Exposed (1983)

Very disappointing...

Great Film overall

A film with more than the usual spoiler issues. Talking about it in any detail feels akin to handing you a gift-wrapped present and saying, "I hope you like it -- It's a thriller about a diabolical secret experiment."

The acting in this movie is really good.

"Exposed" is one of the oddest movies I have seen for a long time. It's so strange at times, it is hard to believe that a major Hollywood studio decided to bankroll and release it. It is easier to believe the reports that it was a box office flop. I wouldn't really call it a bad movie, because there are some good things here and there. The photography is very good, with rich colors and conveying the feeling of coldness when it's winter. The musical score by Georges Delerue is also nice, with also a few pleasant golden oldies thrown in here and there. And the acting is generally good. However, the story is a mess. The movie simply cannot make its mind up as to what it's about. It starts off as a look at a college student getting over a relationship with one of her professors, then moves to becoming a tale about a woman who becomes a heavily in demand professional model (overnight!), then moves to a relationship budding between the movie's heroine and someone somewhat older, then concludes by becoming a thriller about finding and terminating a terrorist! I know that what I just wrote may make the movie sound like something so-bad-it's-good for some bad movie fans, but they will probably find it the way I did - a mess, yes, but a slow moving mess that's not that much fun with any angle you may approach it with. It's not a surprise that the movie today is more or less forgotten.

When I picked this movie out of the sale bin I wasn't really expecting an undiscovered gem, but what a fascinating cast. Like a number of other reviewers, possibly also male, the fact that it starred Nastassja Kinski was almost enough reason to buy it. However it also starred Rudolf Nureyev and that sounded interesting. Also on board were Harvey Keitel and Ian McShane, while further down the cast list was Aussie, Ron Randell in his last movie, and even Bibi Andersson of Ingar Bergman fame. "Exposed" was definitely worth risking $4.99.Of course, buying movies just for the stars is as dangerous as buying them just for the special effects – usually it's like a snack full of empty calories – for proper nourishment; a movie needs a good story. Not that "Exposed" doesn't have a story, it actually has too much story, and it's a pretty whacked one.It's full of ideas that miss the mark, and it's hard to follow. I had to rewind the movie more than once to come up with even a brief summary.Elizabeth Carlson, played by Nastassja Kinski, leaves a Mid-Western college where she has been having an unhappy affair with one of her professors, Leo Boscovitch, an unsympathetic character played rather flatly by James Toback who also wrote and directed the film.Arriving in New York, Elizabeth is discovered by fashion photographer, Greg Miller played by Ian McShane – he sees a great future for that sultry look. She becomes a famous model, and attracts the attention of Daniel Jelline, Rudolf Nureyev's character, a man committed to hunting down a deadly terrorist named Rivas. Daniel also happens to be a world-renowned concert violinist.After following Daniel to Paris, she finds that he has set her up as a lure for Rivas, played by Harvey Keitel. Rivas is obsessed with her from photographs in magazines – thankfully he hasn't created a 'mad wall' with the photos in the best tradition of movie psychos. Elizabeth is in love with Daniel and goes along with his plan. Rivas gets to spout his terrorist philosophy before events come to a head with a shootout on the banks of the Seine.In the end, it's too contrived and too talky; the terrorists may as well have been vampires for all the sense it makes.There is one long scene with Nureyev and Kinski that eventually leads to modest exposure in the bedroom. It's a chance to compare them. According to IMDb he was 1.72m tall and she was 1.69m tall, although in the movie they look about the same height – it could be a case for "Celebrity Heights". He was older, but they were almost a male and female version of the same look – killer cheekbones, smouldering sensuality, hooded eyelids, great lips, a touch of petulance plus accents. They both had lithe bodies and feline grace – after all, the year before she was a sexy cat-person in the otherwise deadly remake of "Cat People".Both performers are low-key. She is good; he is bad – his performance is almost a throwback to silent cinema, maybe he never got over playing Valentino. Anyway, Nureyev will hardly be remembered for his acting.Toback, who had a self-confessed gambling addiction in real life, takes chances with his movies. When he gets it right, such as the screenplay for "The Gambler", he creates a movie that stays with you. Unfortunately "Exposed" is one that doesn't.

Nastassja Kinski gives off an incredibly natural performance in this otherwise quite forgetful film. The plot is strange, convoluted and executed in a roundabout fashion, with many events that just seem randomly shoved together. It is really a mess on the writing front, with little, if any, structure to the screenplay. It is also filled with dislikeable small supporting characters that add nothing to the tale, and towards the end it becomes awfully weak. Even so, there is something really great about Kinski's acting. It never feels forced or unnatural. It is just about worth watching the film just for her, even though it is not terribly well made, nor particularly amusing.

The old saying "One swallow does not make a summer" is particularly apt when discussing this film. There is a soaring performance by Natassja Kinski but other cast members, including Rudolph Nureyev, never get off the ground and remain wallowing in mud. Worst of all the director James Toback is so deep in the mire that he could not even produce a story which the average moviegoer could easily follow. Natassja plays the part of a fashion model who appears to have received so much publicity that she has attracted the attention of undesirable characters, which is perhaps a good basis for a drama. But from this point things go rapidly downhill as it becomes increasingly difficult to get any idea of what is supposed to be going on.For a users rating, one outstanding performance certainly deserves one point; but it is hard to think of any justification for giving this film an additional one, so I will rate it at 1 out of 10 - sorry Natassja, you deserved better.