There are a few easy answers to this one. Here are two that immediately spring to mind:
1. Portman's character enjoys dominating Jack. It's an addictive sub/dom relationship that Jack, despite his attempts to seem like a bad-ass, cannot resist regressing back into. He gives Portman's character permission to visit, gives her his room number, hastily cleans his room and carefully selects Peter Sarstedt's "Where Do You Go To (My Lovely)" for her entrance. On the part of Portman's character, she clearly relishes the psychosexual hold she has on Jack and knows that he will take her back, if only for a night. Which leads to the second point...
2. Portman's character has been physically abused by a man (boyfriend?) and flees to Jack so that she can return to a dominating role where she is more comfortable. By proving to herself that she still has what it takes to ensnare Jack, her confidence is restored.
Those theories don't require great leaps of logic or analysis, but that doesn't mean they're right. There is plenty going on here and Jack, despite all other indications, might be speaking honestly when he denies any feelings Portman's character. What do you think?
Why Does Portman Seek Out Jack?
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5 comments:
Like Owen Wilson's Francis Whitman, perhaps Natalie Portman's character has had a near death experience. Her injuries could be indicative of a fall down stairs. This may have jarred her and lead her to seek comfort in the arms of her former beau.
Hotel Chevalier was Short of the Week a couple weeks back. Check out the review they posted at Short of the Week.
What about the doll he pulls out of the wrapped newspaper and puts on display, while Portman's character goes straight to it upon entering. Deeper meaning there?
i never had the impression of a power relationship as the website says. Tho i did flirt with the idea that someone abused her and thats how she got the bruises. I like flawlesswalrus' theroy, feels nicer!
I think they had a fall out in thier long relationship and he ran away to paris. She probably got involved with some other man, as a sort of rebound. And he was a asshole and it made her remember her former love.
I think he is protecting himself by saying things like I dont care, when she says i love you. I felt it implied that he did not mean it.
He is a collector. Look at his room. He keeps mementos from travels and relationships. Notice the tiny Victrolas or music boxes that appear more than once in both films. In the full-length feature, he keeps the treats from "Sweet Lime" and eats them contemplatively later.
He also seems to get involved with waifish women for brief yet passionate, perhaps illicit, sex. Perhaps he collects this type of woman.
However, the Natalie Portman character will not allow herself to enter his menagerie. She remains her own woman. The doll that he displays just before she enters the hotel room clearly symbolizes what he would like their relationship to become. He's the owner, she the kept woman.
Keepsakes and codes? He still has the code to her voicemail, which he checks from India. He can be terribly controlling, yet he also flees relationships at the first hint that he's the one who has fallen under the control of a lover.
Thanks for that hint, Andrew.
What's the relationship between the tiny working(!) Victrola/music box and the iPod?
Josh Brewer
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