''Chain of Desire'' is an American 1992

drama Drama is the specific mode of fiction represented in performance: a play, opera, mime, ballet, etc., performed in a theatre, or on radio or television.Elam (1980, 98). Considered as a genre of poetry in general, the dramatic mode has b ...

romance film Romance films or movies involve romantic love stories recorded in visual media for broadcast in theatres or on television that focus on passion (emotion), passion, emotion, and the affectionate romantic involvement of the main characters. Typica ...

directed by Temístocles López. It is a modern American

remake A remake is a film, television series, video game, song or similar form of entertainment that is based upon and retells the story of an earlier production in the same medium—e.g., a "new version of an existing film". A remake tells the sam ...

of the film '' La Ronde''. The film was presented at the

Turin Film Festival The Torino Film Festival (also called the Turin Film Festival, TFF) is an international film festival held annually in Turin, Italy. Held every November, it is the second largest film festival in Italy, following the Venice Film Festival. It wa ...

in November 1992 and was released in the United States on June 25, 1993.

Plot

A series of unrelated amorous lovers are connected by a chain of desire. It begins when a woman named Alma flees from a would-be lover. She runs into a church, where she meets a man named Jesus and they eventually make love. Jesus goes home to wife Isa and they make love. Isa leaves for an appointment with Dr. Buckley, with whom she is having an affair. Buckley then visits Linda, a

dominatrix A dominatrix (; ) or femdom is a woman who takes the dominant role in BDSM activities. A dominatrix can be of any sexual orientation, but this does not necessarily limit the genders of her submissive partners. Dominatrices are known for inflic ...

. Linda goes home to husband Hubert, a television commentator. Hubert has sex without her knowledge with a male teen, Keith. Keith is introduced to

exotic dancer A stripper or exotic dancer is a person whose occupation involves performing striptease in a public adult entertainment venue such as a strip club. At times, a stripper may be hired to perform at a bachelor party or other private event. M ...

Diana, who then has a fling with a much older artist, Mel. He goes home to an angry wife, Cleo. And that night, all of these people end up at a nightclub where Alma is performing. Alma has just learned that the lover she fled has been diagnosed with

AIDS Human immunodeficiency virus infection and acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (HIV/AIDS) is a spectrum of conditions caused by infection with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), a retrovirus. Following initial infection an individual ma ...

Cast

Soundtrack

The film score was composed by Nathan Birnbaum with additional music by Peter Gordon. The

Chet Baker Chesney Henry "Chet" Baker Jr. (December 23, 1929 – May 13, 1988) was an American jazz trumpeter and vocalist. He is known for major innovations in cool jazz that led him to be nicknamed the "Prince of Cool". Baker earned much attention and ...

song " So Hard To Know", written by

Roxanne Seeman Roxanne Joy Seeman is an American songwriter and lyricist. She is best known for her songs by Billie Hughes, Philip Bailey, Phil Collins, Earth, Wind & Fire, Barbra Streisand, Bette Midler, The Sisters of Mercy, The Jacksons, Jacky Cheung, and i ...

and Rique Pantoja, appears in the film.

Reception

On review aggregate website

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wan ...

, ''Chain of Desire'' has an approval rating of 60% based on 5 reviews. Richard Harrington of ''

The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large n ...

'' remarked the film "is an odd mix: an American update of

Max Ophüls Maximillian Oppenheimer (; 6 May 1902 – 26 March 1957), known as Max Ophüls (; ), was a German-French film director who worked in Germany (1931–1933), France (1933–1940 and 1950–1957), and the United States (1947–1950). He made near ...

's '' The Circle'', a sexual '' Slackers'' and an

MTV MTV (Originally an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable channel that launched on August 1, 1981. Based in New York City, it serves as the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group, part of Paramount Media Networks, a di ...

-style public service announcement on AIDS stretched out to 105 minutes of tragicomedy with a heavy-handed message that works emotionally, but not at all logically." Harrington critiqued the film’s lack of character development and concluded "in trying to create a democracy of victims who casually cross sexual, ethnic and economic lines, Lopez ends up creating unamusing comedy and unmoving tragedy. As an erotic morality play, it's about as convincing as

Madonna Madonna Louise Ciccone (; ; born August 16, 1958) is an American singer-songwriter and actress. Widely dubbed the " Queen of Pop", Madonna has been noted for her continual reinvention and versatility in music production, songwriting, a ...

's last record."

Nominations

Nancy Schreiber Nancy Schreiber (born June 27, 1949) is an American cinematographer known for her work on ''Chain of Desire'', ''Dead Beat'', ''The Celluloid Closet'', ''November'', and ''The Nines''. Early life and education Nancy Schreiber was born on June ...

: 1993

Independent Spirit Award The Independent Spirit Awards (abbreviated Spirit Awards and originally known as the FINDIE or Friends of Independents Awards), founded in 1984, are awards dedicated to independent filmmakers. Winners were typically presented with acrylic glas ...

- Best Cinematography (Nominated)

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Chain Of Desire 1992 films 1992 independent films 1992 romantic drama films HIV/AIDS in American films American romantic drama films Films about adultery in the United States Films set in New York City 1992 drama films 1990s English-language films 1990s American films