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Help Me, Eros Review

Help Me, Eros

As I sealed Help Me, Eros (幫幫我愛神) DVD into Netflix’s red envelope, I struggled mentally whether to write a review about this movie. If I do, how would I put my mixed feelings about this film into a coherent and comprehensible article. It appeared to me almost an impossible task. Later, after returning the DVD, I went on my Netflix account and tried to rate the movie. Once again, I froze, lost in thoughts and nonplussed. Even though in the end I gave 2 stars out of 5, but I do not consider it to be accurate. Perhaps, as a reader, you should completely disregard this rating.

To get one thing straight, Help Me, Eros is an artsy film not a senseless erotic film. It is true, there were plenty of sexual scenes, but they were in the movie to illustrate a point, to enforce the message.

Help Me, Eros is not a bad movie, but definitely not a movie with high entertainment value, therefore not a movie for everyone. It comes close to being a poem, a visual poem that carries a suffocating and almost unbearable melancholy. Perhaps, my rating merely reflects its entertainment value, rather than its artistic value. Artistically, it deserves a 5-star.

Using long still shots, and sometimes extended scenes without any dialogue, the movie achieved in expressing the loneliness of city dwellers and the inadequacy of love. Sex is merely an escape, a temporary solution to satiate one’s longing to be loved and cared. At the same time, sex drives the main character into a deeper void, because after the temporary physical union and pleasure, he only finds himself lonelier than ever.

The parallel story of the helpline lady is an interesting one. At work, she patiently helps the main character, preventing him from committing suicide. Yet, when she returns her home, she is just another victim. She receives no love from her husband. In certain way, she is probably more miserable than the main character, because she cannot even pursue for sexual pleasure. It is obvious to see the mocking paradox here, a victim helping another victim, a lonely person helps another lonely person to find love and caring they both yearn. Both of them cries out Help Me, Eros!

I think this is a profound movie. However, you need to be patient to watch it. Like a Netflix reviewer recommended, it is best that you watch it alone and undisturbed.

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