You know the story: a fascinating writer and college professor is seduced by a young woman, snaps him out of existential calm and helps him reconnect with his creativity. It’s a story about a clumsy landing in 2022, dynamically romanticizing problematic forces and casting women as mere accessories to men’s personal growth.
Betty Kaplan’s “Art of Love” is a male fantasy. Called only the writer (Esai Morales), the protagonist of the film is a mysterious older man surrounded by a woman who drowns in him despite his indifference. When he began to receive mysterious messages from his admirers — slipped into him by a young woman on a skateboard, etched into a sidewalk with chalk, or hidden in a book page — the writer cheered up for the first time. It seems that it was done. He soon learns that the message is from a young Chinese immigrant named Li Chao (Kunjue Li) who is eager to escape the scope of her situation. Despite Li’s early declaration that she was a lesbian, the two giggled the city, embarked on a disturbing and confusing journey, placed art installations, had pseudo-deep discussions, and finally. Became physical.
This movie is full of metaphors and stereotypes. Lee’s personality is a model of modesty and obedience that acts as a mouthpiece of problematic beliefs, and at some point her “irregular choices” make her anomalous in an isolated Chinese community. Is pointed out. Lesbianism is treated as a matter of situation, not as a complete identity.
And the film emphasizes the fiction that it is often young women who seduce older men, and not the other way around. The writing, which leaves much to be desired, emphasizes these issues. Suffering from Lee’s elusiveness, the writer ponders why Lee “was so obsessed with owning me” during one of his solipsistic reflections. It’s a story of being tired and serving a man, and he wants to retire.
Art of love
Rated R for graphic sexual content, nudity, and some languages. Spanish and English, with subtitles. Execution time: 1 hour 56 minutes.Can be rented or purchased at the theater Apple TV, Google play And other streaming platforms and pay TV operators.
