries to explore several different areas, but during its 88 minute running time, not only does it not deeply explore the topics at hand, but it doesn't really develop its characters that well, either. For instance, we learn that Richard is essentially away from meetings and ruining his chance of an IPO during this time, but we don't know why. There are little bits of interest, but the rest of the picture is essentially empty, cliched and neither sexy or engaging. I found myself more and more bored as it went on. Atom Egoyan's 1995 "Exotica" is a somewhat similar, but considerably better, picture.
The DVD
VIDEO: Artisan presents "Center of the World" in 1.85:1 anamorphic widescreen. The film, which is shot in digital video, certainly does not show the kind of quality that film offers and this particular picture doesn't even show the kind of quality that some other digital video pictures I've seen offers. Filmed in decidedly unslick fashion by usual action cinematographer Mauro Fiore ("Driven", "Lost Souls"), the picture offers images that are not consistently sharp; while they remain crisp, there are moments that look soft and darker scenes that appear murky.
There are some concerns that come up throughout the film, aside from the picture's gritty digital appearance. Some print flaws do appear on occasion throughout the film, such as specks and mild marks. These problems come up only briefly, but are noticable. Only some slight pixelation appears, as did a couple of light instances of edge enhancement.
Colors are a bit richer and warmer during the current sequences and washed out during the flashbacks. Colors do look a bit smeared at times, but not terribly so. This is an okay presentation, but nothing remarkable.
SOUND: "Center of the World" is presented in Dolby Digital 5.1. The film's audio is not particularly active, but given the fact that this is a film that generally takes place indoors, in a hotel room, there's really little need for anything beyond center channel use. The film's audio seems nicely open early on, as the film's score fills the room, but it essentially folds up after that. Quality remained decent, as dialogue seemed clear, but a tad rough at times.
MENUS: The menus (as well as the cover art) continue the feeling that the studio is desperately trying to sell the sexual aspect of the film, as instead of the usual options, we get "explore me", etc.
EXTRAS: Extras include a commentary from director Wayne Wang and post production supervisor Patrick Lindenmaier. Interestingly, this is only a "scene-specific" commentary, rather than a full-length track. Also included are two alternate endings, "behind the cyberscenes" featurette about the making of the website, teaser and theatrical trailer as well as DVD-ROM material, including song clips.
Final Thoughts: "Center of the World" contains two respectable performances in a film that seems like a largely empty space around them, populated by little besides cliches and underdeveloped situations. Artisan's DVD does a fair job presenting the film's audio/video and provides some decent supplements as well. Still, I found little of interest in the film and don't recommend it.
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