Carnal Knowledge (1971)

This movie is one of the most accurate reflections of the sixties' sexual revolution, as well as perennial sexual ambiguity throughout someone's entire adult existence! It's about knowing that there are no strings attached, and that it is, in fact, just sexual intercourse and nothing else!! All is fine and good except one thing....YOU GOT MARRIED!!!!...Now enters the commitment, or shall I say, lack of it...There is a cynical outlook on each other.....The verbal abuse that is the end result of a relationship that has nothing but sex to offer, serves as an acrimonious aftermath to everyone's insincerity!! Some people (Ann Margaret) give up in life....Some people (Art Garfunkel) get resentful and searching...And others (Such as Jack Nicholson) remain misunderstood even to himself!! The college day's fiasco with Candace Bergen (Between Jack Nicholson and Art Garfunkel) should have served as a harbinger of things to come!! Instead, the hedonistic challenge casual sex provided for everybody, not only made people oblivious to the negative emotional battleground casual sex had the potential for presenting, but it established a pattern of recklessness for everybody's self centered priorities!! The prestige of being a Central Park West intellectual evokes an aura of false confidence, and it is evident that New York City merely spreads out the welcome mat for adversity before most any place else!! All of these theatrics simply translate to callous gratification! This is a film where people talk to one another, but it doesn't work out......So they have sex, they know they will grow tired of it, but when this occurs, they can't accept it either!!! Popular scapegoats seem to be; confusion, idealistic notions which have turned to blatant misconceptions, a distasteful awakening with selfishness, and disgruntled generalizations that "Women are all ball-busters!!" (Not just independent!!) It becomes a living nightmare for all of the characters concerned to distinguish between casual sex, and apathetic hobby!!! All of them are isolated by the negative consequences of casual sex!!! Jack Nicholson's condescension from a sex surrogate (Rita Moreno) denounces meagerness, and thus, becomes a form of precarious vindication which will give the movie audience a thorough comprehension of the type of person Jack Nicholson's character is, and always will be too!! Mike Nichols is a fabulous director, and this film is compelling in it's ability to tell the truth!!! The camera angles in this movie are spectacular! This film is very controversial for the time it was made because it brought to the attention of the movie viewer that the erroneous perceptions about recreational sex, and the truth about recreational sex are about as compatible a mixture as oil and water!! Nobody in this movie had any compunction about throwing necessary caution to the wind! The depiction of such people in "Carnal Knowledge" was very astute! Above all else with regards to this film, recognize the amazing array of talent this movie possesses!!

Fmovies: For the first half hour the characters are so disgusting and terrible, the feeling of bile rising in my throat doesn't subside. These are the people who I have known. And while I cannot bring myself to turn it off, I also can't help but fondly remember watching all of his movies that he made before this one, the spark that say The Graduate or Catch-22 had, and this just feels a little flat. But at the same time, it seems to completely succeed in doing what it sets out to do, creating something suffocatingly real, like watching the most depressing moments in my life played back for me with dim lighting and blonder actresses. The fact that Candice Bergen goes away after that also helps. Upper middle class ennui is something that's almost always tedious to watch, but this is actually affecting. Nonetheless, this feels like the beginning of the end for Mike Nichols. He would never again make anything on a level with Catch-22, and he followed this one up with Day of the Dolphins. Seriously. wtf. Also for the curious, pop star Arthur Garfunkle (as the back of the DVD box puts it) gives a surprisingly strong performance in this.

Just like Nichols' later masterpiece Closer, Carnal Knowledge expertly deals with romances falling apart, coming back together and the study of lust and it's many complications. And just like Closer the dialogue and relationships in the film feel more authentic than virtually anything else I've ever seen. All of the arguments and especially the conversations between Jonathan and Sandy felt so natural, humorous and somewhat depressing. It evoked all of the emotions that lust in life does and perfectly demonstrates how rare true love and happiness is. The performances were all incredible and Ann-Margret more than deserved her nomination (the win in my opinion) but Jack Nicholson really shines above the rest of the cast. His realism, intensity and humor was top-notch to say the least. He also displays this internal pain that I can't even describe, but stunned me to my core. I felt like I could really relate to the character and that made his actions even more devastating to me.

