World of Eros
Added 6/26/2009
"The Hand" tells a modernday version of "CAMILLE" with a beautiful courtesan doomed to die of a social disease (or TB?) with a handsome tailor so in love with her he can sew a complete outfit for her without ever touching her body. Sad, sad, sad, and Gong Li so beautiful and tragic.
Ëquilibrium" has Alan Arkin and Robert Downey Jr in a brief story that's a cross between Tony consulting Dr, Melfi in THE SOPRANOS and an episode of AMC's hit series MAD MEN. As a lesson in how great advertising copy is born, not made, this cannot be topped. I didn't enjoy, however, Soderbergh's superbusy direction of his stars, who wind up sounding nearly as artificially mannared as Jennifer Jason Leigh in THE HUDSUCKER PROXY. You can see why these actors jumped into the project, but it isn't all that enjoyable.
Finally, in "THE DANGEROUS THREAD OF THINGS," Michelangelo Antonioni wipes the floor with WKW and Soderbergh, and apparently he did so from an oxygen tank, flat on his back, without being able to speak to his actors. What a story he gives us! Christopher (Christopher Buchholz, the son of Horst Buchholz and nearly as good looking as his father) is married to Chloe, a beautiful young woman who now hates Christopher for the crime of boredom against her. The two of them had once been successful vineyard owners and wine merchants, but their relationship has soured when he stopped wanting to make love to her. She demands that they try to rekindle what they had with a trip to Sardinia, by the Adriatic Sea, and ultimately she prevails, though unfortunately she just picks and picks at him during this trip till he can't take it any more. "I used to love this place, but being with you here sours me on it,"she complains as they make their way through a hooded landscape of thorns and brambles.
The two of them had once lived at the time of ancient Rome, when Sardinia (in Latin, the place of little tuna -- sardo--) was an outlying province of the empire, famous for its twin towers on either side of Sardinia Bay.
Now Christopher and Chloe realize that the other tower is occupied by a second beautiful girl, a bit younger than Chloe, called Linda. Linda is the daughter of Chloe's former husband, a man who now works as a bartender in a distant city. He has left her one painting--a painting of pale orange flames, a vision of the hell he endured with Chloe. Linda displays it proudly in the living room of the tower, a life she calls "utter chaos" as she leads Christopher playfully into her bedroom and onto the tower roof. As you can imagine, Linda turns him on, but the ancient tie to Chloe makes him sad. The "dangerous thread" that unites all these people is that of incest, the unspoken word in the town where this takes place. The sea is the witness, and the souls of Sardinian victims of Roman oppression seem to howl with each wave lapping the shore. (Antonioni, though too weak to climb the stairs himself, arranged to set Linda's scenes in the exact same tower in which the UK writer DH Lawrence contracted what was then called "Roman Fever" in the winter of 1921. It is a famous tourist site, used as a rathskellar now and atmospherically restored by Antonioni's set designers to look something like it did in the days of Lawrence and Frieda.)
0 out of 0 people found this helpful.
|
Correct. . .four stars for a bit more than 2/3 excellent
Added 8/10/2008
Two well-crafted erotic tales sandwiched around a cartoon intermission directed by Steven Soderbergh.
The first, and best of the short films, "The Hand" is both moving and erotic. The third, "The Dangerous Thread of Things" is muddled. . .but it steams, and thus deserves its place in an collection of erotica. The second, well. . .
(Sssh. I enjoyed it. It made me laugh. It is insightful. It is a sketch of two interesting, memorable characters. But here's my theory: the producers asked each filmmaker to make something erotic. Soderbergh simply misheard and made something neurotic.)
Each film is introduced by captivating, surreal animation--a tie that binds the collection--a joy to watch themselves.
