Bad Timing

Roeg's last great film: a troubled picture about a troubled romance
Seen a quarter of a century on, 'Bad Timing' stands out as one of Nicolas Roeg's most satisfying and complex films and yet it can be one of his hardest to discuss. It's a film I feel a little guilty about writing so little about, but even on a second viewing it's still rather overwhelming. It's interesting how it manages to be so genuinely multi-layered, more like a novel than a film - the way it mixes voyeurism, spying and emotional, psychological and legal investigation (with Keitel's investigation of the suicide scene placing him firmly in scenes as an unseen voyeur through Terry Rawlings typically brilliant editing) is remarkable enough, but the film manages to do so much more besides. And the performances are incredibly brave - how many leading men can you think of who would effectively (and quite deliberately effeminately) play the woman's role during the lovers' initial meeting? Russell in particular shows an astonishing range in what should be an impossible part, making her...

SEXUAL OBSESSION'S DARK SIDE
Nicolas Roeg fell in love with and married Theresa Russell, his leading lady in 1980's the little known BAD TIMING (Criterion) and it is easy to see why. Russell is a sexualized force of nature as the troubled Milena.

Set mostly in cold war Vienna, Milena interacts with the various men in her life. But it is Milena herself that is central to all that happens because she is not only beautiful but also sadly flawed. Is it a borderline personality disorder, a damaged childhood, or a bi-polar illness? Or is she just a self-centered, spoiled brat? Whatever, the problem, it makes for a fascinating, character-driven story as Milena's life impacts a psychoanalyst (Art Garfunkle), a detective (Harvey Keitel) and her older husband.

As expected from Roeg, a highly regarded cinematographer, the digital transfer of the carefully composed film is stunning. But what created the biggest stir when it was initially released was the raw sexuality and eyebrow raising body-part...

A very good Roeg period piece
Innovative use of camera and flash-back sequences that might very well have inspired Tarentino distinguish this early 1980s classic, with memorable performances, even from Theresa Russell, and an understated script that reveals more through what is not said. The use of Klimt art work and the overall backdrop of the Vienna of Freud and Wittgenstein underscore the wistfulness of a once-grand intellectual centre in the same slow decay as the relationship depicted between Russell and Garfunkel. Denholm Eliott and Harvey Keitel give brilliantly understated supporting perfomances.

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