The Hand--I've only seen "In the Mood for Love" and "2046" by Wong Kar-Wai, and this movie fits in well with both of them. Wong Kar Wai seems particular possessed with the idea of "Eros" as unrequited love... in all three of these movies exists two characters that love each other but cannot consummate it, in the latter two (2046 and this short film) the female sexually open but not entirely open to the true love of the male.
Equilibrium--Steven Soderbergh takes Eros a little psychologically as a man describes a recurring dream to a distracted psychologist. It's a droll short film (my favorite shot is when the two characters sit on either side of the couch and both of them are shaking nervously, though neither notices the other doing so), but goes all over the place in terms of narrative (dream-within-a-dream, multiple uses of mise-en-scene to create different character spaces, etc.) and in the end doesn't really seem to be about the recurring dream at all. It's hard to say if this film really fits in with the theme.
Il filo pericoloso delle cose--This is by far the most creative and the best produced of the three, though it still seems a bit more detached and un-passionate compared to The Hand. Antonioni shows three people (two women, one man) all in relationships that lack joy. Two of them hook up and enjoy sex and comfort from each other for an hour or so, but then they all separate. The two women meet at the end, and are set at stark contrast to the male-driven symbols of eros from the rest of the short and the previous two shorts.
All in all, the three films are interesting and at times beautiful, though they are very different from each other. This difference is cool because it keeps the entire feature from seeing one-dimensional or sentimental, but it makes it difficult to see how the films fit together. I also notice that many people who've seen this film tend to react to it based on who their favorite of the directors are in it. This is true with me as well--for some reason, I just like Antonioni's film better than the others. My friend, a Wong Kar Wai fan, thought his was the best. It seems like the only people who are watching this movie are the ones familiar with who the directors are before it begins, so I'd like to see what someone who doesn't know any of them has to say about it.
--PolarisDiB
Equilibrium--Steven Soderbergh takes Eros a little psychologically as a man describes a recurring dream to a distracted psychologist. It's a droll short film (my favorite shot is when the two characters sit on either side of the couch and both of them are shaking nervously, though neither notices the other doing so), but goes all over the place in terms of narrative (dream-within-a-dream, multiple uses of mise-en-scene to create different character spaces, etc.) and in the end doesn't really seem to be about the recurring dream at all. It's hard to say if this film really fits in with the theme.
Il filo pericoloso delle cose--This is by far the most creative and the best produced of the three, though it still seems a bit more detached and un-passionate compared to The Hand. Antonioni shows three people (two women, one man) all in relationships that lack joy. Two of them hook up and enjoy sex and comfort from each other for an hour or so, but then they all separate. The two women meet at the end, and are set at stark contrast to the male-driven symbols of eros from the rest of the short and the previous two shorts.
All in all, the three films are interesting and at times beautiful, though they are very different from each other. This difference is cool because it keeps the entire feature from seeing one-dimensional or sentimental, but it makes it difficult to see how the films fit together. I also notice that many people who've seen this film tend to react to it based on who their favorite of the directors are in it. This is true with me as well--for some reason, I just like Antonioni's film better than the others. My friend, a Wong Kar Wai fan, thought his was the best. It seems like the only people who are watching this movie are the ones familiar with who the directors are before it begins, so I'd like to see what someone who doesn't know any of them has to say about it.
--PolarisDiB