"Erotique" is a weird, mostly tedious anthology movie with segments directed by four women from different countries. It is deserving of its apparently obscure status.
The first segment is the typical erotic tale that feels like a "Red Shoe Diary". It even has a jazz soundtrack. It's about an aspiring actress who works at a phone sex line. Bored of listening to her callers' fantasies, she starts trying to incorporate her own, which puts her on blast with her boss until she finds a guy - played by Bryan Cranston - who actually wants to listen. Improbably, she ends up meeting the guy.
This was the only entry with much of a story, however unbelievable it was. It wasn't erotic to me in the least, but perhaps you need to be female to get it. Oh, and there's a blink and you'll miss it nude cameo from Michelle Clunie of the US "Queer As Folk". This was the only segment with actors I recognised.
The second segment is weird and uninvolving, perhaps the weakest of a weak bunch. Two women we are supposed to believe are lesbians pick up a hot guy and take him back to their home. During sex, one of the women puts on a strap on and sodomizes him with it. Upset and angry, he leaves, going back to a car that explodes in the street. Why? Did they set the bomb? I don't know, and this tedious little movie didn't exactly make me care.
The third one is crazy. It's really badly done, with all kinds of weird distracting moments that lead up to a highly eroticised rape scene. That's right, women filmmakers filming rape to try to turn us on. Score one for the sisterhood?
Perhaps this segment is intended to be distracting at first, so we're less disturbed by the rape. I had to watch it twice to be sure that that was what I saw. It was. The young woman protagonist tied up, stripped to her Victoria's Secrets, blindfolded, and raped. Everything about it is done to turn us on.
Do the filmmakers really want to show rape as sexy? I wonder how the other filmmakers felt when they realised their work was going to be made a part of this. It just seemed careless and sick.
The last segment was my favourite by far. It was the only one I really responded to, the only one with likable characters, and the only one whose country of origin - China - actually made a difference. It's about a Chinese-Australian guy who sees his girlfriend for the first time in a while, and starts exploring his culture for tips on how to spice up his sex life. It's funny, sexy, interesting and relatable, unlike any of the others.
One good movie out of four isn't enough to save this movie, though.
The first segment is the typical erotic tale that feels like a "Red Shoe Diary". It even has a jazz soundtrack. It's about an aspiring actress who works at a phone sex line. Bored of listening to her callers' fantasies, she starts trying to incorporate her own, which puts her on blast with her boss until she finds a guy - played by Bryan Cranston - who actually wants to listen. Improbably, she ends up meeting the guy.
This was the only entry with much of a story, however unbelievable it was. It wasn't erotic to me in the least, but perhaps you need to be female to get it. Oh, and there's a blink and you'll miss it nude cameo from Michelle Clunie of the US "Queer As Folk". This was the only segment with actors I recognised.
The second segment is weird and uninvolving, perhaps the weakest of a weak bunch. Two women we are supposed to believe are lesbians pick up a hot guy and take him back to their home. During sex, one of the women puts on a strap on and sodomizes him with it. Upset and angry, he leaves, going back to a car that explodes in the street. Why? Did they set the bomb? I don't know, and this tedious little movie didn't exactly make me care.
The third one is crazy. It's really badly done, with all kinds of weird distracting moments that lead up to a highly eroticised rape scene. That's right, women filmmakers filming rape to try to turn us on. Score one for the sisterhood?
Perhaps this segment is intended to be distracting at first, so we're less disturbed by the rape. I had to watch it twice to be sure that that was what I saw. It was. The young woman protagonist tied up, stripped to her Victoria's Secrets, blindfolded, and raped. Everything about it is done to turn us on.
Do the filmmakers really want to show rape as sexy? I wonder how the other filmmakers felt when they realised their work was going to be made a part of this. It just seemed careless and sick.
The last segment was my favourite by far. It was the only one I really responded to, the only one with likable characters, and the only one whose country of origin - China - actually made a difference. It's about a Chinese-Australian guy who sees his girlfriend for the first time in a while, and starts exploring his culture for tips on how to spice up his sex life. It's funny, sexy, interesting and relatable, unlike any of the others.
One good movie out of four isn't enough to save this movie, though.