Ten Tiny Love Stories (2001)
Directed by Rodrigo Garcia
Written by Rodrigo Garcia
Starring Lisa Gay Hamilton, Elizabeth Pena, Alicia Witt, Debra Kara Unger
Release Date December 2001
Published December 17th, 2002
The title of the film Ten Tiny Love Stories, gives one the impression of a quirky little indie love story. In reality, however, writer/director Rodrigo Garcia delivers something altogether different—a takeoff of Broadway's The Vagina Monologues, as edited by the people at Lifetime television.
The film is a pseudo documentary composed of ten straight-to-the-camera monologues by ten different actresses. Some are well-known indie actresses like Radha Mitchell, Elizabeth Pena and Lisa Gay Hamilton and some are more recognizable actresses like Kathy Baker, Debra Unger, and Kimberly Williams.
Though I compared the film with The Vagina Monologues, not all of the 5-to-10 minute monologues are sexual in nature. The film opens with Mitchell remembering an old boyfriend. Then Alicia Witt remembers her first sexual experience. And from there, each actress shares, confesses, and cries over memories of past relationships.
Lisa Gay Hamilton delivers the best monologue, an actress I don't know all that well (but she has one of those faces I know I've seen before.) The story Hamilton tells is of a blind date, it begins with her being strong and assertive. Gradually, she shows her true self, and bears her insecurities in a way that is shocking and moving.
Later in the film, Kimberly Williams delivers a sad monologue on promiscuity abroad that seems innocent at the start but becomes dark as it goes on. Williams could have benefited from a little improvisation, for, at times, her monologue seems more read than delivered. It is still well delivered and definitely attention grabbing.
The interesting thing about the film is that at first I wasn't sure if I was watching a real documentary or not. Both Mitchell and Witt open the film with very off the cuff remarks as if they were telling their own story.
Elizabeth Pena however is clearly in character as a cold-hearted woman who tells of leaving her husband simply because she was bored. Her delivery is agitated and she smokes as if the cigarette were a weapon. She destroys any pretense of being real through her sometimes over-the-top meanness.
The fact that director Rodrigo Garcia is also credited as the screenwriter indicates these stories aren't true—or at least not the stories that these actresses tell. The writing is good for a man writing for a woman; something historically difficult. The film is, however, a little loosely edited. Some actresses go on too long and keep talking past the point of their story.
I'm not sure what Garcia intended to accomplish with this film. It's interesting on a sociological and conversational level, but in the end it’s somewhat aimless.
