Great Film overall

I really wanted to like this movie. I feel terribly cynical trashing it, and that's why I'm giving it a middling 5. Actually, I'm giving it a 5 because there were some superb performances.

The story-telling is good with flashbacks.The film is both funny and heartbreaking. You smile in a scene and get a soulcrushing revelation in the next.

The best films of this genre always show a path and provide a takeaway for being a better person.

'Eros' brings together three very different filmmakers, who are telling us, each in his own way, stories about love/lust/desire/dreams.The first segment (The Hand) is made by Wong Kar -Wai, with Christopher Doyle as cinematographer. It's a pure gem, gorgeous and intoxicating. Two very good actors: Gong Li and Chen Chang (the bandit from 'Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon'). It's the Weltanschaung of Wong Kar-Wai, where eros is actually a mean to meditate about time: time that heals everything while not solving anything; time that's as illusory as happiness is; time that breaks any hope in the end, while showing you that it doesn't matter.I found the segment on youTube; unfortunately it has no subtitles, so if you aren't familiar with Chinese you are kind of lost. I will try to summarize the plot: a tailor sends an apprentice to one of his rich customers, who is a high-class courtesane in her prime; she has the sadistic impulse to humiliate sexually the boy. This creates a strange dependence of unrequited lust, that grows through the years, while the courtesane is gradually loosing her status. The rich patrons leave her, the means to keep her style are vanishing and she eventually becomes a prostitute of the lowest kind. The apprentice remains attached to her down to the end and puts all his erotic desire in creating a dress that substitutes for him the woman.Let's pass now to the second segment (Equilibrium), created by Steven Soderbergh. It's a different kind of an animal: a voyeuristic puzzle based on circular references. A guy (wonderfully played by Robert Downey Jr.) comes to the shrink to complain about an obsessive recurrence: a splendid woman appears naked in his dreams, bathing and dressing in front of him. The shrink puts the patient on the coach and makes him tell all details, while trying to live the dream by himself ! Eventually the patient falls asleep on the coach and the shrink leaves the room. The patient wakes up in front of the woman of his dreams: she's actually his wife and the dream was the visit to the doctor! Or the other way around :) As for the third segment (Il filo pericoloso delle cose - The Dangerous Thread of Things), made by Michelangelo Antonioni, it was considered by many reviewers as the weakest part of the movie. Actually the segment of Antonioni is exquisite: an erotic fantasy subtly suggesting the sagesse of women in these matters. And you cannot compare the three segments in any way; each one follows a totally different approach.

Eros collects three short films by three talented directors. Each director sets his 30 minute story in his native language and country (China, Italy, USA). Each piece is preceded by a 2 minute montage of gently erotic drawings depicting intimate scenes between lovers. These are "film poems" that are required viewing for fans of the directors or actors. "Spoilers" follow.The cover of the DVD may lead you to believe that this is an erotic movie festival or soft core porn. It's not. Each story raises some issues and makes some points about the romantic relationships shared by women and men, but there is only one brief sex scene.The first segment, THE HAND, is an accomplishment in short film-making. It is a sublime short story about lust, devotion, and the consequences of prostitution. Set in China, it is beautifully filmed and acted.The second segment, EQUILIBRIUM, is enjoyable for its acting. The story of a man having a dream within a dream, it is a comedic study of the human psyche, and hardly deals with romance at all.The final segment, THE DANGEROUS THREAD OF THINGS, tells the story of a man cheating on his wife and chronicles the disintegration of their relationship. That said, this segment is like being on vacation, as the scenery is breathtakingly gorgeous: forests, beaches, waterfalls, castles, and two women. One woman offers the man companionship and the other sex. Each woman's personality is suited to the task. A celebration of beauty, one hopes that this married couple will realize how good they have it and reconcile.I recommend EROS as a sensitive and subtle study of desire and relationships by talented and accomplished creative teams. Seven out of ten stars.

Three short-story films of self-indulgent dribble, in my opinion. If you are impressed by impressionism or art-school films, you might love (or at least like) this. For me, it was a waste of time-- a few laughs here and there, some nice scenery in the last episode, some mild-porn sensuality for those so inclined (but fans of the latter would be disappointed in comparison to a good XXX-movie with a clever plot).For the average viewer such as myself, seeking simply 90 minutes or so of entertainment-- be it comedic, dramatic, thought-provoking or exciting-- this movie supplied none of the above. To make matters worse, the English-version has permanently superimposed subtitles right in the midst of the scenes, occasionally obliterating or detracting from whatever scenery or environs which might have been otherwise enjoyed.I give it a 3 on my Richter-scale-- nothing more than a slight tremor of interest.

Watching this movie was a strange experience. Going on the viewer was improving his vision. Antonioni puts on the screen too much difficulties and considering his episode as something good is not so easy. Too much rhetoric, but the content? It's not possible (even if Antonioni can, or better, he was able to) to build a story based only on landscapes and naked figures..Pretentious (and actors' voices are awful as the dubbing). Sodebergh makes his job (a little bit "squeaky clean"). The idea of "the character watched by someone invisible" is good but it tastes like a dejà vu. Also the photography is cool. But Sodebergh seems too often "cool" and nothing else. The real sensation is Wong Kar Wai, whose episode "the hand" seems a continuation of some "moods" seen in "2046". The way Gong Li and the tailor know themselves for the first time is something sublime.