A Complete History Of My Sexual Failures - film review
In a touching and tender documentary, independent film-maker Chris Waitt interviews a selection of ex-girlfriends about the reasons they dumped him. A journey of self-discovery ensues, both for Waitt and perhaps also for the receptive viewer.
As well as interviewing old flames, Waitt also essays a number of therapies including psycho-sexual counselling, hypnotherapy and acupuncture. He also experiments with drug-based treatment for erectile dysfunction, with the usual result. (He gets a "massive erection" and runs around the West End of London asking any woman he encounters to have sex with him, until he has his collar felt and spends a night in the cells.)
Searching for a new girlfriend via a social networking Internet site, Waitt takes a trip to Madame Maisie's dungeon where the obliging hostess punishes him by flaying his genitals. This scene may not suit all tastes.
In view of Waitt's numerous shortcomings, both revealed by former girlfriends and manifest during the course of shooting the film, it is perhaps surprising that he has had so many relationships and that some of them lasted as much as three or four years. There's hope for us all.