Review of Ten Tiny Love Stories (2002) by Sunil J — 19 Feb 2009

A more apt title would be "Ten Tiny Stories About People Using Sex As An Unhealthy Means Of Reminding Themselves They Have The Power To Make Others Feel Pain." It's a bold concept--ten actresses deliver ten long monologues in ten beautifully composed medium-close-ups for the camera; that's all.

And, mostly, it really works, and, like the best of verbal cinema ("My Dinner With Andre," et al), really holds our attention. Of course, some of the segments, some of the stories, and some of the performances are far more powerful and far more memorable than others, but, all things considered, it's a pretty fascinating film--sort of "The Vagina Monologues" meets Neil LaBute.

Essential for those interesting in feminism in film (I haven't seen any of his other work, though I plan on it, but it seems that that's a focus of writer/director Rodrigo Garcia's; interesting and rather perplexing that most of the overtly feminist films seem to be made by men).