Sex in mainstream movies? (2 Viewers)

[Ted Todorov]

The English language title is In The Realm of the Senses

Ted

 

[Mark-W]

While we can talk about "I heard this or that," it is surprising to rent a film with respected Thespians like Kerry Fox and Mark Rylance crossing the boundary of non-simulated, but actual oral sex is a film that is both quite good, and deliberately unsexy.

Intimacy is a film that I would never describe as "erotic," and the sexuality seems more bleak than anything else and certainly not arousing for most.

(Ebert talked about this film quite a bit when it was released.)


Mark

 

[Peter Kim]

Is what appears to be explicit sex not really what it seems? Perhaps those more knowledgeable can elaborate, but I've read that in many films, extensive efforts were made to simulate sex.

In some cases, a prosthesis was used to mimic the actual thing. Or a flesh-colored g-string was used as camouflage. As has been mentioned, a penis shown during the rape scene was constructed postproduction via CG in Irreversible.

With respect to prostheses, I came across the film, The Brown Bunny, in my readings of this year's Cannes. In the midst of all the derision hurled at this film last year, much has been made of the fallatio scene between its two principals, Vincent Gallo & Chloe Sevigny.

According to Richard Corliss of TIME, the authenticity of the saving grace of this film was reduced to sleight of dick:


The veracity of this claim, or the deftness of sleight can now be questioned by a larger audience, now that The Brown Bunny has found an American distributor.

Critically reviled 'Bunny' to open in U.S.

 

[Ricardo C]

Tinto Brass' movies often feature hand-to-genital contact, with a few including ummm... digital penetration (digital referring to fingers, not CGI ), and "Fallo!" showed actual oral sex.

 

[JohnVB]

Here's what I don't get. How often is this *really* necessary to further the plot of a story? If a sexual encounter is realy necessary to the story, there's a lot of ways to convey that without being quite so explicit.

I also don't get how actors/actresses are able to perform such a scene? They've got 20-30 or more people looking on with bright lights on them and a camera right there. How un-sexy is that?

Sorry if this is slightly off topic, but I had to ask.

- bones

 

[Ricardo C]

Sometimes sex scenes are gratuitous, sure. But sometimes I do believe showing the sex rather explicitly is necessary to properly communicate the mood of the scene, and/or the state of mind of the characters.

Ever scoff dismissively at post-coitus scenes in which the lovers demurely cover themselves (guy gets out of bed with the sheets wrapped around his waist, girl holds covers up to her neck) even though it's just them in the room and they've just screwed each other into next year? Sometimes, I feel that way about supposedly "raw" sex scenes that show less of the actual act than the average WB teen soap. If you're going to portray it, protray it well, you know?

 

[todd s]

Kinda of off topic. But, a lot of the Cinemax movies are made by the same 10-12 actors/actresses. It is like watching a local theater group and seeing a new production every few weeks.

 

[Ricardo C]

1. Please provide some examples of those "computer nerds" you speak of getting "trewmendously excited" here at the HTF about "5-10 seconds of nudity in a movie".

2. That self-righteous last line? Overplayed.

Tell you what, feel free to come back to my post later and actually address it, instead of rattling off another rehearsed rant.

 

[Ricardo C]

I'd say "sanctimonious bullshit", but there ya go.

 

[Ricardo C]

Thos are your examples? Most of those posts don't even express a desire for the "5-10 seconds of nudity". Are you offended by even the mere mention of it? Or by ts discussion with the occasional emoticon?

 

[Patrick Sun]

Both of you. Knock...It...Off...

 

[Francois Caron]

I wrote a review of the "blue box" DVD which you can read over here.

Now about sex scenes in general in many of today's movies.

Honestly, they annoy me to no end.

I'm not a prude. Far from it. I've been exposed to enough nudity, soft porn and hard core porn that I'm often indifferent to it. In fact, when I see it in mainstream movies, I become very annoyed because 1) it often contributes nothing of value to the movie, and 2) I've experienced much better in real life than anything those amateurs will ever experience on the screen.

Nudity and sex in movies should be treated the same way as any other element exploited in movies such as action scenes, special effects and so on. The moviemakers should ask themselves first if they're adding value to a film by inserting even so much as a nipple in a quick cut. Does it belong there? Is it part of an embarrassing situation that works? Or is this just some quick booby shot meant to distract you from the fact the movie may not be all that good in the first place?

I prefer that sex in movies be implied but not shown. I know what they're going to do, so don't dwell on it and move along. The best example of how well this approach can work was demonstrated in the movie "The American President" when Andy (Michael Douglas) and Sidney (Annette Bening) first spent the night together. The intro to what was about to happen was simple, funny, to the point and contributed a lot to the storyline. It was then quickly followed by a cut to a campaign speech by a rival presidential candidate senator Rumson (Richard Dreyfuss).

The next time we see Andy and Sidney is early the next morning, but only when Sydney is all dressed and ready to go. I knew very well what happened, and Rob Reiner didn't waste any time on it.

Now I know all this doesn't apply to teen flicks where inappropriate and/or awkward sex scenes have become "de rigueur" these days. In fact, it's because they have no substance that I rarely ever watch them even if the reviews are positive simply because they're a waste of time to me.

For me, less sex in movies is more simply because my time isn't being wasted on cheap, half/baked "filler".

 

[Robert Crawford]

This is the second warning to some thread participants, there won't be a third one. No further personal comments are necessary!






Crawdaddy

 

[Timothy Alexander]

Monster's Ball has, of course, a pretty famous sex scene. Even though it was simulated you'd easily believe they were really doing it during the unrated version. Look closely and you can see Halle's butt grinding against Billy Bob's testes. Bastard...

