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Von Trier is such an interesting director and I usually get something worthwhile out of his films even if I didn't exactly enjoy myself, but I... I don't know if I can do this one. LVT is one of the few big directors I trust with sex in cinema, but I just don't think I can personally sit through 4.5 hours of it. Antichrist was about my maximum limit for sex scenes (and clitoris mutilation scenes). I'm torn because I want LVT to be successful so he keeps making interesting movies but I don't myself really want to watch this one. I'll wait for the CineD discussion of it and see if it sounds more appealing after hearing y'all spar about it for a bit.
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Nov 24, 2013 22:48
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Jst0rm posted:Will they be uncomfortable? Isn't that kind of the point. Why is it we can all watch death and feel normal but sex makes us uncomfortable unless we are alone watching it on the Internet? If I feel uncomfortable watching sex then I want to not feel that way because sex is an amazing part of life. Not to be obtuse, but taking a really big poo poo after a big meal is also an amazing, cathartic experience that feels wonderful, but there's a limit to how much of that I want to see in public with other people. Also, I think the reason sex on film is different than violence on film is that sex is generally an intimate act between two (or more) people that hinges a lot on the chaotic emotions leading up to and conjured by the act, as well as the physical sensations. In a lot of ways, sex is much more mysterious and opaque than violence. We understand why people want to kill other people (anger, greed, ideology, etc). We can even identify with that on film: "Wow, that guy's a monster, I hope they kill him. Oh I like her, I hope she doesn't get killed. Eek, the protagonist crossed a line when he did that to that guy!" But we barely understand our own selves sexually. I have no idea why, for example, I find the sexy nurse motif a turn-on but not the French maid. I don't know why I prefer my partner on top, or why dirty talk turns me on, but why strip clubs leave me feeling bored. Why are some people furries? Why are some people swingers? Unlike violence, I just have a harder time putting myself into the sexual parts of films. I rarely find myself saying "Boy, I hope they gently caress. And those two would have some great sex together. Oh but those other people's sex is unhealthy and damaging. Man, why isn't he getting more sex?". You would think this would be ripe soil for a film to help us explore, but my theory is that the sex act, rather than being too taboo to show, is simply too inscrutable to really capture on film for a lot of audiences. So instead, sex scenes in films often end up feeling like sitting next to an arguing couple in a restaurant. You don't know them, you don't know their history or what emotions are bubbling up in them, you just know something intimate and private is happening in public and it's pretty uncomfortable. That's my hesitation with this film; I can appreciate the way LVT used sex artfully in, say, Antichrist, but I don't know about 5(?) hours of that. It really depends for me on how much actually screen-time is sex and what it's used for. I'm sure this isn't going to be a five hour art-house porno, but I'm going to hold out for some reviews first. And you're right that some films should be challenging and difficult and explore tough stuff, but I think even art film buffs have *some* limits. I know I do. (This all begs the question of WHY should sex be private at all... but I think most audiences just have an innate sense that it should.)
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Dec 8, 2013 23:30
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