“A History Of Violence”
Few filmmakers in contemporary cinema know how to use sex more effectively than David Cronenberg, and few actresses have mastered the form like Maria Bello (her scene with William H. Macy in “The Cooler” is another classic). So it’s no surprise that the two scenes in “A History Of Violence” are textbook examples of how to use sex scenes to show character and tell story, rather than to stop audiences from falling asleep. Early in the film, Bello’s Edie Stall dresses up as a cheerleader for her husband Tom (Viggo Mortensen), and the two make out like hungry teenagers, culminating in what must be the first mainstream cinema depiction of a 69. It’s an important scene (and a strangely charming one; see the bug-eyed excitement in Mortensen’s eyes, and the way Bello laughs as she pulls off her belt) in that it shows how deeply in love the pair are. But it also serves as a contrast to the later scene. Tom has confessed to his wife that he’s really mobster-on-the-run Joey Cusack, and the pair fight in the staircase of their home, an argument that turns violent, and suddenly sexual, as it appears that Tom/Joey, now off the chain, is going to rape his wife. Suddenly, he stops, but then she urges him to continue, the two desperately fucking on the stairs with a passion that is markedly different from the comfortable, romantic sex of the earlier scene. A sequence such as this is always going to require walking a fine line (see: “Straw Dogs“), but the performances are so perfect, and the direction so finely judged, that Cronenberg pulls it off.
“Coming Home”
Sex and disability have been back in the headlines of late thanks to “The Sessions,” but for all the strengths of that film, it’s never quite as memorable as this classic scene from Hal Ashby‘s 1978 Oscar-winner “Coming Home.” After a certain amount of dancing around each other, as it were, conservative military wife Sally (Jane Fonda) and paraplegic vet Luke (Jon Voight) finally go to bed together. He’s been consigned to a wheelchair after being wounded in ‘Nam, but they work it out, Luke giving Sally her first ever orgasm by going down on her (which, if it’s a rarity in cinematic sex scenes now, was even more so then). Haskell Wexler’s camera lingers on the intimate touches between the pair, and on Fonda’s face as she comes, giving it a real tenderness, while refusing to ignore the scars on Voigt’s back. It’s just about as sexy as anything that’s ever been put on screen, and one of the more memorable scenes in a tremendous film (released, coincidentally, thirty-five years ago tomorrow).
“Out Of Sight”
Borrowing from Nicolas Roeg‘s uncanny “Don’t Look Now” sex scene (see above), director Steven Soderbergh rearranges the order of this sex scene between George Clooney (as an escaped bank robber) and Jennifer Lopez (as the federal agent tasked with chasing him down). We seem them getting to know each other at a cheesy hotel bar, in a kind of elaborate role-playing game, and at the same time we see them getting frisky, with both stars getting down to their skivvies. Even if it is a riff on something else, it’s clever and supernaturally sexy, aided by the slinky electronic score by David Holmes and the lush cinematography (the snow falling outside their hotel room window is a nice flourish). The sequence works so well because Soderbergh has an academic understanding of what made the Roeg sequence so powerful; it isn’t just a lazy photocopy, it’s its own thing – a living, breathing, totally sexy thing. The fact that it features two giant movie stars at the peak of their respective handsomeness is just an added bonus. This is an homage that has just as much of an impact as the original.