 

[JonZ]

Ancient thread, but I read this linked from another site....

http://www.fradical.com/Hardcore_goes_mainstream.htm

Lauren Lee Smith(Mutant X,Th L Word - a fav of mine) and Eric Balfour(Texas Chainsaw Massacre)will be going at it next I guess.

 

[TheLongshot]

I know I'm replying to a year-old post, but I just want to comment.



I tend to agree, but I would like sex on screen to look a bit more naturalistic. The effort some make to keep themselves covered while having a steamy sex session.

That being said, I'd rather have gratuitous sex than gratuitous violence. :b

To add to the thread, it may have been simulated, but Jane March in "The Lover" did a sex scene I thought was very convincing, and always wondered how simulated it was...

Jason

 

[Jerome Grate]

I was thinking the same thing, enough there to justify mentioning and of course two words Halle Berry looked well... inviting.

Caligula certainly worth mentioning, and if I remember correctly there's a scene in Mandigo with Ken Norton and the slave owner's wife that the motions were pretty up there, but I was a young lad then.

 

[DonMac]

Francois Caron wrote:

Sorry for going off on a tangent here, but as a Greco-Roman-phile, this review bugged the hell out of me due to its near total ignorance of Roman society. Although seemingly primitive and brutal by our standards, the Roman Empire was the height of civilization in ancient times, about as advanced compared to most of the rest of world at the time as the United States is compared to the Third World today. And betrayal and murder in moves for power dominated every society up until about the time of the Age of Reason - it's not just the Romans or a sign of moral decay, it's just the way things were before the idea of human rights started to take hold. As for Caligula, he was known to be a bad ruler by the Romans, which is why he was assassinated after only 4 years of rule. In Roman, bad Emperors were almost always assassinated (the only way to get rid of them), while the good Emperors almost never were. So a bad, corrupt Emperor like Caligula is hardly representative of the society as a whole.

(Sorry again for the tangent, but the review bugged me that much.)

 

[Mark-W]

Has anyone seen Michael Winterbottom's 9 Songs?

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0411705/

I don't think films get more sexually explicit than this (we get "the money shot") and the film is written and directed by a respected director and has a cast with some solid, non-porn, creditials. (Kieran O'Brien, the lead, was in "Band of Brothers" amongst other highly-regarded programs.)

An excerpt from a UK New Wire:

"...Michael Winterbottom's 9 Songs, which traces the arc of a relationship from first date to break-up, caused a furore at its premiere at Cannes earlier this year as it consists almost entirely of unsimulated sex scenes between its two stars, Kieran O'Brien and Margo Stilley.

In explaining its decision, the BBFC said that the sexual content was "exceptionally justified by context", but admitted audiences may find the scenes "shocking". The certificate comes with the advice that the film "contains frequent strong real sex".

The 70-minute movie will be previewed on Valentine's Day next year, before a nationwide release..."


And another except from another UK website after the film was shown at Cannes:

"...The most sexually explicit film in the history of mainstream British cinema, containing unsimulated sex scenes including fellatio, ejaculation and cunnilingus, many in close-up, yesterday had its first screening at Cannes. Michael Winterbottom, the Lancashire-born director of Nine Songs, a love story, said: "I had been thinking for a while about the fact that most cinematic love stories miss out on the physical relationship, and if it is indicated at all everyone knows it is fake.
"Books deal explicitly with sex, as they do with any other subject. Cinema has been extremely conservative and prudish. I wanted to go to the opposite extreme and show a relationship only through sex. Part of the point of making the film was to say, 'What's wrong with showing sex?'"

The film revolves around a young couple in London, Matt and his American girlfriend Lisa. The sex scenes, which occupy more than half of the film, are intercut with scenes of bands playing, including Franz Ferdinand, the Dandy Warhols, Black Rebel Motorcycle Club and Super Furry Animals. The story is framed by shots of Matt flying over the desolate plains of Antarctica, as he remembers the relationship from afar.

The screening yesterday was at 10am, too soon after breakfast for many viewers. The grunt and huff-and-puff factor in the film is notably high, and the language is strong.

Matt is played by Kieran O'Brien, with whom Winterbottom has worked on a previous film, 24 Hour Party People. However, the woman playing Lisa has asked that her name not be used in coverage of the movie, although it does appear in the credits. "She's not an actress," said Winterbottom. "She really likes the film but she is going back to university and I think she wants to keep a low profile."

Despite the intimacy of the subject-matter, shooting the film was straightforward, according to Winterbottom. Having cast the two leads, a rehearsal was staged, after which they were given the opportunity to leave the project. "After a couple of days it was a case of that was what we were doing, and everyone adapted," he said. It was a matter of going "one step further" than the requirements of conventional, simulated sex scenes.

The film has not yet been given a certificate, though Winterbottom is optimistic. Of the fellatio-and-ejaculation scene, the one likely to give the censors most pause, he said: "We can always take that out."

In the film the couple also attend Michael Nyman's 60th birthday concert, with shots of the composer playing the piano at the Hackney Empire in east London. "I'm very pleased to be in the most sexually explicit film in British film history," said Nyman from Berlin yesterday, "especially as I am not doing anything sexual. I can't wait to see it."

Derek Malcolm, the Guardian's veteran film writer, said: "Nine Songs looks like a porn movie, but it feels like a love story. The sex is used as a metaphor for the rest of the couple's relationship. And it is shot with Winterbottom's customary sensitivity."

Winterbottom's previous work includes the 1996 Jude, an adaptation of Thomas Hardy's novel starring Kate Winslet and Christopher Eccleston, and Welcome to Sarajevo, about an ITN reporter's adoption of a Bosnian child..."

 

[Michael Ballack]

I loved Jude with Kate Winslet. I hope this get's released uncensored on dvd here in the states. Probablly be hard to find it in any theaters unless you live in NY or LA.