A Dirty Dozen List: Chemistry on Film
Love, lust, sex, betrayal. Murder, greed. Money. Dreams of eternal Caribbean bliss. Denial. Sex. Harsh reality: bullets, handcuffs, the sound of a cell door slamming shut. Redemption. Revenge. Sex: raging, blinding passion. When the stakes are this high, how far will we go? These desperate couples give us a hint.
The Dirty Dozen of Mainstream Cinema
Some of the best moments in film include a sizzling element of sexual tension that makes us alive with the fire of the characters.
These dozen films come from various decades in which social norms and physical boundaries were looked at differently. I’ll deal with the issues of aggression and consent in the analysis at the end.
My list of the dozen grand passions of mainstream film, culled from a list of nearly 100:
12. Atlantic City (1980): Susan Sarandon and Burt Lancaster; directed by Louis Malle
If I were to teach a class on how to communicate sexuality on film, I might start with Susan Sarandon. She carries a bit of everything: sultry, sassy, scared, sometimes neurotic, but always sexy, giving you the feeling that she expresses something deeper with her body, will reveal something to you about yourself.
The tender moments in which Sarandon sponge bathes, sitting at her vanity table, we join Lancaster in watching her, and we can feel his longing, the depth of his need. The scene is a masterpiece of simplicity, of understated human desire. Both Sarandon and Lancaster received Academy Award nominations for their performances, deservedly so, as their flawed characters capture a sense of place, time and the erosion of their fleeting opportunities. The undercurrent of quiet desperation is always there, but never dominant.
11. On the Waterfront (1954): Eva Marie Saint and Marlon Brando; directed by Elia Kazan.
It is difficult, given the limitations of the era, for a pre-1960s film to convey sexuality with the power of later films, but the kiss the leads share in On the Waterfront is so impassioned, so rooted in the pain and yearning of the characters, and so skillfully staged and performed, that this managed to crack the Dirty Dozen. Both Brando and Saint garnered Oscars for their deeply felt, nuanced performances, with their halting scenes culminating in Brando’s refusal to be denied as he breaks into her apartment. She is saying ‘You leave me alone,” as he embraces her and they melt into each other, sliding along the wall to the ground. Staged with Saint in her slip, it was a daring, sexually charged moment few can forget.
Director Elia Kazan and the actors who were charting new dimensions of realism and psychology in the 1950s found their prime vehicle in On the Waterfront — the film had five acting nominations, tied for the most in Oscar history.
10. Monsters’ Ball (2001): Halle Berry and Billy Bob Thornton, directed by Marc Forster
The criticism that Halle Berry’s Oscar-winning performance is based on one “porn scene” is idiotic at best. Berry is so natural in the role of the unglamorous mother to a medically compromised son and ex-wife of a man condemned to Death Row, and carries her burdens with such wounded dignity, that her eventual pairing with Billy Bob Thornton (carrying serious scars of his own) is an explosion of longing, desire, rage and desperation that leaves both characters (and audiences) spent and in awe of the power of human emotion and physical connection. Berry’s cries of “just make me feel good” echo in the memory long after this beautiful, painful film ends.
9. A Dangerous Method (2011): Keira Knightley and Michael Fassbender, directed by David Cronenberg.
The whole premise seemed slightly ridiculous, the casting all wrong, and the trailer was promising what I was sure it couldn’t deliver. I was wrong on all counts. Keira Knightley was scarily enticing as the sexually damaged Russian psychiatric patient who bewitched the clueless Carl Jung (as played by Michael Fassbender) and caused Sigmund Freud (a restrained yet ego-driven performance by the always-surprising Viggo Mortensen) to battle with his own internal denial. The scenes between Knightley and Fassbender seem to reflect the deep divisions of their respective psyches, and the fragile and beautiful upper-crust Knightley, usually so restrained in her passion, lets it all go here — she did a ton of research, and seems to embody the conflicted, wanton, brilliant and guilt-addled Sabina Spielrein with confidence and sexual power, holding her own with the experienced Fassbender (Shame) and heart-throb Mortensen (A Walk on the Moon).
