Eros’ Arrows go Awry

Three vignettes from three renowned directors: Wong Kar Wai, Steven Soderbergh and Michelangelo Antonioni. The premise, the arcing force of desire charted by directors who had already made powerful comments on the same (Wong in Happy Together and In The Mood for Love, Steven Soderbergh in Out of Sight and Antonioni in Blow Up) was faultlessly conceived. But as some things in life, the sum is very much less than the parts and the execution fails to deliver.

The first episode, Wong Kar Wai’s The Hand is set in Taiwan during the 1950s and chronicles the relationship between a high class madam, the ever-luminous Gong Li and her tailor, Chang Chen. Chang inhabits the role of the sober working-class seamster, resolutely fixated by Gong’s fiercely independent madam as a result of the hand she *erm*… applies to him on their first meeting. Spectacular sequined and spangly cheongsams abound, as does meaningful glances, repressed emotion and evocative imagery. Shot by Wong’s usual cinematographer, Christopher Doyle, it is essentially a rehash of In the Mood for Love, which should have been called In the Mood for Sex.

In Equilibrium, the second vignette by Steven Soderbergh, Robert Downey Jr, troubled by continuing dreams of a mysterious woman, seeks answers from his shrink, Alan Arkin.  Mildly amusing events ensue which do not do more than raise a chuckle and skirt the issues.  Nevertheless, Equilibrium provides a welcome break from the tortured longings of The Hand.

But respite is brief. Antonioni’s episode Il filo pericoloso delle cose or ‘The Dangerous Edge of Things features astonishingly cliched arthouse film traits. An arguing couple, inexplicably driving around beautiful European countryside. A lingering shot of a wine glass, placed on the floor by the woman rolls away from the silent, staring couple, to rest under a nearby table filled with happily chatting diners. Naked women cavorting on a cold beach. An explicit female self-love scene. The obligatory sex scene between confused male and giggling exotic nymphette. A prescient comment on desire this is not.  Rather, it is the rambling series of non-illuminating thoughts, from a director who has been making films for the better part of a century and who should have known better.

Eros’ only saving graces were the beautiful images and haunting music used in the opening credits and to link the stories. Couples in various states; embracing, caressing, laughing, in repose. The Italian movie poster shows a couple freefalling in embrace, oblivious to all around them.

If only the film had managed to capture the same passion.