THE LITTLE DEATH
Magnolia Pictures
Reviewed by: Harvey Karten for Shockya. Databased on Rotten Tomatoes.
Grade: C+
Director: Josh Lawson
Screenwriter: Josh Lawson
Cast: Josh Lawson, Bojana Novakovic, Damon Herriman, Kate Mulvany, Kate Box, Patrick Brammall, Alan Dukes, Lisa McCune, Erin James, T.J. Power, Kim Gyngell, Lachy Hulme
Screened at: Review 1, NYC, 5/12/15
Opens: June 26, 2015
As sex comedies go, nothing has come up since 1897 that can match Arthur Schnitzler’s “Reigen,” also known as “La Ronde.” Schitzler’s roundelay of sexual encounters features people from all walks of society both before and after their sexual congress. Granted, Josh Lawson’s “The Little Death” is not trying to approach the high hurdle that Schnitzler established, but at least sex in the movies and on stage has come a long way since Austrian censors banned its production in Vienna in 1900.
“The Little Death” is from the French “La petite mort,” an idiom meaning “orgasm.” Lawson looks at five couples, only one of whom is having an affair, but this is not an exposé of liaisons. Instead it deals with couples, some married, one boyfriend-girlfriend, and one unrelated. Interestingly the fifth couple, a man and a woman who know each other for only minutes and even then mediated through a Skype call, represents the only segment that rises to the occasion (to speak).
Generally, though, despite a young woman’s fantasy of rape and her desire to be attacked, there’s nothing here that would excite feminists, not even a conclusion by a mediator that rape fantasies are common. This is likely because the participants are overly sweet, nonthreatening, are virtually winking at the audience as though to say “Aren’t we the cat’s meow?”
They’re not. Couple one of the folks Downunder who are dealing with….downunder…are like the others, Australian suburbanites, the usual fodder for satires about couples relationships going south. Maeve (Bojana Novakovic) has a long-term relationship with Paul (director Josh Lawson). She does not pressure him to get married: only to set up a rape scenario. Paul is taken aback despite his promise not to judge her and, of course, the fantasy is fulfilled. Maureen (Lisa McCune) and Phil (Alan Dukes) are the next subjects. Phil is fed up with harridan wife, having his way with her only after slipping her a powerful sleeping pill which was given to him by a fellow who got them in Bangkok. Again feminists might think of protesting before shrugging off the scenario: as in the rape case, here is a guy who is having intimate relations without gaining the consent of the woman. An uncomfortable skit.
When Dane (Damon Herriman) and Evie (Kate Mulvany) opt to role play—not an uncommon way to add some pizazz to a relationship–Dane plays doctor so well that he decides to go to acting school. This means he will be paying even less attention to his demanding wife. Meanwhile Rowena (Kate Box) finds that she becomes sexually aroused whenever her husband Richard (Patrick Brammall) cries. What she does with the family dog becomes heartbreaking enough to get any sensitive person to shed a tear.
A sex offender, Steve (Kim Byngell) tries to find a common bond among these suburbanites, as a new neighbor bearing his idea of a welcome wagon. He remind them that “under federal law, I am a registered sex offender,” though this bit of information may or may not having bearing on the story.
The only couple who could have a future is the fifth one, the twosome that have met only minutes before and who make each other deliriously happy. Monica (Erin James) has the unusual job of translating phone calls for deaf people. When Sam (TJ Power) calls, asking her to translate a chat with a phone-sex operator (Genevieve Hegney), the film finally achieves its goal of humor and non-saccharine sweetness. It is difficult, granted, for a series of skits to work. The last movie that succeeded is “Wild Tales,” an Argentine treasure that translated wonderfully across continents. “The Little Death” is, well, too little.
Rated PG-13. 97 minutes. © Harvey Karten, Member, New York Film Critics Online
Story – C+
Acting – B-
Technical – B-
Overall – C+
