And so, the debate about the difference between art and pornography has reared its head again, and will surely continue through the next several months leading up to the release of Blue is the Warmest Color. French newspaper Le Monde got the jump on the subject, racing out the gate with a recent article titled, "Sex isn't just Porno."
The article mostly features quotes from various filmmakers and scholars aiming to actually define the difference between pornography and art. As usual with the French, no definitive conclusions are reached. But let's take a look at a few highlight quotes anyway!
First up is Sylvie Pialat (wife of the late Maurice) who once expounded about how difficult it is to portray sex on screen and how it's rarely successful, but recently produced Stranger by the Lake. Said Pialat, "I can identify with what I see [in Stranger by the Lake], which makes it an absolute counterpoint to pornography."
Meanwhile, Brahim Chioua, producer of Blue is the Warmest Color says: "[In the film], I didn't have the impression that I was looking at meat, as in porno films. What I retained rather, was the performance of the actresses an intense love story, a sense of truth and shots as beautiful as paintings."
The article then quotes Bruno Dumont, whose non-simulated sex scene in The Life of Jesus sparked a minor controversy some sixteen years ago. According to Dumont, the difference is distance. In a 2003 radio interview, he said, "What is finally pornography is defined by the proximity of the camera. It's absolutely intolerable to stick a camera against an erect penis."
Film historian Fréderic Herve then helpfully then breaks down filmmakers who show unsimulated sex into three groups -- those who hire doubles, those who hire porn actors to play in their films and those who ask the actors themselves to play the classic sex scenes. He does not however, go on to say whether he believes their decision affects the level of art in their sex.
The article also chronicles other filmmakers who have chosen to show unsimulated sex, from Bertolucci to Carlos Reygadas, and notes with a bit of dismay that filmmakers' freedom to portray sex on screen was altered drastically in 1975 when the French rating system effectively threw all X-rated material into an un-releasable ghetto, which they say has more or less prevailed today despite a few exceptions (again, Baise-Moi).
As for the future, Lars Von Trier's Nymphomaniac will step out into the light soon and likely stoke these flames further. In the meantime, Stranger by the Lake has already opened in France, and caused controversy of a different sort by using this great poster at a time when gay marriage is the one of the most divisive topics in France. Blue is the Warmest Color will open October 9, and it will be interesting to see how the rating system deals with something simultaneously explicit, and widely acclaimed.
Other News In Brief
- Director Tom Tykwer (Run Lola Run, Cloud Atlas) will be adapting Dave Eggers' novel A Hologram for the King for the big screen with Tom Hanks taking the lead role. The film will be a German-US co-production.
- Ulrich Seidl, fresh off the release of his Paradise trilogy, announced during Biografilm in Bolongna that his next project will be "a historical film on a legendary figure from Northern Austria, a kind of Robin Hood."
- It sounds like Woody Allen, who has wrapped production on his latest, Blue Jasmine, will be returning to France for his next project. The film will star Colin Firth and Emma Stone, and at least part of it will film on The Côte d'Azur. Apparently it will take place in the 1920's, and, according to Le Figaro, he is currently looking for 500 extras for one scene.
- In Germany director Fatih Akin (who has filmed in Turkey for several movies, including Head-On), Game of Thrones actress Sibel Kekilli and other film professionals have appealed to German chancellor Angela Merkel on behalf of the Turkish protesters. In an open letter, the group asks that the chancellor and her "European colleagues... immediately make the Turkish government stop using violence against its own people."
- Gerard Depardieu has put in a request for an Algerian passport. Assuming he gets it, the French actor and "citizen of the world" will be the proud owner of seven different passports.
Box Office
With Man of Steel posed to demolish the next box office period in Europe, the continent is mostly patronizing slightly older American summer blockbusters at the moment. The Hangover 3 took the top spot in the majority of territories, including Belgium, Denmark, Finland, Germany, Greece, Poland, Portugal, Italy and Spain. Meanwhile, M. Night Shyamalan devotees can take comfort in the fact that After Earth finished number one in several key territories, including France, the U.K. and Sweden.