Whether we care to admit it or not, our relationships —both romantic and platonic — can be transactional. In the absolute best case scenario, both parties in a relationship contribute to a positive feedback loop in which each party derives pleasure and satisfaction from the fulfillment of the other person’s goals and desires, and vice versa. In a worst case scenario, a relationship is governed by an adversarial dynamic in which each party’s actions lead to a downward spiral of jealousy and resentment. Most relationships exist somewhere between these two poles, propelled forward by a process of tacit negotiation in which each individual ultimately gets some, (but not all) of their needs met. As portrayed in today’s (very NSFW) Staff Pick Premiere, this holds especially true for sex. From Swedish director, Jonatan Etzler, “Intercourse” (SXSW 2018), is a daring testament to this critical, yet taboo, undercurrent of contemporary love.
The film centers around a young couple whose relationship is rattled when the boyfriend offers to pay the girlfriend for sex while she is on her period. What initiates as a seemingly playful joke, eventually escalates into a potentially existential threat to the relationship. “I wanted to show that even intimacy can become a commodity,” says director Etzler when asked about story’s central conflict. Even the film’s title is a nod to this notion: “The word ‘intercourse’ actually sounds like a business term to me. It could easily fit in with all the other words a big corporation would use while discussing their latest interim report.” Seeing as sex and money are quite possibly the two most potentially fraught items in any romantic relationship, it’s not surprising that the conflation of the two could have inflammatory implications for a couple.
However, the film is ultimately neither about money nor sex, which instead serve as dramatic propellant to arrive at the film’s central concern of power dynamics within a relationship. Etzler implies that these tensions were simmering beneath the surface of this on-screen relationship, but it’s only when the dynamic takes the physical form of money that the couple must confront the dynamic and one another. From the director’s chair, Etzler strikes an impartial stance, never taking a clear side in the relationship he portrays, which has led to a range of reactions and interpretations from viewers. In a bit of life imitating art, Etzler provides a telling anecdote: “I showed it to a married couple I know — the guy is a sexologist and the girl studies gender. They loved it, but they disagreed so much about the characters (and who’s wrong and who’s right) that they spent the next weeks arguing about it.”
Clearly “Intercrourse” strikes a nerve, so give it a watch with — or maybe without — your significant other.
Editor’s note: Jonatan Etzler is working on a new short! Click here for more information.
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