Love test subjects and depressions

 BAD TIMING: A SENSUAL OBSESSION (1980)

Reviewed by Jerry Saravia

"Bad Timing" gives us micro impressions of a scorching and emotionally troubling affair, and that is probably how it should be. It is a sensual obsession in its strictest terms, dealing with a troubled man who is unwilling to empathize with his partner. His partner has troubles of her own, many of which he cannot bring himself to comprehend. Maybe Freudian analysts all have the same problem.

Of course, not all Freudian analysts look like curly-haired Art Garfunkel in the late 1970's but what do I know.  Garfunkel plays a rather emotionless Dr. Alex Linden, the psychoanalyst who meets free-spirited Milena (Theresa Russell) at a party. He notices her and she replies by blocking his path with her leg, refusing to let him pass. Milena is funny, shrewd, an alcoholic and extremely promiscuous - she flaunts it in front of Alex's eyes and he doesn't mind it at first. He is so taken with her, with her ability to disassociate herself from everything except love. It turns out that Milena is already married to Stefan (Denholm Elliott, in a far too abbreviated role) though she denies it at first. Alex researches her past history with the help of a government agency (long before the Internet adopted search databases) and is aware of her marriage. And...so what? Alex doesn't care if she has affairs yet soon he is seeking commitment from Milena who, in turn, desires to live "in the moment." 

Director Nicolas Roeg can be flamboyant in his flashback editing structure which is often abrupt (as in "Don't Look Now"), from one connected moment of realization to another using a traumatic incident - Milena's attempted suicide and her hospital tracheotomy - as its basis. When Alex sees a red fire extinguisher, it immediately reminds him of Milena's lipstick and her refreshing smile. A gallery showing Gustav Klimt's painting of "Judith and the Head of Holofernes" often mirrors Milena's colorful dresses and, in one particularly garish scene, where she wears Kabuki makeup pronouncing herself as a new version of Milena. Sometimes Roeg opts for crude transitions such as a vaginal exam connected to a moment of ecstasy from an earlier moment in this couple's passionate relationship. Yet Roeg is aiming for something far creepier and more complex - the realization that Dr. Alex Linden is not the most compassionate or lovey-dovey type of guy we think he is. As the film progresses, Linden becomes more analytical in his obsessions and it becomes clear that he is using her as a psychological experiment. He loves her and it is an obsession that leads directly back to his work - a Freudian obsession, perhaps. 

Theresa Russell has a profoundly difficult role here as Milena, a woman with severe clinical depression who is able to find solace and meaning with Alex - she still wants to be that free spirit and we almost sense she may come around for a committed relationship. Art Garfunkel is a man who is nearsighted when it comes to Milena - he wants the love to be reciprocated though we sense that it has to be on his terms only. Curiously both actors don't have much chemistry together but I do believe Russell's Milena is the more optimistic partner. A heartbreaking scene shows her wanting to talk, to have a conversation with Alex, and all he wants is to keep their sex life going and not much more. She becomes distressed and he leaves while she confronts him in the apartment stairway and they fiercely go at it. Milena hates herself, and he got his heavenly moment of ecstasy. If no other proof is needed, this shows how brave and dynamic an actress Theresa Russell really is. 

"Bad Timing" is all about heartbreak, shock, nausea, sexual proclivities and the need to belong to someone, the belief that romance still matters regardless of the mental issues both partners have. Milena seemingly wants to work it out with Alex, whom she painfully loves. Alex has other ideas. This is not a happy film but it is a necessary and mesmerizing one to consider.