8. Urban Cowboy (1980), Deborah Winger and John Travolta, directed by James Bridges
Deborah Winger is one of two actresses to appear twice on this list, and she smolders in Urban Cowboy, a love drama staged primarily in a Texas bar where the mechanical bull offers quite a spectacle for 50 cents. At odds with her immature boyfriend (Travolta), Winger takes up with another man and gets on that bull to give a ride that can only remind Travolta what he lost. Winger gives it her all in those moments without seeming sleazy or gratuitous: that ride is exactly what it was meant to be: a tease, a reminder, a middle finger, a public humiliation. Both actors invest their roles with searing passion and heartbreak, yet their devotion to each other shines through, and in a traditional ending the couple reconciles.
Deborah Winger establishes herself as an actress of extraordinary magnetism and screen command; her soulful silences and expressive physicality go beyond lust and bring us to places we haven’t gone before.
7. Out of Time (2003), Sanaa Lathan and Denzel Washington, directed by Carl Franklin.
This little-known thriller sizzles with intrigue and sexual chemistry. Denzel Washington plays a southern sheriff who becomes enamored with the married Sanaa Lathan. Told by Lathan she has cancer and needs money that she can soon replace for treatment, Washington gives her cash he has recovered in a drug bust, which authorities are coming to retrieve within days. Lathan disappears after the cash hand-off, and much of the film involves Washington’s attempts to stall the authorities as they close in on him. Eva Mendes as his ex-wife and a cop on his trail adds another heated element to this dense, suffocating series of events.
The film is powered by the intensity of Washington’s desire for the sultry, irresistible Sanaa Lathan. Lusciously full-bodied, golden-skinned, covered with a patina of perspiration in the southern heat, the actress is everything a center of a film like this needs to be. Washington’s performance: intense and edgy, never panicked but ruled by unseen internal demons, shows us a man who is smart enough to out-think most adversaries, but who may have taken one step too many into the chaotic realms of darkness.
6. Out of Sight (1998), Jennifer Lopez and George Clooney, directed by Steven Soderberg.
The names of the stars invoke images of beauty and desirability. Although not on the radar of casual filmgoers, everyone who has seen the film says something like: ‘They were hot,’ when referring to the stars. Played with subtlety and reserve, the two manage to burn up the screen anyway.
A convoluted plot keeps a Federal Marshall (Lopez) in the orbit of a world-class bank robber (Clooney). We see reversals that scramble the prey and predator roles, and we get to watch two of the most beautiful people in the history of humanity in a battle of wits, with a growing emotional connection that culminates in a bathtub scene that is sexy just because it is, made deeper by their chemistry. Their ease and skill in taking on these roles elevates a taut thriller into new realms as a mainstream erotic thriller masterpiece.
5. A Walk on the Moon (1999), Diane Lane and Viggo Mortensen, directed by Tony Goldwyn.
Both leads appear on this list twice, and this is almost a perfect pairing. With the Woodstock Festival as a backdrop, a housewife-on-vacation (Lane) gets involved with the traveling salesman known as “Blouse Man” (Mortensen) as the world of music and social rebellion swirls around them. Initially shy, Lane opens up to a full expression of her sexuality, and the kindness and quiet masculinity of Mortensen, even amidst the family trauma caused by Lane’s assertion of independence, is the ideal recipient of that gift. They both embody recognizable characters of that era with an emotional authenticity that is uplifting and heartbreaking, and they are wonderful lovers, the kind you root for and understand why the attraction is so deep and undeniable. Here we have a film where the emotional content amplifies and deepens the sexuality of the characters; the social milieu both makes their connection possible and presents difficult barriers. A sexy movie about real people living real lives in real times.
4. Body Heat (1981), Kathleen Turner and William Hurt, directed by Lawrence Kasdan
Body Heat nearly defines the erotic thriller genre. It could have been made in 1947 or 2017. It’s noir in the bright Florida sunshine. It feels like 110 degrees with 90% humidity throughout the film. It’s elegant, seedy, impassioned, manipulative, with naked need powering the last-chance desperation of these scheming urban outlaws that drips into every frame.
