How Wong Kar-waiโ€™s short The Hand made the 2004 anthology film Eros worth watching



This is the latest instalment in a feature series reflecting on instances of East meets West in world cinema, including China-US co-productions.

Anthology films consist of several shorter works, often connected by a common theme or wraparound story. Sometimes they have multiple directors, such as 1989โ€™s New York Stories, which features tales by Martin Scorsese, Francis Ford Coppola and Woody Allen.

Named after the Greek god of love and desire, Eros (2004) explores different ideas of eroticism. It is an international effort, with contributions from Hong Kongโ€™s Wong Kar-wai, Americaโ€™s Steven Soderbergh (replacing Spainโ€™s Pedro Almodรณvar) and Italyโ€™s Michelangelo Antonioni.

It is a lopsided proposition. Antonioni, who made 1960s classics such as Lโ€™Avventura and Blow-up, was by far the biggest name at the time, with Wong and Soderbergh recruited as fans of his work.

Apparently, Soderbergh just wanted to be on a poster alongside the Italian legend. Wong, meanwhile, called Antonioni โ€œthe guiding light for me and filmmakers of my generation, so Iโ€™m deeply honoured to participate in this project and show him my gratitudeโ€.

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