Still in time for the Biennale! For more cultural context on Erotic Thrillers of the era, see Karina Longworth’s excellent film history podcast, You Must Remember This, seasons on the Erotic 80s and Erotic 90s. Passages below excerpted from contemporary reviews by Vincent Canby (The New York Times, March 29, 1991), Roger Ebert (The Chicago Sun Times, April 12, 1991), and Peter Travers (Rolling Stone, March 29, 1991).

“It’s pretentious, too, and sometimes maddeningly dull. But the erotically unsettling atmosphere – exquisitely rendered by cinematographer Dante Spinotti – soon seeps in.” – PT

“Walken plays a Venetian aristocrat named Robert. Nattily decked out in a white suit, he follows an attractive British couple – Mary (Natasha Richardson) and Colin (Rupert Everett) – around the streets and canals, surreptitiously taking photos.” – PT

“Walken, however, gives it the works. He stalks the alleys of Venice like a vampire ready to pounce. But Mary and Colin don’t see the danger in this seductively malevolent presence. Even when Robert’s behavior grows increasingly menacing, they are drawn into his web.” – PT

“There is always the sense there of a corner not turned, a passage left unexplored, a lost building, a hidden place where unspeakable practices take place. The city is so old, so twisted in upon itself, that it has not been tamed and aired and sanitized. It is possible, we feel, that a Robert and Caroline could be living there somewhere, lazily, in languor, venturing out occasionally to the piazzas and cafes to strike up a conversation with pleasant strangers.” – RE

“As photographed by Dante Spinotti and with production design by Gianni Quaranta, the movie also looks appropriately rich and, like Robert and Caroline, self-indulged.” – VC

“When they wake up that evening, they are in a great bedroom in a spectacular apartment with a panoramic view of Venice. But their clothes have vanished.” – VC

“As in the opening of the film, when the camera moves through the empty rooms of Robert’s rented apartment, “The Comfort of Strangers” sees all but never allows itself the comfort of either easy analysis or moral judgment. That is up to the audience.” – VC

The Comfort of Strangers / Director: Paul Schrader / Writer: Harold Pinter (adapted from the novel by Ian McEwan) / Producers: Mario Cotone, Linda Reisman, Angelo Rizzoli Jr., John Thompson / Director of Photography: Dante Spinotti / Editor: Bill Pankow / Production Designer: Gianni Quaranta / Art Director: Luigi Marchione / Set Decorator: Stefano Paltrinieri / Venice Location Manager: Giorgio Padoan