Kathleen Turner in her film debut and William Hurt, often criticized for a PhD. dissertation approach to acting, are an unlikely pair to create this piercing, aberrant portrait of neo-noir greed and lust. In the film’s most memorable scene, Hurt is about to leave Turner in her beachfront mansion in the middle of the night, but is just too intoxicated by her to walk away. Backed by swelling music and waves crashing against the shore, he returns to throw a chair through a glass door to continue his physical immersion in her. It is an unforgettable moment where we realize a line has been crossed, and anything is possible. Things get darker and hotter from there in a classic of the genre.
3. The Notebook (2004), Rachel McAdams and Ryan Gosling, directed by Nick Cassavetes
This is the most youthful of the passion stories, although it is told in retrospect by the main characters who have met as senior citizens in an old folks home. The McAdams/Gosling scenes constitute one of the most moving love stories ever put to film. Of the many Nicholas Sparks novels filmed for the screen, none comes close to this tale of a bad boy/good girl romance set in rural 1940s North Carolina.
Experimental filmmaker Nick Cassavetes decided to take on this traditional project and coaxed performances out of Ryan Gosling and Rachel McAdams that burst with love, sexual energy and the growing sense that this is not going to be easy and their future is doubtful. Cassavetes conjures every conceivable line, gesture and image that reinforces the fever and madness of first love, and puts us through the scenes and circumstances that will eventually drive them apart. It’s an emotional roller coaster that we know is either going to break down or fly off the rails, and we get on anyway because we know if our lives could hold 10% of that impassioned intensity, we’d sell our souls. McAdams is luminous and so tenderly alive; Gosling is brave and rugged and suffering — this is the millennium’s version of James Dean and Natalie Wood, and all that sexual heat is generated without nudity or explicit imagery. A commercial success that has been called lightweight, but the performers and director take it to a special place.
2. An Officer and a Gentleman (1989), Debra Winger and Richard Gere, directed by Taylor Hackford.
Another commercially successful film, this portrait of naval officer recruits and the working class town right outside the gates of the naval base is profoundly human and features outstanding performances throughout. But little can compare to the Winger/Gere relationship, which is powered by loss, unresolved trauma, past disappointments, the intoxication and fear of hope and a physical chemistry that raises the stakes even higher. A crisp plot, a tightly contained setting and fully fleshed-out characters contribute to the explosive eroticism.
Gere is a naval officer recruit who arrives for “boot camp” with a chip on his shoulder that is only partially softened by his affair with Winger, a local factory worker and jaded veteran of short-term wannabe officer flings. As their relationship deepens, each pull away for their own reasons. Gere is then caught by his drill instructor in a low level scam, and is kept on base over a holiday weekend for punishment and to break his will. Goaded by the fierce Lou Gossett Jr. (Oscar: Best Supporting Actor), pushed to his limits doing push-ups in a rainstorm, with Gossett taunting him mercilessly about quitting, Gere’s response — an anguished cry of I got nowhere else to go — is recalled by all as an expression of intense despair but also of iron will, as it keeps him in the game as he pushes past his physical limits and bad-boy pride to survive and to pursue Winger again.
The same could be said about Debra Winger: she has nowhere else to go but to Richard Gere. The final scene, where he shows up at her factory unannounced to carry her off to the cheers of her co-workers, is a Hollywood ending that may have readers rolling their eyes, but after experiencing the entire film, including the dramatic subplots and a heartfelt performance by newcomer David Keith that just adds to the gravitas, the walk-off and swelling music seem like the only ending possible. If it happens just once in a generation, this is where it would happen.
1. Unfaithful (2002), Diane Lane and Olivier Martinez, directed by Adrian Lyne.
Throw out plot (possibly the weakest of the 12), characterization (we don’t know much about the lovers outside of their tryst), the incongruity of Richard Gere as the betrayed spouse, and the predictability of police involvement — none of this matters as Diane Lane gives one of the most sexually charged performances ever seen in a mainstream movie. As the suburban housewife who comes to the city and is immediately and totally enraptured by the gorgeous, devil-may-care Olivier Martinez, she transcends the usual adjectives associated with sexuality and adultery and gives us a whole new vocabulary of physical expression and passion. Martinez is ready for this role: beautiful and daring, he is the stuff of fantasies and ultimately harsh reality — rarely is there no price to pay for anything this extreme. You don’t get to fade calmly, shake hands and walk away, as Director Adrian Lyne also let us know in Fatal Attraction. One reviewer asked, Can we please help Adrian Lyne with some therapy to get over whatever bad things have been done to him? Maybe making this film was therapy; perhaps it is an exercise in confronting demons; it could be a skillful artist crafting a disturbing but engrossing piece of entertainment. Whatever the case, it is no small feat to be selected as #1 on a list of this nature, given the long history in Hollywood of films about grand passions.
