Having enjoyed writing on American movies featuring sex scenes, let’s move on to similar movies mostly from elsewhere.

An interesting project to start with is Destricted, which involves filmmakers from both sides of the pond. The purpose of this movement was to explore the use of unstimulated sex in film that did not fall into the category normally defined as pornography – an exploration as it were of the intersection between arthouse filmmaking and explicit sex.

The degree to which I enjoyed the particular results from this series of films varied, but I very much believe in the concept. I rather resent the notion that there is pornography (where you see a lot of penises and vaginas) and ‘art’ (where you don’t). This artificial separation of what constitutes art vs pornography seems to me to revolve around a ridiculous obsession regarding whether it is ‘polite’ to show body parts that almost every human has.

I also believe there is great merit in overcoming any taboo regarding depictions of what is very much a part of our daily lives (well ok, not as much as our daily lives per se as some of us would like). People have sex all the time; they murder each other at considerably lower frequencies – aliens watching what we broadcast on TV might reach the opposite conclusion.

Europa

But enough of my rant, let’s get to the fun stuff. For Europe, let’s begin by talking about a few fun directors. Each of them merit an essay onto themselves but (luckily perhaps, for you and me) I neither have the expertise or the energy.

One of the few men known for a near lifelong obsession with sex and sexuality as a subject include Italian Tinto Brass, whose filmography includes an prolific body of over twenty or so films, most of which I think involve sex in one way or another.

Cosi Fan Tutte is one such classic, being one of many adaptations – this one from a Mozart opera. A memorable scene from this bad boy includes an outdoor disco orgy sorta dance where our starlet mounts a mere acquaintance and provides to ride him for all she’s worth, screaming and shaking her head in ways I don’t think I have the words to describe.

Tinto also did Caligula, a rather epic endeavour, which again featured some fun (and strange) orgies and Malcolm McDowell taking high priestess Helen Mirren in a rather enticing manner in her temple.

Spain’s Pedro Almodovar has also done some fun films regarding sex. A favourite of mine is Atame! aka Tie me up! Tie me down! (there is a very fun Battlestar Galactica episode entitled Tigh me Up, Tigh Me Down – one cannot help but wonder) featuring Antonio Banderas and the beautiful Victoria Abril. There is only one sex scene as I recall, and certainly no cock – but it’s a good scene, and overall a very sweet, enjoyable movie.

Usually taking a more serious tone is French director Catherine Breillat. I’ve watched most of Romance (aka Romance X) which chronicles a young lady’s sexual explorations and reflections on the same. A lot of her thoughts elaborate on what I think are underrepresented views on female sexual desire, a state of affairs that certainly could use some balancing out. The film I feel makes a good balance of not shying away from explicit sex, but not needing to build the film around an obsession with genitalia either. Rocco Siffredi has some pretty good scenes in this one.

Must mention Lars von Triers. There’s a small chance you’ll know him as the director of Bjork’s Dancer in the Dark. Including explicit sex in a number of his films, Lars is an acclaimed arthouse director whose production company has a subsidiary (called Puzzy Power, no less) dedicated to making hardcore porn (that’s a little more interesting than the normal stuff you get). He has done extensive work with the very gorgeous Katja Kean.

A few more worthwhile films coming out of Europe that I’ve seen and are worth a mention are Baise Moi (Fuck Me) featuring two very sexual French women going off on a murderous rampage; Irreversible which had a controversial and very vivid, brutal rape scene shot in one continuous take in an underpass and was overall quite a disturbing film; and Hardcore, a very long Greek feature involving a girl’s rise from being a cheap prostitute to national celebrity.

As far as classics go, it’s hard not to remember Last Tango in Paris, with its famous sodomy by butter scene. The star involved, Maria Schneider passed away recently and had some less than flattering things to say about the entire experience.

Asian Bad Guys

Let’s move on to Asia. Korean director Kim Ki Duk is famous for his extremities, making explorations both deep and wide into some darker aspects of sex. Movies like Crocodile, Bad Guy and The Isle deal with intensely dysfunctional and/or abusive sexual relationships, and cycles of perversion and love. The latter film has some famously gruesome scenes involving fish hooks.

His film Spring, Summer, Autumn, Winter and Spring has slightly similar subject matter, but also has the added treat of being shot in some incredibly gorgeous locations, most notably a floating mini monastery for two in the middle of a beautifully secluded lake.

Malaysian born director Tsai Ming Liang did a film called The Wayward Cloud involving a very silent male porn star. Besides some very fantastical musical montages, there is a memorable sex scene involving the star having sex while wearing what is basically a watermelon helmet.

The climax of the movie (spoiler alert) shows that same man having sex with a comatose porn star, while her moaning sounds are provided surreptitiously from behind a wall by the woman with whom the man has been building a romance of sorts throughout the film. As he nears climax, he pulls out of the unconscious star, stuffs his cock into the mouth of the other woman and comes hard, causing her to eventually shed a tear, ending the film.

Crazy art house sex.

I shall leave another favourite of mine, The Story of O, for another article.

Allow me to end with Ang Lee’s Lust, Caution – a film I consider one of my favourites, despite the fact that I have never watched the whole thing.

To me, this film represents a near pinnacle of the marriage between showing explicit sex and good storytelling. In its ideal combination, the story feeds the sex just as the sex feeds the story.

The scene that demonstrates this best has Tony Leung (collaborator with Japanese occupation) getting into the car with Tang Wei (rebel spy sent to compromise Tony) after having finished a brutal interrogation of one of the rebels, someone he went to school with.

When pressed, Tony (in some truly fine acting which you must watch to yourself) relates how he found it difficult at first to beat the man. He explained to her how this difficulty disappeared:

“I began to imagine him on top of you…..

“The bastard’s blood spilled all over my shoes… I had to wipe the blood off. Do you understand??”

The scene then cuts to what I consider is perhaps the hottest sex I have ever seen in a serious film and worthwhile story. The dynamic between the characters fueled the fire, and there was so much more intensity than the already intense and violent union of bodies. Hot shit.

Boz Kamara is a pseudonym, used partly to protect friends, family and loved ones. Boz is a purveyor of extreme physical pleasure and devotee of unbridled depravity. Into girls. Someone who let soulmate slip away, and every day wonders if it was biggest mistake ever. Boz can be reached for fun and questions at [email protected] and has recently started tweeting @BozKamara.

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