2 out of 2 people found this helpful.
|
Three international directors explore meaning of sexual attraction
Added 8/4/2008
Three international directors have made short film exploring nature of the human sexuality. First story is set in China and explores connection between a concubine and a young tailor apprentice who makes her dresses for her clients. Young tailor falls in love hopelessly with a beautiful prostitute. He knows her body so well, he can make her clothes without taking her measurements. I loved the part where is is alone in a shop one evening and imagines having her while caressing her silk dress he made for her. I have never seen a film recently about a man so consumed by his desire for a woman he cannot have. Second film written and produced by Steven Soderbeg starring Alan Arkin and Robet Downey, Jr. is the best of of the three. It explores young marketing executive with a recurring erotic dream he cannot explain, who visits his shrink in attempt to undersatndf them. The shrink seems to have preoccupations of his own during their therapy session. Both actors give magnificent performance that is funny and engaging. Setup for their dialog is in 1950s so this part of the film is made in black and white that adds even more power to it. The weekest part of the trilogy is the Italian film that supposedly celebrates female sexuality. But I found nude scenes and lovemaking scenes, scenes of lovers bickering privately and publicly too tedious to be able to celebrate what director wanted us to see. Perhaps in his case, less would have been more. Good idea, but poor execution. But overall, what this film is saying is that there is no confusion, no matter which part of the world we are what eros is.
1 out of 1 people found this helpful.
|
Antonioni's segment isn't that bad, but in fact, rather good....
Added 8/21/2007
I may be the only one on this review thread to say this, but I think the trashing of Antonioni's segment is very short sighted. The Dangerous Thread of Things (a great title) is very Antonioni like, with excellent compositions and some really beautiful, haunting moments. The dialogue isn't the greatest (and the actors are dubbed into Italian, which doesn't help), but visually it's superb. Many have said that Antonioni's use of nudity was gratuitous, accusing Michelangelo of being a dirty old man (he was 94 when he made this). Similar accusations were leveled at Stanley Kubrick following Eyes Wide Shut (which had many similarities to Antonioni's work). It didn't feel like an exploitation film at all (as some have said). Wong Kar-Wai's segment is very much like his other work, haunting, sad, and quite moving, even though there isn't any real nudity. Soderbergh's segment, while occasionally amusing (Arkin and Downey give good performances), doesn't belong in a film about eroticism. There's nothing remotely erotic about it, other than Downey's character has an erotic dream of sorts (which isn't very erotic). So, I think Antonioni's segment is just fine, and Kar-Wai's is very good too. Like another reviewer said, the segments are too short, and it would have been nice if they were longer. This is worth renting for The Hand, The Dangerous Thread of Things, and the short film by Antonioni called Eye to Eye.
1 out of 1 people found this helpful.
|
Obsessive Love
Added 5/29/2007
I am going to cut to the chase and talk about my favorite out of the three -
which would be "The Hand."
I am fully aware of the fact that human beings have the tendency to pursue the unattainable with the utmost intense passion that sometimes, the term "pedestal" does not even begin to scratch the surface. If I were to compare this young tailor's obsession to something chemical, it was like watching a hollow heroin addict hopelessly devoted to the possibility of achieving his ultimate fix of love - from someone who was completely incapable of reciprocating such organic emotion.
We see it over and over again.
This type of "tragedy" takes up a huge chunk of the "love department" in the entertainment industry -
or at least among us melodramatic Asians...
But aside from the story -
it's worth it to watch just because the visual and emotional impact of this movie alone is indeed a work of art.
However, I would like to emphsize that my 5 stars only applies to "The Hand."
Sorry...
2 out of 2 people found this helpful.
|
World of Eros
Added 6/26/2009
"The Hand" tells a modernday version of "CAMILLE" with a beautiful courtesan doomed to die of a social disease (or TB?) with a handsome tailor so in love with her he can sew a complete outfit for her without ever touching her body. Sad, sad, sad, and Gong Li so beautiful and tragic.
Ëquilibrium" has Alan Arkin and Robert Downey Jr in a brief story that's a cross between Tony consulting Dr, Melfi in THE SOPRANOS and an episode of AMC's hit series MAD MEN. As a lesson in how great advertising copy is born, not made, this cannot be topped. I didn't enjoy, however, Soderbergh's superbusy direction of his stars, who wind up sounding nearly as artificially mannared as Jennifer Jason Leigh in THE HUDSUCKER PROXY. You can see why these actors jumped into the project, but it isn't all that enjoyable.
