Intimacy (2001)

Intimacy is a 2001 British film directed by Patrice Chéreau, starring Mark Rylance and Kerry Fox.

Intimacy is an international co-production among production companies in France, the U.K., Germany, and Spain featuring a soundtrack of pop songs from the 1970s and 1980s. It was written by Chéreau with Anne-Louise Trividic, based on stories by Hanif Kureishi (who also wrote a novel of the same title). This mainstream-defined film contains an unsimulated fellatioscene by Fox on Rylance.^[2] A French-dubbed version features voice actors Jean-Hugues Anglade and Nathalie Richard.

The film has been associated with the New French Extremity.

Jay (Rylance) is a bartender who abandoned his family, because his wife lost interest in him and their relationship.

Now living alone in a decrepit house, he has casual weekly sex with an anonymous woman (Fox), whose name he doesn't know. At first, their relationship is purely physical, but he eventually falls in love with her.

Wanting to know more about her, Jay follows her across the streets of London to the grey suburbs where she lives. He then follows her to a pub theatre where she is working as an actress in the evenings. Jay learns that her name is Claire, and she has a husband (Timothy Spall) and a son. Subsequently it is made clear to Jay that Claire will not leave her family. They meet for a final time, and have sex with an intimacy that has been missing during the illicit sex sessions of their previous encounters.