Three famed directors tell us not everybody does it, but everybody should.
The addition of sex is an inevitable variable in the equation of love.
Eros
is a collection of three short films by Wong Kar Wai (
Happy Together
), Steven Soderbergh (
Sex, Lies and Videotape
) and Michelangelo Antonioni (
Blowup
), each tackling that equation with mixed results.
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Wong's piece,
The Hand
, is the story of a tailor named Zhang (Chen Chang) and his obsession with the beautiful Ms. Hua (Li Gong). Despite their sexualized first meeting, Zhang keeps his feelings for Hua hidden, expressing his devotion by allowing himself to be used for his skills as a tailor. Wai's depiction of the struggle between unrequited love and lust succeeds through balanced portrayals of jealousy, anger and sadness on behalf of Zhang as well as Ms. Hua.
Next is Soderbergh's
Equilibrium
, featuring Robert Downey, Jr. as Nick, a frantic ad man whose life is turned upside down by stress at work and a recurring dream involving a naked woman. He turns to Dr. Pearl (Alan Arkin), a psychiatrist and Peeping Tom, for help. Arkin's subdued antics with binoculars and a paper airplane provide an excellent foil for Downey's twitchy, nervous performance as Nick. Soderbergh's narrative is jumbled, but in a delightful, knowing way that addresses the disorienting powers sex holds over all of us.
The Dangerous Thread of Things
follows Cloe (Regina Nemni) and Christopher (Christopher Buchholz), an unhappy couple, as they bicker and fight against a gorgeous Tuscan background. After going their separate ways, Christopher finds erotic entertainment in the
form of Linda (Luisa Ranieri). When a phone call
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connects Christopher to Cloe again, she insists that love doesn't end but simply changes. Where their love is going, though, is anyone's guess because Antonioni's not providing any answers. The legendary director favors romantic love over lust but only after lust is given a thorough workout. Of the three films,
Things
is easily the densest and least satisfying. Antonioni's use of sex and nudity feels gratuitous following the restraint of Wong and Soderbergh.
Like the subject addressed, the three films that comprise
Eros
are little puzzles for the viewer to put together. What you see when the whole picture is assembled differs based on personal experience but, like lovers, each film has its own individual strengths and charms.
Eros
is screening in association with the Southwest Gay and Lesbian Film Festival Pride Weekend Showcase, June 25-26. Although the content of
Eros
is not gay-specific, curators considered the territory previously explored by the directors as well as the project's examination of love and sex to be sensitive and universal enough to be a fitting, er, bedfellow for the Pride Showcase. Showcase films include
D.E.B.S.
,
The Truth or Consequences of Delmas Howe
and
Tying the Knot
.
