The camera pans across a man asleep on a couch surrounded by a messy apartment. The doorbell rings. He jolts awake. Outside a woman waits. He asks if this meeting was planned, she replies no. Entering past him conversation is minimal as he prepares coffee. Crossing together into another disarrayed room, they share a brief awkward exchange before the woman abruptly moves closer as the man grabs her and they have sex on the floor.

That's the introduction but as Intimacy, Director Patrice Chereau's 2001 film progresses we learn that the man, Jay, separated from his wife over a year ago, sees his children weekends and is head barman at a local club. Meanwhile, his married lover Claire has a son and performs in local theater productions as an aspiring actor while teaching amateur acting classes. Primitive weekly sex is all that unite the two.

Barely speaking, they don't go out together in public only knowing a physical connection. Compelled to know Claire better, Jay follows her one day to a theatre where as she performs on stage, Jay unwittingly befriends her husband. To say more would reveal too much.

Intimacy is more about the search rather than the realization. Jay and Claire achieve no real intimacy in their clandestine affair. Claire seeks physical fulfillment her portly husband can't provide, while Jay tries filling an emotional void left by his broken family.

Intimate encounters breed not intimacy, as the pair's bond remains superficial. Mental disconnection between Jay and Claire is impossible to ignore despite desperate attempts to grasp something tangible. The impersonal nature of the relationship intensifies as emotional distance becomes palpable.

Despite the yoke of sex shouldering Jay and Claire together, true intimacy finally develops through male bonding between Jay and Claire’s husband. Through several conversations, emotional depth grows between the men.

Chereau directs wonderfully as the actors draw us into this tale of lost souls, realistically demonstrating the interplay between needing closeness and keeping distant. The gap between lovers is convincingly conveyed in awkward scenes of unbridled passion. There is no seamless sensuality only clumsy sex positions and frequent fumbling for condoms.

The director adeptly engages his actors in meaningful dialogue with the audience through conversations on screen. In one powerful scene, Jay questions Claire’s husband about the hypothetical repercussions if his wife were cheating. We understand immediately by his tone that Jay feels sorry his lover's unknowing spouse and for himself reflecting upon the destruction of his own marriage.

Intimacy caused a stir in Britain when released. I saw an edited version that had nudity but nothing more scandalous than most R-rated Hollywood films. The uncut original is far more graphic including a controversial fellatio scene. I believe that the unedited version would heighten the sense of distance between sex and emotion further solidifying my reaction to the characters.

Unlike most films I've reviewed thus far, Intimacy delves into characters' emotional lives with truth and believability to which not everyone relates directly but all live vicariously throughout. Not the “feel good movie of the year” - Intimacy is worth it for fans of good drama with a sexual edge.