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Gong Li,
Gong Li,
Chang Chen,
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Michelangelo Antonioni,
Steven Soderbergh,
Wong Kar-Wai,
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: Warner Home Video
: Foreign
: 106 min.
: English, Italian, Mandarin
: English
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Three of the world's most gifted filmmakers offer their own unique perspectives on love and lust in this omnibus film. The initial episode, "The Hand," was directed by Wong Kar-Wai, and tells the story of Zhang (Chang Chen), a young, virginal dressmaker's assistant who finds it difficult to control his desire when he is sent to the home of Hua (Gong Li), a beautiful and refined prostitute, for a fitting. Steven Soderbergh directed the film's second story, "Equilibrium," in which Nick Penrose (Robert Downey Jr.) spends a session with his analyst (Alan Arkin) discussing a recurring dream of a beautiful naked woman in his apartment, but he keeps wandering off on tangents about alarm clocks and hair loss. Finally, Italian virtuoso Michelangelo Antonioni brings his short story The Dangerous Thread of Things to the screen, a story of a jaded couple, Christopher (Christopher Buchholz) and Chloë (Regina Nemni), whose relationship comes to a crossroads when both husband and wife become infatuated with the same woman, Linda (Luisa Ranieri). ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
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| A Trio Tries for Eroticism
by talltale
February 11, 2006 - 5:16 PM PST
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9 out of 9 members found this review helpful
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Kar Wai Wong fans should have a field day with EROS--the tri-part feature made up of roughly 40-minute segments (separated by erotic art accompanied by some lovely music) from three world-class directors: Wong, Soderbergh and Antonioni. (I don't rank Soderbergh nearly as high as the other two, but some of you may.) His episode is actually pretty good: a funny and rather surprising shaggy dog story involving a patient and his therapist, played respectively by Robert Downey Jr. and Alan Arkin, both of whom are terrific. I hated the ending, which seems to go on forever without saying more than it did in the first five seconds. Otherwise, this one's fun, though the least erotic of the three (sex, eroticism, desire, heat--none of these are much present in Soderbergh's work, and when they are, they tend to fizzle).
Michelangelo Antonioni has often given us heat and desire--quietly, allusively, sadly--and this time is no different. Although the maestro has suffered a stroke that renders him speechless, he still knows his visuals (oh, the sets, architecture and scenery on view here!), and his actors manage to create an interesting pas de trois. (Watch the 17-minute short on the DVD called "Eye to Eye" for a little more of Michelangelo).
And Wong's contribution? Wow. Perhaps the short form is best for this filmmaker who loves to linger over textures, moments, and longing. Christopher Doyle has again done Wong's cinematography, and it's crackerjack. This episode is the most erotic, tinglingly so, with Li Gong and Chen Chang gorgeous and heartbreaking as lovers who are never quite that. Rated individually, Wong gets nine stars, Antonioni seven, and Soderbergh six. Not a bad score when you average it out. |
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GreenCine Member Rating
(Average 5.95)
59 Votes
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