‘Chain of Desire’

With his elegant and erotic 1993 transposition of “La Ronde” to contemporary Manhattan, Caracas-born writer-director Temistocles Lopez shows how sexual longing and emotional craving in all their permutations reveal the loneliness and isolation endemic to modern urban life. A film of wit and compassion, this is a serious comedy, spiked with humor that is as hilarious as it is subtle. The film’s almost literal chain of desire crosses racial, ethnic and sexual lines along with socioeconomic levels and boasts 14 principals, all of whom make an impression, no small accomplishment. Linda Fiorentino, Grace Zabriskie, Malcolm McDowell (pictured), Seymour Cassel and Assumpta Serna head the cast (Cinemax Wednesday at 8 p.m.).