Berlinale 2023: Passages
One of the most baffling reactions among general audiences is when a protagonist is unlikable. There is this lasting current of opinion that a main character has to be a positive figure, a sort of fictional role model that should inspire others to do good. This is a rather narrow-minded way of critiquing art: one of the key features that make humans so beautiful is their great flaws. Most importantly, overt goodness and perfection usually make for very dull narratives.
Enter Tomas (Franz Rogowski), a selfish, narcissistic filmmaker. He is married to Martin (Ben Wishaw), but, after a film shoot, he starts an affair with Agathe (Adèle Exarchopoulos). What ensues is a chaotic love triangle where its central figure, Tomas, is so unlikable yet impossible to look away from: Rogowski delivers arguably one of his finest performances as a director who brings his obsessive control of actors into his personal life. After all, filmmakers are inherently people who want to fix the unfixable and control life, molding it to their liking.
This is what Passages excels so beautifully at: co-writer and director Ira Sachs understands that such a pursuit is pointless and that attempting to manipulate people is toxic and incredibly dangerous. Both Wishaw and Exarchopoulos are wonderfully cast opposite Rogowski as Martin and Agathe: the former uses his trademark quiet demeanour to great effect at contrasting the outgoing nature of his husband, while the latter is so seductive and headstrong that she does not fall prey to the sweet-nothings that Tomas tells her.
Opposites attract, and the conflict born from these three characters makes not only great drama but also unexpectedly great instances of humor. Rogowski especially, whose character always speaks his mind for the worst, is so self-centered and oblivious to other people’s feelings that he stands alongside Cate Blanchett’s Lydia Tár as one of the most delightfully terrible artists to be portrayed on screen in recent years.
Passages would not work as well as it does if it were not for the rich, sensual texture of its setting. The backdrop of Paris, with its cramped apartments, neon-lit clubs, and smokey bars feels as vibrant and alive as the passionate romance that makes Tomas doubt his own identity and sexuality. This is the type of film that grows on viewers over time, be it for its memorable lead character, examination of the toxic behavior of artists, or its exciting, flirtatious, and provocative sexuality. Passages may very well feature one of the most real and passionate scenes of simulated gay sex, a sign that queer sexuality is becoming more normalized and natural in its portrayal on the big screen, and one of many reasons why this picture should be celebrated.