Eros

What happens when three of the world's most renowned directors get together to make segments of a film (arguably) about eroticism? Well, I guess something like this. Since this consists of three short films, I will address each of them individually.

The Hand
Wong Kar-Wai's entry seems to be the only of the three worthy of the overarching title, Eros, considering it is the only of the lot that could be described as erotic, and interestingly, the only one with nudity to speak of. The presence of the lovely Gong Li and Christopher Doyle's sensuous cinematography certainly don't hurt in its appeal. However, the problem of this film is that it's about a half hour long, yet it's supposed to take place over a span of a few years. I didn't buy the jumps in time. That's okay, though, because this is probably the finest of the three entries and the scene in which one might come to understand the title is, how shall I put it?... Arousing?

Equilibrium
Steven Soderbergh's entry is the one that works best as a short film. It mostly consists of Robert Downey Jr. talking to his psychiatrist, Alan Arkin about a recurring erotic dream he has. The film itself is not very erotic, but then again, I don't think it was meant to be. Downey is excellent as the semi-neurotic patient (he should be in a Woody Allen film), and Arkin is amusing as the shrink who voyeuristically watches people in another building as he listens to Downey telling the story. Peter Andrews pulls a Preminger by shooting the waking scenes in black and white and the dream sequences in living color, and it looks very good.

The Dangerous Thread of Things
Michelangelo Antonioni, along with Bergman and Godard probably ranks among the world's five greatest living directors. In fact, this entire film was made in Antonioni's honor. Soderbergh said he just wanted his name to be on the same poster with Antionioni. That said, twenty years removed from a stroke, the legendary Italian director is definitely off his game. This is easily the least of the three entries. But I forgive him, because at 93 years of age, and with a number of masterpieces already under his belt, I think he's earned the right to make all the bad films he wants. The is the most sexual of the three. You'd think that a film in which two women are either topless or completely naked throughout would be more exciting, but it's not. So, we just respectfully nod our heads and remember who Antonioni used to be.