Arnow’s debut film is a satirical, rather than sensational, representation of BDSM.
After having watched The Feeling that the Time for Doing Something Has Passed with my friend at the last Indie Memphis Festival, she later commented that this film had easily the most hype sex and yet it was the least sexy film she has ever seen. While that may seem an insult in a picture at first sight, it was a great praise to the film in the context of what the feelings and what the themes had been set out by the director, Joanna Arnow.
The random bits and pieces that make up Ann’s life are also introduced in The Feeling Ann is played by Arnow as a Jewish woman living in Brooklyn such as her dreary office job and her BDSM relationship with dominant Allen (Scott Cohen), various episodes of her life with partners (Babak Tafti) and sex acquaintances.
Arnow narrates the tale of a New York woman’s sex life with a satirical touch while using a lot of BDSM imagery to present the ‘normalcy’ of it all. In this interview at Cannes, Arnow argues that the depiction of sexual scenes in her films is not about being radical and controversial, but about “purely presenting the moments that are logical within the story, but humorously doing this.” The position is rather that of being bemused when observing Ann’s BDSM lovers, and what they do, Who are these people? This is silly, dull, and amusing all at the same time. Why? Because ordinary things tend to seem weird when viewed from the outside.
When Cohen’s Allen makes Ann go up and down the room with a naked upper body and suck his nipples in between, one cannot help but chuckle a bit. One may witness a sexual act but it is hard to say it’s “hot,” especially for those who are merely peeking through the window. She argues eloquently that it is the other way here. If someone were to look at us in the bed, bet, never since a normal life, how many times do our invasions occur? For those of a modest belief, Arnow at least dares to welcome such vindication.
And it’s also not the first time where Arnow is engaging herself with these sexual undertones. She even goes as far as casting herself and her parents in the film. Arnow explores sexuality in her 2013 documentary, I Hate Myself :), where she lives with her boy tempestuously for a year. Sadly I couldn’t find it to screen when I do wish to see how her structure of skein works around the masochism, the internalized oppression, the quest for being desired, and the solitude.
There’s a brilliant self-awareness with which it seems these intimate themes in particular are being dealt with in Arnow’s films. Perhaps this was the exact reason why she was able to portray Anne as a character so well, with her jaded humor (one of her selfies shows a profile in which she stated it’s annoying when “people get too upset over 9/11”) and her cold yet endearing nature.
Nevertheless, in addition to the personal, the director/actor/writer has a wider scope and she is also especially good at drawing out the ridiculousness and the banality of the everyday. Be it short, edited segments of telephone interviews, prolonged close-up shots of sexual activity, or the, no less repulsive, scene of a woman pouring water from a pouch Arnows essentially understands how to edit a movie about awkward and unfortunate moments in humanity. As much as it does contain that aspect, the film is just as in touch with some of the emotions of a viewer who would have rubbed necks with Judith in the hallway of an ASFA or MVA prep classroom. One may not find it difficult to imagine how a Brooklyn-located, dom-to-be Jewish woman is, never mind a Russian lady.
So then, the way we get to the point, the film is rough around the edges in places, and it is most probably appealing to a very specific set of viewers. But The Feeling That the Time for Doing Something Has Passed together with its weaknesses is much more impressive, thinking of the matter not raising nonsense of BDSM relations and an interesting story arc of Ann. Perhaps there is a white Russian lady about whom Arnow is writing in the film, but for the time being it seems that Arnow is the one to look up to.
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