Sex in Cinema
"Censorship is advertising paid by the goverment."
- Federico Fellini
I recently watched three very interesting documentaries about sex in cinema. I've always loved docs about film history, and since these three had the added bonus of showing lots of naked people and sex, they appealed to both the cinephile as well as the perv in me. ;P (Click here for more information.)
I compiled a list of all the movies shown or mentioned in each of these docs, and decided to post it here in case anyone's interested.
Indie Sex: Censored
Since the earliest film images were created, sex and nudity have been part of cinema - audiences have been both titillated and horrified by what they've seen. But who is to decide what is appropriate to show on screen? Indie Sex: Censored examines how filmmakers, the film industry, and special interest groups have attempted to both regulate and set free the images that filmmakers create and who gets to see them.
Subtext used during the Production Code era.
1894 Carmencita 1945 Roma, città aperta 1971 Harold and Maude 1896 Fatima's Coochee-Coochee Dance 1946 The Big Sleep 1971 Klute 1896 The Kiss 1946 Gilda 1971 Shaft 1897 The Dolorita Passion Dance 1946 Notorious 1971 Sunday Bloody Sunday 1897 Seminary Girls 1946 The Outlaw 1971 Sweet Sweetback's Baadasssss Song 1901 Trapeze Disrobing Act 1946 The Postman Always Rings Twice 1972 Deep Throat 1901 What Happened on 23rd Street, New York City 1947 Gentleman's Agreement 1973 The Exorcist 1902 Eugenie Fougere 1948 Ladri di biciclette 1973 The Last Detail 1902 Karina 1950 Rashômon 1975 Dog Day Afternoon 1904 Princess Rajah Dance 1953 From Here to Eternity 1975 Nashville 1915 The Birth of a Nation 1953 The Moon is Blue 1976 Marathon Man 1919 Back to God's Country 1954 On the Waterfront 1980 American Gigolo 1919 Male and Female 1955 The Man with the Golden Arm 1980 Cruising 1921 The Sheik 1955 Marty 1980 Dressed to Kill 1922 Manslaughter 1955 To Catch a Thief 1981 Fort Apache the Bronx 1925 The Plastic Age 1956 Baby Doll 1985 St. Elmo's Fire 1926 The Temptress 1959 The Immoral Mr. Teas 1988 The Last Tempation of Christ 1929 Alibi 1963 Promises! Promises! 1990 Henry & June 1930 Hell's Angels 1964 The Pawnbroker 1990 ¡Átame! 1931 Dance, Fools, Dance 1965 The Dirty Girls 1992 Basic Instinct 1931 Night Nurse 1966 Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? 1992 The Crying Game 1932 The Beast of the City 1967 Jag är nyfiken - en film i gult 1992 The Player 1932 Night After Night 1968 Barbarella 1993 The Piano 1932 Red Dust 1968 Greetings 1995 Showgirls 1932 Red-Headed Woman 1969 Goodbye, Columbus 1995 When Night Is Falling 1933 Baby Face 1969 Medium Cool 1998 Happiness 1933 Footlight Parade 1969 Women in Love 1998 Wild Things 1933 Gold Diggers of 1933 1970 Beyond the Valley of the Dolls 1999 Eyes Wide Shut 1934 Of Human Bondage 1970 The Boys in the Band 2000 Requiem for a Dream 1934 Tarzan and His Mate 1970 Brewster McCloud 2003 Young Adam 1934 The Thin Man 1970 Five Easy Pieces 2004 Kinsey 1935 Top Hat 1970 The Owl and the Pussycat 2004 Mysterious Skin 1940 Fantasia 1970 There's a Girl in My Soup 2005 Inside Deep Throat 1942 Now, Voyager 1971 Carnal Knowledge 2005 Shadowboxer 1944 To Have and Have Not 1971 A Clockwork Orange 2005 Where the Truth Lies
I left a couple of movies out, mostly those that are already covered by one of the other two docs. Otherwise, the list would have just kept going on and on...
Indie Sex: Extremes
The most controversial sex scenes are the ones that really push the envelope - from Lolita to Secretary to Nine Songs. Indie Sex: Extremes explores everything from real sex on screen, S&M, fetish, and more. The films that are explored exemplify how cinema can be used to express the vast range of human sexuality.
