'Erotique' produces too many laughs, not enough steam By SARAH STEWART The explicit sex present in film tends to fall into one of three categories: 1) the plot Erotique Directed by Lizzie Borden, Monika Truet and Clara Law; with Kamala D Lopez-Dawson and Tim Lounibos. revolves around a pivotal sex scene, 2) the sex scenes serve to distract from the weak plot, or 3) any semblance of a plot is sacri- ficed for the sake of unadulterated sex. "Erotique" attempts to create a fourth category that equally and artistically inte- grates sex and story from the female director's perspective. Instead, it offers three distinct pieces that are equally stupid and far from artistic. The first piece, "Let's Talk About Love," is arguably the most complex. In exagger- ated intellectual terms, it confronts the psy- chologically probing subject of phone sex. But more precisely, it visually presents dreamy fantasies of sexual domination that would be better left to the literary genre of erotica. Some of the more realistic phone scenes, masturbation and all, border on titillating, but when Rosie (Kamala Lopez-Dawson) and Dr. Robert Stern (Bryan Cranston) nar- rate their fantasies as they are acting them out, what's supposedly erotic becomes co- medic. Does Borden believe that a few candles and an angled camera will distin- guish her work from one of those hilarious B-movies that frequent the USA Network late night line-up? Unfortunately, a tendency towards hu- mor is not unique to "Erotique." In fact, the most notable and least complimentary char- acteristic of the second short, "Taboo Par- lor," is the number of laughs it's liable to provoke. Director Monika Truet is apparently mak- ing a statement on male bashing by present- ing a lesbian character who turns a menage- a-trois with her female lover and a hetero- sexual male into a successful murder. The crime is terribly unsubtle and consequently, seems unnecessary. As heartless as it may seem, the whole thing leaves the audience wishing Truet had stuck with sex and chosen a different me- dium from which to make a social state- ment. Even thought it's more funny than erotic to watch the murderess insert a dildo into the ass of her soon-to-be victim, it's less ridiculous than watching her and her lover stare at the flames of the car she's just blown up. "Wonton Soup," the last piece, gives credence to saving the best for last as long as we consider the low caliber of its company. Unlike its predecessors, "Soup" has some success in going beyond sex without unin- tentionally inducing laughter. In fact, it is supposed to be funny when an Australian- born Chinese man employs every sexual posi- tion possible in an attempt to keep his Hong Kong girlfriend by making his sex life "more Chinese." The audience's energy fades sooner than his does, as it becomes clear that this acrobatic display of sexual bravado is just that. It lacks passion and with the addition of clothing might double as a typically mediocre "Satur- day Night Live" sketch. "Erotique" is bound to attract viewers that are offended by the stigma of pornographic adult films but are nonetheless curious about sex on the big screen. But be forewarned - a French title does not a sophisticated film make. EROTIQUE is playing at The State Theatre. frQ~'~~ '~ AK. 'A " ~ ';' ..AAA "A '. ~ ~ .....................................KA ~ A 'N' M v X D B I I Z P L 2:.. 4'' AK ': 2 W A P 0 G P H G N L P F J K 0 [1 Z SM ~NN "'N N K x NA 'A N, A