Claire (Kerry Fox) and Jay (Mark Rylance) meet on Wednesdays and make love. Without speaking, they share each other's bodies and desires. One day, Claire doesn't show, so Jay decides to find out more about his mysterious captivating lover. The only English-language film from acclaimed filmmaker Patrice Chereau (La Reine Margot), Intimacy was notorious upon its release for its inclusion of explicit sex scenes, but is perhaps now more intriguing to contemporary viewers for featuring Mark Rylance in an early lead role, when he was more renowned for his theatre work and some fifteen years before his Hollywood breakout in Spielberg's Bridge of Spies. Based on a story by Hanif Kureishi (My Beautiful Laundrette), the film is a fascinating example of an outsider's take on what would usually be classed as British social realism; with its focus on emotionally aloof characters striving to find connection amid the harsh locales of South London. Presented here in its unrated 120-minute version as opposed to the 107m cut seen in US cinemas.
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