Taglines: A story of passionate obsession.
The Comfort of Strangers movie storyline. An English couple holiday in Venice to sort out their relationship. There is some friction and distance between them, and we also sense they are being watched. One evening, they lose their way looking for a restaurant, and a stranger invites them to accompany him. He plies them with wine and grotesque stories from his childhood.
They leave disoriented, physically ill, and morally repelled. But, next day, when the stranger sees them in the piazza, they accept an invitation to his sumptuous flat. After this visit, the pair find the depth to face questions about each other, only to be drawn back into the mysterious and menacing fantasies of the stranger and his mate.
The Comfort of Strangers is a 1990 Italian-British drama film directed by Paul Schrader. The screenplay is by Harold Pinter, adapted from a short novel of the same name by Ian McEwan. The film stars Christopher Walken, Natasha Richardson, Rupert Everett, Helen Mirren, Manfredi Aliquo, David Ford, Daniel Franco, Rossana Canghiari and Fabrezio Sergenti Castellani. It was screened out of competition at the 1990 Cannes Film Festival.
About the Story
It is a movie about relationships between two distinct and very different couples. Colin (Rupert Everett) and Mary (Natasha Richardson) are a British couple vacationing in Venice for the second time. They are not married, but Mary has two children, who have been left at home with her mother. We are shown glimpses of a tall man dressed in white, who seems to be observing them from afar.
Late one night, they become lost as they search for a restaurant. As they wander around, they meet Robert (Christopher Walken), the British-Italian owner of a local bar. He is the very elegant-looking man in all white. Over several bottles of wine, he tells them stories about his sadistic father who was an Italian diplomat. Robert also talks of the cruel tricks his younger sisters played upon him.
After this late evening, Colin and Mary try to walk back to their hotel through the labyrinthine streets of Venice. However, they lose their way and are forced to sleep in the streets. In the morning, hung-over and hungry, they make their way to an outdoor restaurant in the square at St Mark’s Basilica. There they see Robert, and after realizing his thoughtlessness at not guiding them back to where they stay, he insists they come back to his home and dine there. They discover he and his wife Caroline (Helen Mirren) live in a spacious Moorish-styled apartment which is like a museum.
The Comfort of Strangers (1990)
Directed by: Paul Schrader
Starring: Christopher Walken, Natasha Richardson, Rupert Everett, Helen Mirren, Manfredi Aliquo, David Ford, Daniel Franco, Rossana Canghiari, Fabrezio Sergenti Castellani
Screenplay by: Harold Pinter
Production Design by: Gianni Quaranta
Cinematography by: Dante Spinotti
Film Editing by: Bill Pankow
Costume Design by: Giorgio Armani
Set Decoration by: Stefano Paltrinieri
Art Direction by: Luigi Marchione
Music by: Angelo Badalamenti
MPAA Rating: R for obsessive and perverse sexuality.
Distributed by: Skouras Pictures
Release Date: September 1, 1990 (Italy), November 30, 1990 (UK)
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