Explicit Sex in Art Films
At the New York Times, Kristin Hohenadel looks at the recent spate of European art films featuring explicit sex scenes, including Idiots, Vie de Jesus, Romance, Intimacy and Baise-Moi, which opens in New York this week. Hohenadel writes, "Pornography is a parallel world where smooth-skinned, perfectly proportioned ladies say no until they mean yes, a factory line of moving bits and parts, simulated bliss acted out to a symphony of moans. Whether or not they succeed critically or artistically, let alone at the box office, movies in which sex is placed in the context of a developed story and acted out by characters blessed with the facility for language and emotions is a more threatening and intimate proposition. It is perhaps a testimony to the power and pervasiveness of pornography that films have a hard time mixing artistic pretensions with images that much of the audience still thinks of as dirty."
New York Times (Jul 2001)
At The Times, Edward Porter looks at the history of explicit sex in serious movies, a trend that has flourished in the last year. In the same issue, Garth Pearce interviews Kerry Fox, the female star of Intimacy, about having sex on screen. Fox won the best actress award at the Berlin Film Festival for her role in the film.
The Times (Jul 2001)
At The Times, James Christopher bemoans the new wave of art films showing explicit sex. Granting that "the easing of the [British Board of Film Classification]'s censorship laws is to be lauded," he still pines for the good old days. "Like it or not, we are witnessing the passing of a golden age where the great art of screen sex was in the editing and the script. Sex used to be all about suggestion, and the British aptitude for irony and puns was tailor-made for those scenarios of tight-lipped passion."
The Times (Aug 2001)
Philippa Hawker discusses the trend toward real onscreen sex acts in non-pornographic films and the changing film censorship standards in Australia.
The Age (Jan 2002)
Sue Williams interviews Kerry Fox about her role in Intimacy (which just opened in Australia) and why she decided to perform real sex on film.
Sydney Morning Herald (Jan 2002)
