I have been a member of the Museum Of Modern Art for over twenty years. In that time I have seen some of the most incredible art work in history up close. I have been inspired time after time. Pieces I have written, sets I have designed, songs I've written have started by walking through those galleries with open eyes.
Incredible -Picasso's Guernica (when I was still a kid) , crazy kinetic sculptures, Ferdnand Leger's painting's. Chuck Closes's portraits, The original drawings and notes for Art Spieglemans Maus, The drawings of George Seurat....... and on and on.
Incredibly, I have never seen a movie at the Museum! That's right, Me, Movieboy, had never been to either of the theaters that are right there at the museum! Oh, I have been to exhibits of posters and movie ephemera right in the lobby of the theaters. One of the most important film libraries in the world! They have about 4 showings everyday! I have been in the building hundreds of times! I'm a member! The movies are free for members!
Never.
The other day I was there to see the monumental exhibit of the work of Cindy Sherman, But I'll write about that soon.
The museum was getting ready to close, I looked up at a poster that announced that they were showing the film "The Unbearable Lightness Of Being". I saw it when it first came out in 1988. I had nothing to do that evening, I had planned on heading home , but what the heck, I'll grab a bite to eat and then come back for the 7:30 showing. I went to the members desk and got my (free) ticket.
At 7:15, I return to get a good seat. In the lobby I see Philip Kaufman , the director, and standing next to him is film scholar Anette Insdorf. It turns out she just published a book about Kaufman and that the museum was kicking off a week long celebration of his work. Kaufman and his editor, the legendary, Walter Murch, introduced the film. Bonus!
I love Kaufman's movies, but he's a director that flies just under the radar. The Right Stuff! Invasion of the Body Snatchers! The Wanderers (a personal fave), Henry and June. The White Dawn (another personal fave) , he created/wrote Indiana Jones, for goodness sakes. Attention must be paid.
Many of his movies deal with sexuality/sensuality/lust/eroticism/carnality/ in an adult way. His "Henry and June" was the first film to be rated NC-17 (if memory serves) a rating that all but spells box office doom.
What the hell is wrong with us!? The movies revel in gore and violence and torture and debasement. Absolute horror, But we run from any hint of sexuality.
"Take off your clothes"
There are many sexual/erotic/carnal scenes in the movie. Some are funny. Some are tragic. some are uncomfortable. Some make you want to tear your clothes off and join in. All of the scenes are there to tell the story- not to just ogle over incredibly gorgeous naked bodies. It doesn't hurt that the people who are naked are incredibly gorgeous, Juliette Binoche, Daniel Day Lewis and.......Lena Olin...... Oh dear god, Lena Olin! Lena Olin and that hat!
Most times when actors are in scenes with nudity all kinds of negotiations take place before hand about what can be shown and how much and how much touching can happen. Understandable. I can only imagine how awkward it must be to film those type of scenes.....
I was in a horror movie once and in my scene I was a patient in a hospital. A beautiful woman enters and climbs into bed with me, Now she's on top of me! It would appear that we are engaged in a bit of afternoon delight. Unbeknownst to me she is a ghoul! A demon! And at the peak of our passion she reaches in and pulls out my heart!
We had just met and 10 minutes later. we were grinding away in bed. Granted we were fully clothed, but still...
In Kaufmans movies the sensuality feels real. And it has consequence. Satisfaction, love, guilt, you know all that stuff,
There's a wonderful moment when Lena Olin's character is dressed in some lacy underthings and is standing next to her married lover. We are seeing them from behind, I will be blunt , when God created the perfect bottom, he gave it to Lena Olin. Her lover is standing next to her and after a moment he reaches over and places his hand right on that behind. You can hear the audience smile.
Without getting too graphic, throughout the movie, hands and mouths go where they seldom do in Hollywood movies and it all feels....right.
For your viewing pleasure, I present the above scene, perhaps the most erotically charged in the movie. In context you should know when this starts the scene is about half way over, there have already been some awkward moments, some tears, some laughs, as a matter of fact when this sequence starts , the audience is still giggling over Binoches reactions, that changes when Lena Olin takes her arm. A beautiful moment..
I want more sex in the movies.
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