Sex with Strangers (2002)
Despite the lurid title, "Sex with
Strangers" is a rather typical yet interesting look
at 3 "groups" (the word "couple" doesn't quite adequately
describe one of them) who swing. The easiest way to
discuss the film is to separate them into their respective
stories, so here goes:
The most "happy" couple is an older
husband and wife who travel around to swing clubs
throughout the south and "seduce" others. They have
an RV and use this as a place where they can take
the others they meet on "the road." During the proceedings,
the male only has one minor flare up about a sexual
situation they are engaged in. This couple is the
most honest, open, and thoughtful of all the couples
and actually seem to be quite happy living as they
do. The only real troubling moment in their story
comes when the female decides to have breast implants.
The husband refers to these as "bait." (The female,
by the way, looks like a younger Judith Ivey and the
husband has a ridiculous Southern accent).
The next most interesting group
has its problems. One guy, two girls. They are also
friends with the "happy" couple. The male here, Calvin,
is quite attractive (he looks like Robert Smith of
the Cure's cuter, younger brother). He is sort of
a user and an idiot but he's living the dream. One
of his girlfriends seems quite happy in the relationship.
The other is a drama queen who really loves Calvin
but throws a lot of crying tantrums because she feels
left out. It's all rather juvenile.
The least interesting couple here
is married but swings. The wife has a lot of emotional
problems but she seems to cope okay. This story is
the most dull and only gets slightly interesting when
the husband travels out of town to meet with a woman
he met on the Internet. The wife allows this but has
a breakdown while he is gone and starts cutting on
herself. Eventually she is hospitalized but released.
I don't know why this film is so
fascinating except for the fact that it shows "open"
relationships to be just as problematic and "high
maintenance" as traditional ones. The fact that these
couples all seem to engage in bisexual activities
(granted, mainly the females) is largely treated as
normal and typical. Calvin does deliver some dialogue
about being with men, but it is almost glossed over.
The sexuality of the men and women here is never really
explored as fully as it could be. Most of their backgrounds
are never mentioned either, with only a few exceptions,
and how they established these relationships is also
largely ignored. This document is more like "a year
in the life" of these three groups. It's told in a
rather standard way and nothing that revelatory or
thought-provoking comes from viewing it. It's generally
just a glimpse into an alternative lifestyle that
generally does not seem judgemental or biased. Still,
there's much more drama than happiness here.
The most troubling aspect of the
film is one that is most bothersome about almost all
documentaries; that is, it purports to be a unbiased,
honest, and real documentation of something but the
fact that cameras are introduced into the mix causes
one to question the integrity of the stories and moments
captured. There is a lot of sex on screen here yet
it is as much amateur porn performance as a document
of real activities. For example, sex clubs and nightclubs
are used as settings in the film but one must surely
know that none of this filming could be done without
the consent of the participants. How real can that
be? Likewise, when the "happy" couple take others
to their RV, the people filmed there obviously know
that cameras are on them. Was the filming used as
"bait" as well? How do we know what we are seeing
is the participants being "real" and not just "performing"
for the camera. The whole set-up is questionable,
as it can be in documentaries.
Regardless, "Sex with Strangers"
is often interesting and unique. But often the 2 hour
film seems more like a typical cable show than a "real"
film. The fact that it is produced by the folks who
did "Taxicab Confessions" and that it has already
appeared on cable TV (before an art-house theatrical
release) says a lot about the film.
Note:
The film is not rated and features
some semi-explicit sexual encounters on screen.
The producer/directors of this film,
Joe and Harry Gantz, also created numerous "reality
based" Internet pay sites.
Viewed at a press sneak in Austin
in November 2002.
