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Time Out New York
October 20-26, 2005
Three of Hearts: A Postmodern Family
by Alison Rosen
“I really love the feeling of monogamy, but with more that one person,” offers the sensitive Sam Cagnina in the early part of this tasteful documentary about an unorthodox lifestyle. For 13 years, Cagnina, Steven Margolin and Samantha Singh successfully lived together as husband, husband and wife. They slept in one bed, worked as business partners to get their wellness center off the ground and ultimately brought two children (one by each father) into the world. There were challenges, but the threesome made their curious arrangement work through humor, communication, love, respect and therapy.
As documentarian Susan Kaplan was editing footage from the seven years she spent with the family, she received a call saying one member of the trio had chosen to leave the relationship. She launched back into the project for another three years to tell the rest of the story to continue to probe the question which subtly drives the film: What motivates someone to make this choice?
A poignant portrait emerges of three people seeking not to rebel, but to feel a greater love and acceptance that can be provided by one mate. Most striking about the threesome isn’t its never-shown freaky sex, but its surprising conventionality. Kaplan’s tenderness toward her subject suffuses the film, which avoids prurience and exploitation, and steadfastly remains an honest, intelligent piece of journalism.
