Too many people here seem to miss the point, and dwell with the plot twist, and the sexual nature. That's all there, but the film is about unconditional love, and its implications. The same way many missed the point if Her, talking only about the technology, and not about what that film said about love, commitment, and intimacy.
Listen to the river sing sweet songs
to rock my soul
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Why not? The themes of both films have similarities, and I see both as excellent films.
Listen to the river sing sweet songs
to rock my soul
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I don't understand what you mean by "unconditional love"? If Dil loved Fergus, then he/she should have been honest with him and not tried to deceive him (and I don't believe for a moment that he/she "thought he knew" about Dil's anatomy).
Dil was lonely, and so was Fergus. They were attracted to each other. They had a common history, even though they did not know it at first. That's about it. There was never any "love" between them.
Fergus felt attracted to, and in love with Dil. That's how I read it.
Listen to the river sing sweet songs
to rock my soul
Dil never tried to deceive Fergus. As she correctly asked him after he ran into the bathroom: "What were you doing in the bar if you didn't know?"
Fergus missed the clues. That's hardly Dil's fault.
I see the film more as Dil wanting to be accepted by someone who treated her nice and Fergus as basically being a kind man who feels obligation to Dil out of guilt over Jodys death...I didnt see much love there at all
shareDefinitely, but I think people interpreting their relationship comes solely on their own upbringing and experiences. In my mind there was never a doubt that they were indeed in love, Fergus wasn't doing it out of guilt nor out of loneliness...love just happened to them and that was it, pure unconditional love.
First of all the film has to be put in context, The Crying Game was somewhat revolutionary in many aspects: it portrayed a character like Dil in a very respectful human light and it cared to develop her relationship with Fergus/Jimmy in a time where it just wasn't seen (it was released the same year a coalition of gay and lesbian organizations marched on the Academy Awards to protest Hollywood's homophobia) so it had to be done in a very "tasteful non alienating way". I also see many people here complaining about Dil not being hard on the frontal nude scene, that is also because of the times, it might have not made it to screen that way and that scene was crucial to the plot. There's an interview with Stephen Rea (Fergus/Jimmy) that talks about some of those things:
On the plot twist and the times:
"It was just a completely different world at that time, wasn’t it? Hard to imagine, but that was what was so touching about it was that people really listened to Harvey Weinstein and said, "Okay we won’t tell." It’s kind of rather sweet. It’s like Santa Claus, you know?"
On Fergus being in love with Dil:
"The big turning point in the film is when Fergus says to her, "Look, I can’t go on with this because you’re … " And she says, "Why not?" and he says, "You’re a guy! I can’t do this …" and Dil says, "Okay. I understand. Just kiss me once before you go." And then, he kisses her and it’s terribly beautiful because he does love this person. To me, the kiss is more potent than the big shlong, if you’ll excuse the expression."
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I live in the weak and the wounded.