Carnal Knowledge fmovies. A talky, oddly stage-bound film (though it's not based on a stage play) that nevertheless exerts a kind of raw emotional tug on the viewer.

Jack Nicholson and Art Garfunkel (yes, you read that correctly) begin as college chums on a never-ending hunt for female tail, and end the film as stifled adults, still filling their lives with emotionally empty physical affairs that do nothing to fill the yawning void of their boring existences. Sound depressing? It is, but it's also rather fascinating, due to a sharp script and excellent acting.

This came out at a time when Jack Nicholson was actually playing characters in movies other than Jack Nicholson, and he does fine work here as the more virile and experienced of the two friends. Candice Bergen is also in fine form in a very dramatic role, a far cry from the comedic roles with which we've come to associate her. And Ann-Margret won a lot of acclaim (and the film's sole Oscar nomination) for her brief performance as the sex-pot basket case Bobbie, the target of Nicholson's emotional abuse.

"Carnal Knowledge" is entertaining as an intellectual exercise, but it may leave you cold on a deeper, more emotional level, as no one, not even the women, are especially likable or sympathetic. It came out at a time in our cultural history when "free love" was in vogue, and seemed to suggest that the price people payed for indulging that urge was high and that people turned to casual sex more as an excuse for avoiding significant human contact than as a way to more fully enjoy living. Certainly these emotionally stunted characters seem no better off for all of their care-free indulgence in pleasure.

In many ways, "Carnal Knowledge" seems to be the movie Mike Nichols' other 4-person relationship drama, "Closer," wanted to be, and he would have been wise to approach the material in "Closer" in a similar way as the material here. The staginess in "Carnal Knowledge" works. These people seem to exist in a plane of existence just a fraction removed from the one in which the rest of us live. It's like they live in a vacuum where they're the only people who matter, an airless atmosphere that serves as a fitting backdrop for their selfish behavior.

Probably not one of the more important films from this fertile period for film making, but worth checking out.

Grade: B+

Telling the sordid, often depressing story of two men and their sexual hangups over several decades, director Mike Nichols and writer Jules Fieffer concoct a thinking man's dirty movie. At times it's not easy to watch, but it's mostly entertaining and beautifully made. Jack Nicholson and Art Garfunkel are the men ---Nicholson is the callous, emotionally detached one, Garfunkel is the romantic. He marries college sweetheart Candice Bergen, while Nicholson shacks up with sexy Ann-Margret. The scenes with Nicholson and Ann-Margret are cringe-inducing. Nicholson, Garfunkel and Bergen are terrific and Nichol's clever casting of Ann-Margret, putting her sex kitten image through the blender, pays off in spades...she's the best thing in the movie. The supporting cast includes Carol Kane and Rita Moreno.

The plot begins with Jonathan (Jack Nicholson) and Sandy (Art Garfunkel) roommates in the university. Each one of them has a different behavior and experience with women: Jonathan is cynical, malicious, and selfish. He does not respect anybody (even his best friend is not respected) and just want to have sex. Women are objects for him. Sandy is almost the opposite of Jonathan and has a different approach with women: he is shy and respectful, he does not have much experience with women. These characteristics are presented in the film having Susan (the gorgeous Candice Bergen, the most beautiful actress of the 70's) as pivot. Then the story advances a few years and shows both of them successful in their professions and boring with their mates. The character of Susan (who married Sandy) is just occasionally mentioned and does not appear on the screen any more. Now, we see basically the relationship of Jonathan with Bobbie (the sexy Ann-Margret). Then, there is another jump in time and other relationship of Jonathan and Sandy are presented in this movie, since its essence is about relationship of men and woman having the focus mainly in Jonathan.

In 1971, I was too young to watch this movie and certainly I would not understand most of the story. Only a couple of days ago I had the chance of seeing it. It is amazing how this movie for adults has not aged. Further, it does not look like an American movie. The camera, the screenplay, it does look like European movie (maybe a little of 'Jules and Jim'). All the actors and actresses have outstanding performance, but certainly Jack Nicholson and Ann-Margret are superb. My vote is seven.

Title (Brazil): "Ânsia de Amar" ("Eagerness for Love")

Note: On 18 January 2014, I saw this movie again.