I remember seeing this film on VHS back in 1997 and falling in love with the speeches but failing to understand the implications and undertones of the piece. Rewatching it on Criterion's DVD really brought home how magnificent the film is and how much of a tradegy it is that it became Leigh's lost film. With a lack of a British DVD the film is seemingly somewhat unknown in the UK.
The film follows Johnny (David Thewlis) an intelligent but bitter young man who loathes weakness and vindicates himself by hurting others. After a sexual encounter in his hometown goes wrong Johnny flees to London to escape a beating and finds himself once again affecting his ex-girlfriends life and the lives of everyone he meets.
It's an interesting film in that Johnny is a repulsive person, cruel, bitter, cynical and only seeking pleasure in hurting others. But he is also eloquent and magnetic in his personality, able to sermonise on evolution, prophecy and chaos theory with meticulous skill. He's a charmer who is always armed with a joke and who destroys those he allows to get close.
What saves Johnny as a character are moments of general humanism and an overt correlation with a sleazy upper class landlord who has Johnny's propensity for destruction but none of his charm.
Beautifully shot with a baroque score and accomplished performances from everyone involved Naked is one of those rare films which offers a slice of a specific time but also feels refreshingly modern (despite the doomsday references).
The film follows Johnny (David Thewlis) an intelligent but bitter young man who loathes weakness and vindicates himself by hurting others. After a sexual encounter in his hometown goes wrong Johnny flees to London to escape a beating and finds himself once again affecting his ex-girlfriends life and the lives of everyone he meets.
It's an interesting film in that Johnny is a repulsive person, cruel, bitter, cynical and only seeking pleasure in hurting others. But he is also eloquent and magnetic in his personality, able to sermonise on evolution, prophecy and chaos theory with meticulous skill. He's a charmer who is always armed with a joke and who destroys those he allows to get close.
What saves Johnny as a character are moments of general humanism and an overt correlation with a sleazy upper class landlord who has Johnny's propensity for destruction but none of his charm.
Beautifully shot with a baroque score and accomplished performances from everyone involved Naked is one of those rare films which offers a slice of a specific time but also feels refreshingly modern (despite the doomsday references).
