Eros is a 2004 anthology film consisting of three short segments: The Hand directed by Wong Kar-wai in Mandarin, Equilibrium by Steven Soderbergh in English, and The Dangerous Thread of Things by Michelangelo Antonioni in Italian.
[7] After Antonioni's approval, production development on Eros officially began in 2001: after discussing possible directors, the group of producers selected Wong Kar-wai and Pedro Almodóvar to helm the other two short films.
During the Italian press tour for Talk to Her in March 2002, Almodóvar declared to be "happy, thrilled and honored to share a film with a master like Antonioni"[8] Wong Kar-wai, for his part, said that the Italian director "had been the guiding light for me and filmmakers of my generation so I'm deeply honored to participate in this project and show him my gratitude".
[9] Almodóvar was supposed to start pre-production and location scouting in early April 2002, on a screenplay based on the sexual initiation of an 8-year-old boy.
[8] After several delays in finishing the script and being pressed for time as the production of his film Bad Education approached, he was forced to withdraw.
During an event to celebrate Antonioni's 90th birthday in September 2002, his wife Enrica announced that Almodóvar had left the project and would be replaced by Steven Soderbergh.
[12] Former dancer Regina Nemni got the part of Cloe, the wife and newcomer Luisa Ranieri, popular at the time for a Nestea commercial, was cast as Linda.
[13] For the dual role of the "Woman in the Dream" (whose scenes required full nudity) and Nick's wife Cecelia, dozens of actresses auditioned for casting director Debra Zane.
In spring 2003, Wong Kar-wai completed the casting for his segment: young Taiwanese actor Chang Chen, who had already worked with the director in Happy Together,[14] landed the lead role of Zhang.
Rome-based architect Stefano Luci debuted as a production designer with Eros thanks to his friendship with Antonioni and helped him finding the right locations for the shooting.
Mainly shot during the day to capture summer's end's natural light with both digital and 35mm cameras,[15] filming officially wrapped in early December.
Produced by Soderbergh's long-time collaborator Gregory Jacobs, the segment entered production in late February 2003 and principal photography lasted one week.
Because of the risks, the cast & crew had to wash hands regularly on set and had to work wearing masks, avoiding any possible physical contact with each other.
[6] "It was a nightmare but this situation inspired me to make a film about the sense of touch," declared the director during the press conference in Venice.
The result is soft-core porn of the most banal variety, and when the second woman begins to gambol on the beach one yearns for Russ Meyer to come to the rescue.
I feel empathy for both of them: Miss Hua, sadly accepting the fading of her beauty, the disappearance of her clients, the loss of her health, and Mr. Zhang, who will always be in her thrall.
Promotion was poor; for example, on At the Movies with Ebert and Roeper, critic Richard Roeper remarked that he was surprised that Warner Independent did not send any clips to be broadcast on the show and that this was the only movie reviewed on the show he remembered for which the studio had taken such a step (incidentally, the critics gave the film a "Two Thumbs Up" rating).