The Mother & the Whore

This may not be apparent to everyone, but I have a big bug up my ass about sex in the movies. Not in a prudish way, not that I can’t take watching sex and nudity, but the role sex plays almost always irks or infuriates me. Sex should not be a plot point, or a major turning point in a character’s life or characters’ relationships (blame Hollywood for this angle). And if it is not a plot point, why are we showing it — does the filmmaker have a concrete, meaningful reason? I’m tired of seeing sex portrayed as an animal, even unconscious instinct – so characters can later say “I couldn’t help myself; I was lost in the moment!” Pathetic. I have been searching for a film which portrays sex in an unsentimental, unglorified, de-animalized (?) way, where characters are in full knowledge of the situation, the choice, the consequences.

This is the film I have been searching for!! That is absolutely the kind of examination of sexual culture I was hoping existed somewhere. It’s an incredibly important film for me, in that sense. And it’s a great film besides — its daring uncinematicality, its honest characters. If I knew Alexandre in real life I’m sure I would loathe him and his silly, pretentious finger wiggles, but on film it’s fun to watch the bastard play out his little “scenes.”