The Loss of Sexual Innocence (1999)

At turns both mesmerizing and frustrating, Mike Figgis's 1999 experimental feature interweaves an audacious dramatization of the Adam and Eve myth with autobiographical vignettes from the director's life. In Figgis's golden rendering of the Genesis tale, the first humans are a black man (Femi Ogumbanjo) and a white woman (Hanne Klintoe), who emerge one day, fully formed, from a lake, and regard each other with playful wonder. They discover, like children, their anatomical differences, and explore the surrounding green paradise until coming upon the tree of knowledge. From this they eat and almost instantly reevaluate one another with a steely lust. Thus their, and our, fabled fall from grace ends in the mire of sexual possession and walled-off feeling, a tragedy that Figgis (Leaving Las Vegas) uses as a touchstone for the contemporary story of a filmmaker named Nic (Julian Sands). Nic's own youthful experiences with various kinds of formative humiliation, including finding his teenage girlfriend in bed with his best friend, are presented as flashbacks meant to resonate with his marital unhappiness today. Less clear are other moments out of time that don't particularly connect with Figgis's major theme, especially an odd development in which twin sisters (both played by Saffron Burrows), each unaware of the other's existence, have a fleeting, worlds-are-colliding encounter at an airport. Figgis also reaches into a grab bag of Nic's other old sorrows, things that don't uniquely inform or enhance the film's point, and muddies things up a bit. But the sheer hubris of marrying a myth with a memoir carries the day here, and Figgis leaps the hurdle of potential self-parody with a certain courage. --Tom Keogh Amazon.com

Lost In Vain

I am not here to critique any of the other reviewers who gave this film 5 stars, who called it "ambitious and mesmerizing", which this film is far from. Just here to warn you that this self-indulgent, boring and "Lynch" wannabe should be viewed with a laugh track of its own. Maybe a drinking party game, where every time someone viewing this film says "huh?'", you take a shot. You'll be passed out in no time. And speaking of time...don't waste it on this one. April 23, 2008

Thoroughly disappointed

I read a few reviews here saying things like, "brilliantly ambitious" and "not your mainstream movie" ... how the movie makes you think and how colorful and amazing it is.

Well, it's not. I've seen and enjoyed plenty of other silent, artsy, foreign, or otherwise "non-mainstream" movies, and this is one of the most dull and boring by far. Make that painfully boring. No message, nothing to chew on, no insight. How can a film be considered poignant when everything in it is so blatantly obvious? Not to mention pretentious. The slow panning landscape shots were lackluster and poorly chosen reeking of a low budget and lack of creativity. The only moment that broke the mold was when full nude Adam and Eve urinated in front of each other. +1 star for WTF factor.

I tried to like it, I really did. I sat through straight to the end thinking "surely it has SOME insight...". Alas, I was thoroughly disappointed. March 5, 2008

An ambitious film that fails to deliver.

Although Mike Figgis is perhaps best known for his 1995 romantic drama Leaving Las Vegas, his most ambitious film to date is his 1999 Loss of Sexual Innocence, which tells the autobiographical story of his sexual development as a filmmaker through three stages of his life. In a non-linear plot, the low-budget, grainy film chronicles the sexual coming-of-age of Nic, first as a young boy in Kenya in 1953 (John Cowey), then 10 years later as an adolescent in England (Jonathan Rhys-Meyers), and finally as an adult (Julian Sands). Nic's story is intertwined with the beautifully photographed expulsion from Eden of Adam (Femi Ogunbanjo) and Eve (Hanne Klintoe), played by a black man and a white woman. These two stories are intertwined with yet a third story (entitled "Twins"), which tells the tale of two adult sisters who were separated at birth (both played by Saffron Burrows) as they pass each other in an airport, thereby losing their of innocence and sense of indididuality. The film has little dialogue and relies primarily on imagery (drawn from memory and dreams, and filmed in 16mm with a handheld camera) to convey its message. It is a film that demands the viewer's constant attention. While ambitious, this visually beautiful film aspires to be something more than it actually delivers. Ultimately this fascinating film is about lost sexual illusions (as the title implies) and disillusionment with the world, but the ponderous message gets lost in the artistic material.

G. Merritt February 10, 2008

The Loss of Sexual Innocence

Based to a great extent on the authors life experiences, this film consists of a series of interwoven allegories based on the eternal values of good, evil, and retribution. Autobiographical scenes taken from the authors own life often portray a reality which makes you feel that you may have once been there yourself.
This is one of a handful of films which have to be regarded as great literature. You won't watch it just once. January 13, 2007

OH my goodness

This movie changed my life!!!
the plot line was so good it was awful
i had no idea what the movie was about
it jumped from a dog getting humped to a little blue person being hit by a car
it is amazing
if i had to watch one movie over and over again in my life
this wouldnt be it
but it would be number 2 or 3 on my list because it is that good
now back to the little blue person
what was that about i mean if i hit a little blue guy i would not stop driving
i would actually drive faster
thats just me
but anyways this movie makes you wanna cut your friend in his sleep the apply rubbing alcohol and neosporin to the cut and then put a bandaid on it while your friend is still alseep
thats how good it is
and theres some relgious crap in there too
overall
you must see this movie May 30, 2006

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