NOW & LATER is the story of a brief encounter of two unlikely lovers: Bill (James Wortham) a former international banker, now a fugitive, and Angela (Shari Solanis), a beautiful, altruistic Latina who shelters him.
At the top of his game, trading debt of emerging countries, Bill was part of a team of bankers who arbitraged Argentinean bonds for quick profits. When Argentina’s elections didn’t go as planned, Bill’s bank dropped their strategy. But Bill, a “Master of the Universe”, went rogue and continued to trade the bank’s funds. Sentenced to eight years in prison, abandoned by his wife and friends, and nearly suicidal, Bill jumps bail with the help of his former driver, Luis, who helps devise his escape route to Central America. On the first leg of his journey Bill is taken to East Los Angeles where Luis’ friend, Angela, hides him in her squatter’s loft, a space she’s transformed into a kind of magical oasis – ironically, just blocks from his former office building.
Health care volunteer by day, waitress by night, Angela is an illegal immigrant and a full-time free spirit, whose political views were formed by her traumatic childhood in Nicaragua. Orphaned and on her own—her parents, educators by profession, were killed by the Contras—Angela’s learned to grab life’s fleeting moments and get as much pleasure from them as she can. But she is far from a hedonist. Comfortable in her own skin, she believes that physical pleasure and freedom are human rights.
Though Angela sees Bill’s life as an example of everything she detests, she feels sympathy for him and offers to enlighten him about his deferred gratifications and the ripple effect of his life of excess. He accepts, as he has “nothing to loose”. Step by step Bill is stripped of his inhibitions and confronts his own self-loathing. He becomes addicted to Angela’s freedom and by the end of their encounter he is able ask for and reach a kind of intimacy he’s never had.
Director Philippe Diaz was raised in Europe, studied philosophy at the Sorbonne and was inspired by Wilhelm Reich’s work on sexuality and politics, specifically noting that societies where natural sexual impulses are repressed tend to exhibit more violent tendencies. Since moving to this country Diaz has been “shocked to see how everything about sex is banned or taboo yet violence, even extreme violence, is available for anyone to see at anytime…. How is it,” he asks, “that something so vital to life – sex – is bad. I wanted to make a film about a real, passionate relationship where sex is portrayed on screen as a natural part of life…like it should be.”
Introducing: Shari Solanis, James Wortham
Drama – 99 min.
Rating: Unrated
NOW & LATER is part of UNRATED: A WEEK of SEX IN CINEMA, a showcase which allows audiences to revisit popular and controversial films that push buttons and boundaries for their frank and explicit portrayals of sex. UNRATED: A WEEK of SEX IN CINEMA includes: 9 SONGS; ANTICHRIST; BETTY BLUE; THIS FILM IS NOT YET RATED; and SHORTBUS. Show times are available at www.nowandlaterthemovie.com
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