Finally, in "THE DANGEROUS THREAD OF THINGS," Michelangelo Antonioni wipes the floor with WKW and Soderbergh, and apparently he did so from an oxygen tank, flat on his back, without being able to speak to his actors. What a story he gives us! Christopher (Christopher Buchholz, the son of Horst Buchholz and nearly as good looking as his father) is married to Chloe, a beautiful young woman who now hates Christopher for the crime of boredom against her. The two of them had once been successful vineyard owners and wine merchants, but their relationship has soured when he stopped wanting to make love to her. She demands that they try to rekindle what they had with a trip to Sardinia, by the Adriatic Sea, and ultimately she prevails, though unfortunately she just picks and picks at him during this trip till he can't take it any more. "I used to love this place, but being with you here sours me on it,"she complains as they make their way through a hooded landscape of thorns and brambles.
The two of them had once lived at the time of ancient Rome, when Sardinia (in Latin, the place of little tuna -- sardo--) was an outlying province of the empire, famous for its twin towers on either side of Sardinia Bay.
Now Christopher and Chloe realize that the other tower is occupied by a second beautiful girl, a bit younger than Chloe, called Linda. Linda is the daughter of Chloe's former husband, a man who now works as a bartender in a distant city. He has left her one painting--a painting of pale orange flames, a vision of the hell he endured with Chloe. Linda displays it proudly in the living room of the tower, a life she calls "utter chaos" as she leads Christopher playfully into her bedroom and onto the tower roof. As you can imagine, Linda turns him on, but the ancient tie to Chloe makes him sad. The "dangerous thread" that unites all these people is that of incest, the unspoken word in the town where this takes place. The sea is the witness, and the souls of Sardinian victims of Roman oppression seem to howl with each wave lapping the shore. (Antonioni, though too weak to climb the stairs himself, arranged to set Linda's scenes in the exact same tower in which the UK writer DH Lawrence contracted what was then called "Roman Fever" in the winter of 1921. It is a famous tourist site, used as a rathskellar now and atmospherically restored by Antonioni's set designers to look something like it did in the days of Lawrence and Frieda.)
0 out of 0 people found this helpful.
|
Correct. . .four stars for a bit more than 2/3 excellent
Added 8/10/2008
Two well-crafted erotic tales sandwiched around a cartoon intermission directed by Steven Soderbergh.
The first, and best of the short films, "The Hand" is both moving and erotic. The third, "The Dangerous Thread of Things" is muddled. . .but it steams, and thus deserves its place in an collection of erotica. The second, well. . .
(Sssh. I enjoyed it. It made me laugh. It is insightful. It is a sketch of two interesting, memorable characters. But here's my theory: the producers asked each filmmaker to make something erotic. Soderbergh simply misheard and made something neurotic.)
Each film is introduced by captivating, surreal animation--a tie that binds the collection--a joy to watch themselves.
2 out of 2 people found this helpful.
|
Three international directors explore meaning of sexual attraction
Added 8/4/2008
Three international directors have made short film exploring nature of the human sexuality. First story is set in China and explores connection between a concubine and a young tailor apprentice who makes her dresses for her clients. Young tailor falls in love hopelessly with a beautiful prostitute. He knows her body so well, he can make her clothes without taking her measurements. I loved the part where is is alone in a shop one evening and imagines having her while caressing her silk dress he made for her. I have never seen a film recently about a man so consumed by his desire for a woman he cannot have. Second film written and produced by Steven Soderbeg starring Alan Arkin and Robet Downey, Jr. is the best of of the three. It explores young marketing executive with a recurring erotic dream he cannot explain, who visits his shrink in attempt to undersatndf them. The shrink seems to have preoccupations of his own during their therapy session. Both actors give magnificent performance that is funny and engaging. Setup for their dialog is in 1950s so this part of the film is made in black and white that adds even more power to it. The weekest part of the trilogy is the Italian film that supposedly celebrates female sexuality. But I found nude scenes and lovemaking scenes, scenes of lovers bickering privately and publicly too tedious to be able to celebrate what director wanted us to see. Perhaps in his case, less would have been more. Good idea, but poor execution. But overall, what this film is saying is that there is no confusion, no matter which part of the world we are what eros is.
1 out of 1 people found this helpful.
|