HONORABLE MENTION
Coming Home (1978), Jane Fonda and Jon Voight, directed by Hal Ashby; Brokeback Mountain (2005), Jake Gyllenhaal and Heath Ledger, directed by Ang Lee; Angel Heart (1987), Lisa Bonet and Mickey Rourke, directed by Alan Parker
A NOTE ON THE ERAS AND HOW GENDER AND POWER ISSUES ARE PORTRAYED
THE FILMS SPAN FROM 1954 to 2011, although the most recent film (A Dangerous Method) was set in the 1930s, and interestingly was the only one of the twelve that featured any kinkiness. In going for the mainstream Dirty Dozen, in looking over my whole list of close to 100 films, less than a dozen went outside the sexual norm in telling their stories. There were 26 years between On the Waterfront and the 2nd oldest film, Atlantic City, and from there the films span 1980–2011, pre-MeToo, and for all the praise I’ve given them, each contains some questionable behavior by today’s standards.
There is violent aggression in On the Waterfront and Body Heat. It’s hard to say that Eva Marie Saint consented to that kiss when seconds before she was telling Marlon Brando “you leave me alone” after he broke down her apartment door to gain entry. By almost any standard, even in 1954, that was criminal behavior. Certainly her passionate participation in the kiss could be a bad example for any young boy we are trying to raise with an understanding that “no” means “no” — because here it quickly turned into what the film led us to believe was consensual. In Body Heat, we see William Hurt throw a chair through French doors to get at Kathleen Turner, who stood watching him and then accepted him willingly as he rushed to her. We already knew Turner was up to something and later it was revealed the whole thing was a set-up. But again, this was portrayed as manly behavior — a man breaks down doors to get what he wants, and faces little resistance.
These films contained voyeurism (Lancaster watching Sarandon sponge-bathe before a mirror; Jennifer Lopez enjoying the view of George Clooney in the bathtub until she finally remembers why she’s there and pulls out her gun); domestic violence (Urban Cowboy, two men physically abuse the strong, independent Debra Winger and she returns to both of them); disempowerment and objectification (Denzel Washington and Sanaa Lathan’s repulsive husband talk about her as if she’s a pawn in their macho game), skewed power dynamics (Carl Jung should not be having sex with his patient), sex as coercion (a fake pregnancy in Officer and a Gentleman) — all of this without mentioning that more than half the films feature adultery as a prominent factor, even as a central plot driver.
So what to make of all this? How can these elements be present in films I am highlighting as sexually adventurous and worthy of praise and analysis? There are qualifying factors in each of the cases. Burt Lancaster would never endanger Susan Sarandon, he loved her; Jennifer Lopez played her sneak looks at George Clooney for laughs. Debra Winger is a powerful, self-directed woman despite her reaction to physical abuse; if this means anything, the men in that film beat each other up as a way of life. In both of her films on this list, Diane Lane destroys her own family to pursue sexual adventure, yet her pleasures are mesmerizing to watch.
But one man’s qualifying factor is another man’s enabling. The truth is, I don’t know what to make of these transgressions. To say they are of an era is a partial cover for some of the behaviors; complex characters in extreme circumstances carrying both light and darkness is not a new idea; full-on rejection of films containing any of these elements seems as futile as a zero-tolerance policy that has kindergarteners getting expelled for spontaneously kissing a classmate on the cheek.
These films have substance, convey meaning, and drill down into the depths of the characters with sexuality as a very real element in their lives. As I wrote, I grew aware of the dangers of portraying some of these behaviors as normal, and in continuing my praise of the films I wanted to point out these troubling elements.
Art, not unlike life, continues to be a work in progress.