A Night For Netflix, No Chill
BY JINHEE KIM
The debate on erotic cinema is perhaps an easier one to settle than pornography. It clutches at the pleasure of rare, momentous sexual tension, stores the utmost potential energy into one re-playable scene, and teases us into the closest semblance of intimacy. But the feeling of eroticism differs between individuals. To some, the sense of the erotic comes from a masochistic restraint of sexual acts while to others, it may erupt from a complete pursuit of repressed sexual fantasies.
Hence, cinema takes on these various forms of eroticism on screen, the following list being only a few of the myriad of film erotica available. 1. God’s Own Country (Francis Lee, 2014) This is a film I watched in the beginning of this year and have not been able to get out of my mind since. Many coin this 2014 British drama as the “Yorkshire farm version of Call Me by Your Name,” but the only common salient factor is the character tropes. The film parallels the simultaneously crude yet gentle delicacy of life on a bucolic sheep farm to the intellectual, sexual, emotional anger of a young boy living with his family in rural northern England. Without warning, God’s Own Country takes you into a kaleidoscopic journey of the different types of vulnerability, sensuality, and communicability of your sexual and romantic desires in the rawest, most isolated sceneries. 2. The First Time (Jonathan Kasdan, 2012) This light-hearted romantic comedy defined sexual tension for my 16-year-old self. On the shell, The First Time is easy to overlook as a generic rom-com about two high school kids losing their virginity. However, the film also introduces the sensation of sexual interest sparked by inexplicable, intellectual connection. Now, I do not define intellect quantifiably—like by an IQ—but personally—by a distinct interest in the world around you. Meeting someone on the street outside an obnoxious party who communicates the world like you do or better yet, helps you gain more understanding of this tangled, extraneous world is stimulating and sexy. 3. Love (Gaspar Noé, 2015) From the controversial, candid filmmaker Gaspar Noé, Love is a vulgar test of the limitations of love and hate in a toxic, passionate, charged relationship. Perhaps the most “pornographic” of all my selections, Noé’s experimental meditation on love and sexuality explores the depths of intimacy from hand holding to on-screen male ejaculation. The sexual tension in this film is often portrayed during intercourse, the electrifying score hitting each strand of the character’s bodily sensations. However, this film does little to portray female pleasure, focusing mainly on the male protagonist’s pursuit of love. In a way, the limitations of female expression arouse a submissive erotic sensation for the viewer who prefers to repress their pleasure for gratification. 4. Moonlight (Barry Jenkins, 2016) Somewhat an obvious choice, Moonlight subtly displays repressed sexual tension and relationship through beautiful colors of the city of Miami. It is a film about community, childhood, friendship, identity, and every element of life that is intertwined with sex and sexuality. It is also a nostalgic film where each camera movement, mise-en-scène, song choice, captures the character’s emotions attached to the setting. It reminds us that we attribute certain feelings to certain places and its people, our sexual desires often linked to our background and environment. 5. Phantom Thread (Paul Thomas Anderson, 2017) This film is a voyeuristic peek into a relationship with no psychological boundaries. To my surprise, Phantom Thread is a film about power dynamics, submission, role play, deviance, and closeted kinks. What any 50 shades series fails to do, Phantom Thread knocks right out of the park in the subtlest, most unsettling moments. From the onset, the film establishes the power dynamic between the two main characters, slowly chiseling away to expose the vulnerabilities that arouses both characters. 6. The Bitter Tears of Petra von Kant (Rainer Warner Fassbinder, 1972) Taking place in one ridiculously grandiose Renaissance apartment setting, this melodramatic film swallows you into the almost imaginary, sexually-infused relationships of a precarious fashion designer. In a way, the film is cruel, the rules of sex and play blurred to the point of invisible, coated in lavish couture and sultry movements confined to one apartment. As characters maneuver around the room coquettishly, the shifts of sexual dominance and status sway back and forth. Reminiscent of our sexually pubescent years in 7 minutes in heaven, this film extends the exploration of sexual tension in an enclosed space. There are so many films in the world of cinema that arouse sexual tension for different people. Eroticism is fluid and often indescribable by words. But sometimes, we can identify our erotic desires through moments in cinema that arouse our deepest, truest desires. |