1933 Ecstasy (Ekstase) 1986 Something Wild 1953 Glen or Glenda 1987 Fatal Attraction 1961 Viridiana 1993 Body of Evidence 1962 Lolita 1994 Exit to Eden 1967 Belle de Jour 1996 Kissed 1969 Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice 1997 Lolita 1969 Midnight Cowboy 1997 Preaching to the Perverted 1970 Myra Breckinridge 1997 Sick: The Life & Death of Bob Flanagan, Supermasochist 1970 Performance 1999 Romance 1971 The Last Picture Show 2001 The Center of the World 1972 Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Sex 2001 La pianiste 1972 Pink Flamingos 2001 Tomcats 1973 Don't Look Now 2002 Irréversible 1973 Ultimo tango a Parigi 2002 Secretary 1974 Il portiere di notte 2003 American Wedding 1975 Shampoo 2003 The Brown Bunny 1976 Ai no corrida 2004 9 Songs 1979 Caligola 2004 Anatomie de l'enfer 1982 Eating Raoul 2004 A Dirty Shame 1984 Crimes of Passion 2005 The Notorious Bettie Page 1986 Diavolo in corpo 2006 Shortbus 1986 Nine 1/2 Weeks
Indie Sex: Teens
Underage sex is one of the most taboo topics on screen. Indie Sex: Teens presents the history and role of teenage sex and sexuality on screen - from Splendor in the Grass to Kids to Thirteen. The blockbuster teen films of the 80's and more contemporary teen flicks are all explored as mediums through which teen films have played a central role in adolescent sex education.
1955 Rebel Without a Cause 1982 Goin' All the Way 1999 Boys Don't Cry 1955 Running Wild 1982 The Last American Virgin 1999 But I'm a Cheerleader 1956 Rock, Rock, Rock 1982 Porky's 1999 Coming Soon 1957 Untamed Youth 1983 The First Turn-On!! 1999 Cruel Intentions 1957 The Wayward Girl 1983 Getting It On 1999 The Virgin Suicides 1958 King Creole 1983 Losin' It 2001 À ma soeur! 1960 Too Soon to Love 1983 Risky Business 2001 Lost and Delirious 1961 Splendor in the Grass 1984 Footloose 2001 The Princess Diaries 1961 West Side Story 1984 Sixteen Candles 2002 A Walk to Remember 1963 Beach Party 1985 The Breakfast Club 2002 Blue Car 1963 Bye Bye Birdie 1985 Smooth Talk 2002 Ken Park 1965 Beach Blanket Bingo 1986 Pretty in Pink 2003 The Lizzie McGuire Movie 1969 Last Summer 1987 Dirty Dancing 2003 Thirteen 1971 The Last Picture Show 1987 Some Kind of Wonderful 2004 13 Going on 30 1971 Summer of '42 1992 Just Another Girl on the I.R.T. 2004 Mean Girls 1975 Cooley High 1995 The Incredibly True Adventure of Two Girls in Love 2004 Napoleon Dynamite 1978 Animal House 1995 Kids 2004 New York Minute 1978 Grease 1995 Welcome to the Dollhouse 2005 The Ballad of Jack and Rose 1978 Halloween 1996 Scream 2005 Hard Candy 1979 Hair 1996 Stealing Beauty 2005 Me and You and Everyone We Know 1980 The Blue Lagoon 1997 All Over Me 2005 The Quiet 1980 Fame 1998 Edge of Seventeen 2005 The Squid and the Whale 1980 Little Darlings 1999 American Beauty 2006 Another Gay Movie 1982 Fast Times at Ridgemont High 1999 American Pie 2006 Wild Tigers I Have Known
Personally, I found all three documentaries very interesting and informative, and enjoyed them immensly. They also introduced me to a lot of interesting movies that I haven't seen yet (especially French ones). Yay!
Also, I've developed a newfound appreciation for Peter Sarsgaard. I've seen a couple of things he's been in, but he never really stood out to me. However, seeing him in these docs made me realize what a cool and interesting person he is, and I definitely need to pay closer attention to his work from now on. :)
And speaking of Peter...
Peter and Liam Neeson in Kinsey