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The Five Senses

Play trailer Poster for The Five Senses R 1999 1h 45m Drama Play Trailer Watchlist
Watchlist Tomatometer Popcornmeter
74% Tomatometer 34 Reviews 80% Popcornmeter 1,000+ Ratings
"The Five Senses" is a drama pivoting around the five senses -- touch, taste, hearing, smell and vision -- and the impact that each has on a group of individuals searching for an intimate human connection. The story takes place in Toronto over an intense three-day period in which a young child has disappeared, galvanizing the public and media's attention. Against this dramatic backdrop, five characters that live or work in the same building explore the primary senses in very personal ways.

Critics Reviews

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Roger Ebert Chicago Sun-Times 01/01/2000
3/4
A story like Five Senses sounds like a gimmick, but Podeswa has a light touch when dealing with the senses and a sure one when telling his stories. Go to Full Review Emanuel Levy EmanuelLevy.Com 08/03/2009
C+
The second feature by the openly gay Canadian director interweaves in a rather schematic mode but with elegant style the stories of five troubled characters, each standing for one of the senses. Go to Full Review MaryAnn Johanson Flick Filosopher 12/30/2006
[A]n uncomfortable, poignant, and often ineffably sad film about death, loss, and loneliness, much of which is left unresolved. Go to Full Review Film Threat 12/06/2005
4/5
Jeanne Aufmuth Palo Alto Weekly 05/14/2003
2/4
Joshua Tanzer Offoffoff 04/29/2003
3.5/4
You'll probably think in a new way about the sounds and the music, the look of places and people, how much or little you take note of the scents and sensations of daily life. Go to Full Review Read all reviews

Audience Reviews

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03/16/2019 Gets better with each year and each viewing. This is a masterpiece but most critics were too ego-driven or too-stupid to see when it was first released. See more 10/08/2015 The Five Senses is your (mostly) typical indie urban drama with intersecting lives and stories. The vibe is very late nineties and overall it is nicely done in terms of acting and directing. Something about it makes me rate it a bit higher than films like "13 Conversations About One Thing". I think (contrary to some other reviewers) that it has more heart and a better sense of humor than similar dramas. See more 04/29/2014 I like movies that make me think - especially when they interweave the characters See more 01/24/2014 Beautifully contemplative ... mind not the melancholy. See more 01/09/2011 Decent piece about various characters looking/longing for many things that have themes with the human senses. But a rather blah movie. See more 11/12/2010 This film is beautifully poetic in its construction. Wonderfully scripted and georgously shot, it's an interesting concept, trying to show the world through the character's basic senses, and while it does kind of beat you over the head with the idea of the five senses (you have a cake decorator, an ear doctor, a masuse) it does so ever so subly if that is possible. Ambiguous, up-lifting and depressing all at once. See more Read all reviews
The Five Senses

My Rating

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Cast & Crew

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Mary-Louise Parker

Rona

Philippe Volter

Richard

Gabrielle Rose

Ruth

Daniel MacIvor

Robert

Nadia Litz

Rachel Seraph

Molly Parker

Anna Miller

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The Five Senses

Mary-Louise Parker (Rona, left) and Marco Leonardi (Roberto). Philippe Volter (Richard, left) and Pascale Bussières (Gail). Writer/Director Jeremy Podeswa. Gabrielle Rose (Ruth). Daniel MacIvor (Robert, left) and Mary-Louise Parker (Rona). Daniel MacIvor (Robert, left), Mary-Louise Parker (Rona, middle) and Marco Leonardi (Roberto). The Five Senses (1999) View more photos

Movie Info

Synopsis "The Five Senses" is a drama pivoting around the five senses -- touch, taste, hearing, smell and vision -- and the impact that each has on a group of individuals searching for an intimate human connection. The story takes place in Toronto over an intense three-day period in which a young child has disappeared, galvanizing the public and media's attention. Against this dramatic backdrop, five characters that live or work in the same building explore the primary senses in very personal ways.
Screenwriter
Jeremy Podeswa
Distributor
Fine Line Features
Production Co
Alliance Atlantis Communications, Harold Greenberg Fund, Movie Network, Canadian Television, Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, Téléfilm Canada, Five Senses Productions
Rating
R
Genre
Drama
Original Language
English
Release Date (Theaters)
May 18, 1999, Original
Release Date (DVD)
Jan 23, 2001
Box Office (Gross USA)
$497.1K
Runtime
1h 45m
Sound Mix
Dolby Digital
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