Bad Timing 1980 ***

For seekers of extreme cinema, Nicolas Roeg’s Bad Timing is a deeply unlovable but technically astute examination of sexual dependency. In Vienna, Milena (Theresa Russell) takes a fatal overdose, and Roeg’s film flashes back and forward to the painful relationship she has with an ex-pat US professor (Art Garfunkel). Harvey Keitel is a policeman attempting to unravel the truth behind their relationship, while Denholm Elliot and Daniel Massey add some class from the sidelines. Bad Timing is an exhausting film to watch, but deserves plaudits for capturing areas of human relationships that most film-makers shy away from.