MOVIE REVIEW : ‘Erotique’: Sexy Tales From Three Female Filmmakers

The witty, steamy and audacious “Erotique” is composed of three deft, sexy tales from three of today’s most venturesome female filmmakers--the U.S.’ Lizzie Borden, Germany’s Monika Treut and Hong Kong’s Clara Law.

Although the film has been rated NC-17 for explicit sex, “Erotique” is not actually hard-core. The filmmakers’ clear intent is not pornographic but rather to express a woman’s bemused, often complex, view of sexuality. “Erotique,” which has ample nudity and blunt language, is a stylish film with an attractive, capable cast that is definitely for sophisticated adults only.

Opening the film is Borden’s “Let’s Talk About Sex,” which she wrote with well-known sex commentator Susie Bright. Vivacious Kamala Lopez-Dawson plays a struggling L.A. Latina actress who supports herself working at a phone sex agency, where she’s becoming as fed up with fulfilling male fantasies as she is with discrimination in competing for acting roles. One day, however, she encounters a caller (Bryan Cranston) who is “man enough” to hear out her sexual fantasies. What happens next is delightfully unexpected, amusing and insightful.

Treut’s “Taboo Parlor,” set in Hamburg, finds lesbian lovers Claire (Priscilla Barnes) and Julia (Camilla Soeberg) deciding to pick up a man, Victor (Michael Carr), in a nightclub. He’s arrogant and macho, but Treut is not content in giving him his comeuppance during fun and games with Claire and Julia, saving him for a fate that many--men, especially--will feel is rather too dire. Even so, “Taboo Parlor” is effectively outrageous. There are cameos by familiar faces: Peter Kern, as the nightclub’s bartender, and Marianne Sagebrecht, as its emcee.

Arguably, Law’s “Wonton Soup” saves the best for the last. It’s the funniest, boldest and the most substantial of the episodes. An Australian Chinese, Adrian (Tim Lounibos), visiting Hong Kong for the first time, is having an amorous reunion after six months with Ann (Hayley Man), whom he met at college in Melbourne.

Eager for more passionate sex, Adrian turns to ancient Chinese sexual techniques, which leads to one of the most hilarious love scenes imaginable. The sequence, however, gives way to the underlying serious, potentially alienating, issue of cultural identity.

Both Adrian and Ann find skyscraper-ridden Hong Kong not very Chinese, and Ann craves to feel truly Chinese while Adrian admits that, try as he might, he cannot feel Chinese at all.

* MPAA rating: NC-17, for explicit sex. Times guidelines: It includes much nudity, lovemaking and blunt language, but no scenes of hard - core sex; it is sophisticated adult fare.

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)

‘Erotique’

A Group I Films presentation.

‘Let’s Talk About Sex’

Kamala Lopez-Dawson: Rosie

Bryan Cranston: Dr. Robert Stern

Director Lizzie Borden. Producers Christopher Wood, Vicky Herman. Executive producer Marianne Chase. Screenplay by Borden, Susie Bright; from a story by Borden. Cinematographer Larry Banks. Editor Richard Fields. Costumes Jolie Jiminez. Music Andrew Belling. Production designer Jane Ann Stewart. Art director Patrice Begovich. Set decorator Carla Weber.

‘Taboo Parlor’

Priscilla Barnes: Claire

Camilla Soeberg: Julia

Michael Carr: Victor

Writer-director Monika Treut. Producers Treut, Michael Sombetzki. Cinematographer Elfi Mikesch. Editor Steve Brown. Costumes Susann Klindtwordt. Music Tanita Tikaram. Production designer Petra Korink.

‘Wonton Soup’

Tim Lounibos: Adrian

Hayley Man: Ann

Director Clara Law. Producers Teddy Robin Kwan, Eddie Ling-Ching Fong. Screenplay Fong. Cinematographer Arthur Wong. Editor Jill Bilcock. Music Tats Lau.

Running time: 1 hour, 30 minutes.

* At selected theaters throughout Southern California.