Erotique

Three feminist stories confront and subvert the standard porn movie (up to a point). Borden and Treut are comfortable with the brief, allowing their central characters fantasy, force and passion, but Law's cinematic concerns lie in cultural rather than gender differences, and she opts (out) for humour. 'Let's Talk About Sex', Borden's tale of phone sex worker Rosie (Lopez-Dawson), reworks themes from Working Girls. It's a sometimes steamy little affair, though Borden does well to question Rosie's own fantasy whichslips easily into stereotype. Treut's deadly lesbian vignette, 'Taboo Parlour', plays hard ball. Her dildo-wearing heroine works out a variation of the Black Widow scenario - an uncompromising gender power game likely to alienate any man hoping for titillation. Law's meditation on the future of Hong Kong, 'Wonton Soup', ends the film with a soft-core wimper as a couple explore a version of the Kama Sutra.