Of all the words ever spoken, "erotic" is one of the most unfortunately maligned and misunderstood. A collection of six letters defining a fever pitch of sexual passions and desires in a human being is now more commonly associated with softcore porn. What passes by for eroticism in most movies these days isn't truly erotic, but Eros is out to change that.

Utilizing the storytelling talents and styles of three different filmmakers, Eros provides an intriguing, anthologized meditation on the erotic, delving deep into this part of the psyche by way of a trio of short films. Only one of the vignettes fails to measure up to the emotional impact expected, but that still means that for two-thirds of the time, Eros fulfills its objective in an artistic and enthralling manner.

First up at bat is The Hand, from 2046 helmer Wong Kar Wai. It focuses on the tumultuous relationship between a high-class prostitute (Gong Li) and an apprentice tailor (Chang Chen) who falls in love with her. Next, Steven Soderbergh presents Equilibrium, the tale of a burnt-out advertising man (Robert Downey Jr.) who describes a puzzling dream to a psychiatrist (Alan Arkin) whose attention is much more fixed upon something he sees out the window. Michelangelo Antonioni (Blow-Up) directs the last vignette, The Dangerous Thread of Things, about a couple's already-strained relationship being tested further when a mystery woman (Luisa Ranieri) enters the picture.

Perhaps a more accurate title for Eros would be something like Obsessions. The film itself and the stories within it tackle topics of a sexual nature, for sure, but at its core, Eros contains three tales of people trying to attain the unattainable, fueled by a need to fulfill their desires to have something that, in one way or another, is forbidden. Soderbergh's short exemplifies this attitude the best as it tells a story involving such issues with an intriguing quirkiness. Both the Downey and Arkin characters, who carry out their session in a bland, gray room, are trapped and desperate to resolve their respective quandries of desiring a dream woman and getting the attention of someone across the street. The actors do a fine job keeping the viewers wrapped up in their own little worlds, and Soderbergh's style is clever and offbeat without getting too pretentious.

Wong Kar Wai's piece is a more delicately-told story, depicting not graphic sex but rather the lack of it, telling the story of a lovelorn young man who finds himself entranced by a woman who knows how much power her beauty has over men. The segment is a little off-putting at first because the idea that the tailor would fall so easily in love with a woman who is obviously teasing and toying with him for her own pleasure comes as a bit hard to swallow. Fortunately, it progressively grows more somber and introspective, thanks to Wong Kar Wai's patient storytelling and the earnest, touching performances delivered by the leads, working together to bless the segment with a true sense of intimacy.

Antonioni's story, on the other hand, is the letdown of the trio, a boring, dull, and joyless excuse for women to prance around naked and elicit more unintentional laughter than admiration. This short contributes nothing by the way of artistic value or intelligent observations; essentially, it's pretentious porn, going against the very spirit of the preceding vignettes. It's not enough to seriously cripple the film as a whole, but it's a definite time-waster and is nowhere near as memorable as the other stories. Also, the soothing music and erotic drawings separating each vignette are tiring and tend to drag on for a little too long.

Due to its independent, art-house stature and small accessibility, Eros isn't likely to change the public's views on eroticism. But the important thing about this project is that its  participating filmmakers at least make an effort to relate eroticism to something other than the movies one can find only in a tiny, dark corner of the video store -- and for that, Eros (or at least two-thirds of it) is definitely worth a moviegoer's interest.

MY RATING: *** (out of ****)

(Released by Warner Independent Pictures and rated "R" for strong sexual content including graphic nudity, and for language.)