Tantric sex loses out

MONIKA ULLMANN SPECIAL TO THE JEWISH BULLETIN

Vancouver lawyer, actor, director and independant film (indie) producer Peter Nadler said he had to make real sacrifices to make Tantric Logic, a short currently screening at the Oakridge Cinema as part of the Vancouver Jewish Film Festival.

"I had to research tantric sex; a hard job, but I had to do it," he quipped.

The 13-minute romantic comedy, his first, explores the comic collision of two worlds – the flaky, new-age world of the heroine, Cynthia, and the computer world of Paul Leibowitz, a classic geek caught in a midlife crisis. Wifeless at 40, Leibowitz decides to ignore his mother's efforts at hooking him up with the neighbor's daughter. Instead, he trolls the Web personals for a prospective bride - and gets caught. Caught by a mango-bearing tantric love goddess, who speaks mystically about her Venus being on Uranus, and how good that is. What?

After several humiliating encounters with new-age males spouting incomprehensible gibberish at a party, Leibowitz retreats, only to get a call from the ignored girl next door. As a fellow computer nerd, she speaks his language. After looking at her picture (which the audience cannot see), he decides that Mom was right, after all.

"The camera deliberately does not show her picture, because by this time, it's clear that love is not about looks," explained Nadler, who admits that the whole thing is a bit of a male fantasy.

"But he learns from the experience, and that's what counts," said Nadler, tongue firmly in cheek.

To the obvious question of how the movie is a reflection of his personal life, Nadler answered with his usual comedic flair.

"I did meet my current partner on the Web, but she's not into tantric sex," he said. As for the other characters, they are composites of real, West Coast people he has known. "The reaction of people in Toronto is always, 'Oh, do they still do that out there?' They don't get the allusions," shrugs Nadler.

Although the film is a typical Vancouver product, shot with first-rate local crews itching to work on an indie, Nadler says it wasn't easy making a low-budget flick. Even so, he is about to release his next co-production and is already working on two new productions, and thinks Vancouver is probably the best city in North America for making indies.

"Even Toronto can't compete with the quality of crews here," he said. Many people donated their time and talent to this production, and Nadler said that without that help, he couldn't have done it.

In spite of all the great people and a quirky premise, it took Nadler nearly two years to do the final edit.

"I put my 20 years as a trial laywer on hold," he said. Nadler spent a year writing the script, and then re-wrote the opening and closing sequences a year after the major shoot was completed. That meant they had to do pick ups, re-shooting those scenes without the benefit of the same locations. He said that, in the end, it was a good thing because it taught him what worked and what didn't. Logistics are always one of the main nightmares on any production, especially when you don't have millions of dollars to throw at problems. And problems you will have.

"If it can go wrong, it will," said Nadler, adding that during the first year of shooting, he sometimes had to remind himself of why he was doing it.

So why did he do it? Why does any creative person do anything? Because they love to suffer. Just ask Nadler. It's not for the money, that's certain. To make ends meet, Nadler picks up small acting roles in television. For instance, he was in an episode of Da Vinci's Inquest recently – cast as a lawyer.

Monika Ullmann is a freelance writer, editor and lifewriter living in Vancouver. She can be reached at [email protected].

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