The Loss of Sexual Innocence

Critics Consensus

No consensus yet.

47%

TOMATOMETER

Total Count: 30

60%

Audience Score

User Ratings: 1,395
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Movie Info

Director Mike Figgis, creator of the Academy award-winning Leaving Las Vegas, presented this film's world premiere at the 1999 Sundance Film Festival. The story is made up of non-linear, interconnected episodes about a man at different stages of his life, all of which explicate thematically the film's title. The film also juxtaposes a retelling of the classic biblical fall-from-grace tale of Adam and Eve. We see the leading character, Nic, at 5 years old as a boy in colonial Kenya, at age 16 in swinging London in the '60s, and as a grown man working as a film ethnographer. Each sequence shows how he lost some degree of his sexual innocence, whether it be through love, puberty, or masturbation. Shot all over the world, including Tunisia, Italy, and England, the film is an exploration of sex and loss through the life of one individual.
  • Rating:
    R (adult situations/language, nudity, sex)
  • Genre:
    Drama
  • Directed By:
    Mike Figgis
  • Written By:
    Mike Figgis
  • In Theaters:
     wide
  • On Disc/Streaming:
  • Runtime:
  • Studio:
    Sony Pictures Classics

Cast

Saffron Burrows
as English Twin, Italian Twin
Rodney Charles
as Charlie
Julian Sands
as Nic - as Adult
Jonathan Rhys Meyers
as Nic (age 16)
Stefano Dionisi
as Lucca
Kelly Macdonald
as Susan
John Cowey
as Nic, aged 5
Femi Ogumbanjo
as Adam
Hanne Klintoe
as Eve
Johanna Torrel
as Nic's Wife
George Moktar
as Nic (age 12)
James Bradley
as Band Member
Bernard Hill
Linda Evangelista
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Critic Reviews for The Loss of Sexual Innocence

All Critics (30) | Top Critics (6) | Fresh (14) | Rotten (16)

View All Critic Reviews (30)

Audience Reviews for The Loss of Sexual Innocence

  • Aug 21, 2009
    This plot-free film plays like a stream of dreams. The downside is that it also feels like a film-school experiment driven by Calvin Klein ad aesthetics. The core story is about a filmmaker who has lost much more than the film's provocative title suggests. Scenes in which a curious child evolves to a jaded adult are also intercut with a modern version of Adam and Eve in which a black man and white woman emerge from a small lake. There's enough philosophical and cinematic doodling here for several films.
    Dean M Super Reviewer
  • Aug 21, 2008
    Delicate approach on various,contemporary sexual topics,from the Adam-Eve standard to puzzling tales of liturgical beauty.Figgis' most allegorical film.
    Dimitris S Super Reviewer
  • Aug 09, 2007
    There are some people who can't even get these kind of shots on 35mm.
    Tim S Super Reviewer
  • Apr 07, 2007
    A total f"#ked up mess!! Boring, tedious and terribly directed. Slow pace adds nothing. 25/100
    Edgar C Super Reviewer
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