Damage (1992)

I remember seeing Damage ages ago, but I'm not sure why I feel like reviewing it just now. Meh, there must be a reason for my remembering it after so long.I don't feel getting into the details of the story is enough to draw someone to the film because if it does, it might be for the wrong reasons... Every plot specification seems so small in comparison to the towering human drama unfolding. Damage is really about two people who, for whatever reason, just need something forbidden and hurtful to feel alive. It is as though their lives made them so unmotivated and sad that they need anything, even pain, to overcome that sadness. Jeremy Irons and Juliette Binoche's characters are forbidden to have a relationship, sexual or not, and yet they simply have to, against all circumstances, aware of the gigantic risks involved.Probably, both characters ask themselves, what do those risks even really mean? Would it really be so terrible? Regardless of the fact that in the end the consequences really do prove terrible, theirs is an understandable situation, if only from their points of view. Both characters seem, and are damaged for various reasons, and their salvation seems to be more damage. A collision of pain that only between them can become pleasure. It's exhausting to watch this film, I remember that. But it's beautiful because it portrays how vital intimacy and understanding between humans is, and how enriching it can be. I mean, what do we live off, how do we give our lives meaning without relationships? We need to communicate, to put in common our experiences and fears and desires in order to evolve and enrich ourselves. How it happens in Damage is sad and pathetic but it's still crucial.Miranda Richardson is great. She's just great. Juliette Binoche bothered me a little, but perhaps it was her incomprehensible character. Jeremy Irons, well, I can never say anything bad about him... here he is intense, damaged, and totally made stupid by his desperation. Just perfect. Finally... erotic yes. sexy, oh my god, no.