Eros (film)
| Eros | |
|---|---|
 Theatrical release poster | |
| Directed by |
Wong Kar-wai Steven Soderbergh Michelangelo Antonioni |
| Produced by |
Stéphane Tchalgadjieff Domenico Procacci Jacky Pang Yee Wah Jacques Bar Raphael Berdugo Wong Kar-wai Gregory Jacobs |
| Written by |
Wong Kar-wai Steven Soderbergh Michelangelo Antonioni |
| Starring |
Gong Li Alan Arkin Robert Downey, Jr. |
| Cinematography |
Christopher Doyle (segment "The Hand") Marco Pontecorvo (segment "Il filo pericoloso delle cose") Steven Soderbergh (segment "Equilibrium") (as Peter Andrews) |
| Distributed by |
Warner Independent Pictures (USA) Artificial Eye (UK) |
Release dates |
|
Running time | 104 minutes |
| Country |
Hong Kong United States Italy |
| Language | Mandarin, English, Italian |
| Box office | $1,535,829[1] |
Eros is a 2004 anthology film consisting of three short segments: The Hand directed by Wong Kar-wai in Mandarin, Equilibrium by Steven Soderbergh in English, and The Dangerous Thread of Things by Michelangelo Antonioni in Italian. Each of the three segments addresses the themes of love and sex.[2]
Plot
- The Hand
Miss Hua, a 1960s high-end call girl is visited by a shy dressmaker's assistant Zhang, to take her measure. He hears the sounds of sex, as he waits in her living room. He is drawn towards her but there is no meeting ground between the two individuals from completely different classes. She summons him when her client leaves. She tells him, she will supply him with an aid to his memory. He will think about her while designing her clothes, she says.[3][4]
- Equilibrium
Nick Penrose is an advertising executive under enormous pressure at work. He tells his psychiatrist Dr Pearl about a recurring dream of a beautiful naked woman in his apartment, as they discuss the possible reasons why his stress seems to manifest itself in the erotic dream.[3][4]
- The Dangerous Thread of Things
A bored couple, Christopher and Cloe, take a stroll near a resort on a lake on the coast of Tuscany. Visiting a restaurant on the beach, they see a sexy young woman, Linda. Cloe tells him where she lives, inside a crumbling medieval tower. He goes to visit her and they have sex. As Christopher leaves the place, the two women later encounter each other on the beach, both naked.[3][4][5]
Cast
- The Hand
- Gong Li as Miss Hua
- Chang Chen as Xiao Zhang, Jin's apprentice
- Feng Tien as Master Jin
- Luk Auntie as Hua's Servant, Ying
- Jianjun Zhou as Hua's Lover, Zhao
- Wing Tong Sheung as Tailor
- Kim Tak Wong as Tailor
- Siu Man Ting as Tailor
- Lai Fu Yim as Tailor
- Cheng You Shin as Tailor
- Wing Kong Siu as Tailor
- Kar Fai Lee as Tailor
- Chi Keong Un as Hotel Concierge
- Equilibrium
- Robert Downey, Jr. as Nick Penrose
- Alan Arkin as Dr. Pearl / Hal
- Ele Keats as The Woman / Cecelia
- The Dangerous Thread of Things
- Christopher Buchholz as Christopher
- Regina Nemni as Cloe
- Luisa Ranieri as The Girl / Linda
- Cecilia Luci as Girl by the Cascade
- Karima Machehour as Girl by the Cascade
- Riccardo Manfredi as Barman
- Valerio Burroni as Waiter
- Pelino Tarantelli as Gardener
- Maria Bosio as Guest at the Restaurant
- Carla Milani as Guest at the Restaurant
- Vinicio Milani as Guest at the Restaurant
- Jason Cardone as Guest at the Restaurant
- Carin Berger as Guest at the Restaurant
- Enrica Antonioni as Guest at the Restaurant[6]
Production
According to Wong Kar-wai, the original combination of directors was Antonioni, Pedro Almodóvar and him. But Almodóvar quit the project due to his tight schedule and he eventually used his story to make Bad Education.
When released in Hong Kong and North America, Wong Kar-wai's The Hand was shown first. When shown elsewhere, Michelangelo Antonioni's The Dangerous Thread of Things was shown first. The film was censored for sexual content in the People's Republic of China.
Reception
Critical response
In North America, critical response for Eros was very mixed.[7] American critics were almost unanimous in their praise of Wong Kar-wai's segment, and almost unanimous in their disapproval of the Michelangelo Antonioni piece. Steven Soderbergh's contribution drew mixed notices.
Roger Ebert gave Wong's segment four out of four stars, Soderbergh's three stars, and Antonioni's a mere one star.[8] On the syndicated television show Ebert & Roeper, he gave the film a "thumbs up" rating. In his Chicago Sun-Times review, he wrote:
Are the three films in Eros intended to be (a) erotic, (b) about eroticism or (c) both? The directors respond in three different ways. Wong Kar-wai chooses (c), Steven Soderbergh chooses (b) and Michelangelo Antonioni, alas, arrives at None of the Above...The Antonioni film is an embarrassment. Regina Nemni acts all of her scenes wearing a perfectly transparent blouse for no other reason, I am afraid, than so we can see her breasts. Luisa Ranieri acts mostly in the nude. The result is soft-core porn of the most banal variety, and when the second woman begins to gambol on the beach one yearns for Russ Meyer to come to the rescue. When you see a woman gamboling in the nude in a Meyer film, you stay gamboled with...I return to Wong Kar-wai's "The Hand." It stays with me. The characters expand in my memory and imagination. I feel empathy for both of them: Miss Hua, sadly accepting the fading of her beauty, the disappearance of her clients, the loss of her health, and Mr. Zhang, who will always be in her thrall. "I became a tailor because of you," he says. It is the greatest compliment it is within his power to give, and she knows it. Knows it, and is touched by it as none of the countless words of her countless clients have ever, could ever, touch her.[9]
Box office
Eros was distributed for theatrical release in North America by Warner Independent on April 8, 2005. Promotion was poor; for example, on Ebert & Roeper, critic Richard Roeper remarked that he was surprised that Warner Independent did not send any clips to be broadcast on the show and that this was the only movie reviewed on the show he remembered for which the studio had taken such a step (incidentally, the critics gave the film a "Two Thumbs Up" rating). Opening on twelve screens, box office was weak, earning just US $53,666 ($4,472 per screen) in its opening weekend on its way to a low US $188,392 final gross.
Boxofficemojo.com reports that the total worldwide gross for Eros is $1,535,829.
References
- ↑ "Eros (2005)". BoxOfficeMojo.com. Retrieved 22 July 2011.
- ↑ "Eros". Internet Movie Database. Retrieved 22 May 2012.
- 1 2 3 "Eros review by Roger Ebert". rogerebert.com. Retrieved 6 August 2015.
- 1 2 3 "Film Info". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved 6 August 2015.
- ↑ "Sex, Sex, Sex, Seen Through Experienced Cinematic Eyes". New York Times. 8 April 2005. Retrieved 6 August 2015.
- ↑ "Full cast and crew for Eros". Internet Movie Database. Retrieved 22 May 2012.
- ↑ Eros obtained, for example, a 34% approval rating at Rotten Tomatoes.
- ↑
- ↑ "Eros". Chicago Sun-Times.
External links
- Eros at the Internet Movie Database