Ten Tiny Love Stories

This is a movie about how men think women think about love. No woman describes a one-night sexual encounter and declares it a love story.

Of the ten monologues I felt only three really had any kind of truth ring through them. I kept waiting for the film to get better, and it did a bit, but never better enough.

This is an interesting concept, and I kept wanting it to be good, but it never succeeded. Maybe if they actually WERE love stories it would have worked.

Saw this again after some years and still love it. Based on my limited experience with women (as a man), the monologues, however fictional, have a clear ring of authenticity. A good view of sex and contemporary women and, more generally, the human condition as it relates to the interaction of sexes.

I discovered this movie on IFC, and I thought it would be interesting. For "tiny" love stories, some of the stories really dragged on in this movie. The fact that none of these women had names almost makes you suspect that the actresses were talking about their own real sex lives, including Kathy Baker and Alicia Witt. I have to admit, I want to start seeing some more romantic views of first sexual encounters again, like in "Strike!(1998)," when Odette Sinclair's acquaintances started asking about her presumed first time, and Tweety asked "Was it beautiful?"

Some might think re-enactments and flashbacks would improve this movie. I think it would make things even worse. It doesn't necessarily have to be hardcore porn to get my attention, but somehow I just expected more.

Ten Tiny Stories is a copy of the film "Amores", directed by Domingos de Oliveira in 1998. In Rio de Janeiro, at the end of the millennium, a group of friends share their lives and experiences with each other. They are mostly middle-aged. The central characters played by Domingos de Oliveira and Priscilla Rozenbaum are inseparable buddies involved in a friendship that's more like extended therapy and philosophizing sessions. Their dialogues dominate the film, and involve many other people. Chief among them: the de Oliveira' character's daughter, her boyfriends, the Rozenbaum character's husband, mistresses and lovers including an HIV positive gay Brazilian recently back from abroad

In 10 stories written by the male director of the film, ten different women each tell the viewer about a former relationship. One of the women tells about her first sexual encounter, another tells about a blind date who was incredibly selfish and unfeeling, and still another about a man she met in Greece. Did any of these women really benefit from these encounters and can they offer the audience real advice about love? This movie is just bizarre. Each of the stories has some intriguing elements but none truly ring true, except, perhaps, for the last story. How many women, after all, fall for a puppeteer or get set up on a date with a man from Argentina? All of the actresses in the movie, however, do their best with the material provided. The best accolade one can give to this film is that its format is interesting and that's not showering it with praise. If you have a penchant for unusual and unknown films, you might take a chance with this movie. Otherwise, even those who love tales of romance will be sorely disappointed.