Enemies, A Love Story is as contradictory as its title.

The film tells the story of Herman Broder (Ron Silver), a bookseller in post-World War II New York City. Herman lives all over New York, as he has three wives.

There is his "peasant," Yadwiga (Margaret Sophie Stein), a simple-minded servant girl; there is the fiery Masha (Lena Olin), a Russian with a maniacal personality; and there is his real wife Tamara (Anjelica Huston), whom Herman thought was dead. Each of these women offers something different to their relationship.

All this may sound like Enemies makes a fine romantic comedy, but the film depresses as much as it entertains. The film has humorous moments, such as when Herman meets Tamara's clueless uncle at a resort and must hide in a boat to prevent being seen with Masha. Yet the characters' searching for a reason to live make the film almost painful.

Tamara wants only to rejoin into society and dispel the myth that she is dead. Yadwiga wants to convert to Judaism and spend her days with Herman and be a dutiful wife. In the end, Masha's only wish is to die, feeling that no other course will suffice. Herman's frequent dreams about his evasion from Nazis also give the film a murky gloss.

Enemies, A Love Story, for all its confusion, works because of fine performances and serene direction from Paul Mazursky.

As Herman, Ron Silver explores his predicaments with emotional fervor. Silver's performance is both comic and dramatic all in one breath. Herman's hauntings usually occur after a specific stressful moment, and one particular scene illustrates Silver's duality: after his polygamy is revealed at a party, there is a tendency to laugh as the dumbfounded Herman searches for an escape. He briskly leaves the gathering.

Lena Olin is brilliant as the distressful Masha. One moment, content and playful, the next screaming and uncontrolled, Olin makes Masha's complex character identifiable. Like Silver, Olin must bring both comic and dramatic tendencies to light. Also like Silver, Olin accomplishes her task.

Olin's most impressive moment comes after Masha's apartment is burglarized. At first Masha sits passively surveying the wreckage. Without warning, she springs to her feet and proceeds to toss remaining objects around the room. The sudden change in mood creates humor, but Masha's overall fragile state creates drama.

The film's performances make it all the more unnerving. Just when it seems Enemies is moving toward humorous ends, something unexpected and wrenching occurs. Director and co-writer Mazursky seems to be paralleling the experience of these former concentration camp prisoners.

The teetering between comedy and tragedy is Mazursky's way of expressing this condition. The phenomena here is that such a possibly morbid subject makes an entertaining and inventive film.