Archive for December, 2007

There’s a big difference between a movie that has several sensual scenes and a movie that comes together to be completely sensual. On www.barefootaphrodite.com we’ve tried to cover a variety of tastes by selecting reviewers with a variety of backgrounds and this topic comes up a lot. There are some great sensual scenes out there but we may need to create another area on the site to cover them–the movies they are in may never come up for review because the movie is not sensual overall. For me, I imagine one of the most passionate love scenes (with very little skin or sex but lots of passion) from Zorba the Greek between Alan Bates and Irene Papas, or Frances O’Connor as Fanny Price in Mansfield Park riding her horse in the rain, or Charlotte Bradley as Alice, the oldest sister in About Adam , alternately resisting and giving into the charms of the chameleonesque Adam. There are too many to list here –we will need to work on that new topic for the site!

Can a movie about a man who is paralyzed from head to toe and can only communicate by blinking his eye be sensual? Yes! Almost painfully so. The movie is “The Diving Bell and the Butterfly.” It is a beautiful and tragic film that demonstrates that our imagination, using our memories, can set us free when our actual senses are shut down. Here is a man who cannot touch or feel, who cannot swallow and therefore taste yet he can imagine a sensual feast with his therapist that ends in a passionate kiss, he can travel to exotic lands and revel in their beauty, he can spend a day with his family at the beach and be more intensely aware of how the hair is lit by the sun and blows in the wind that playfully lifts a woman’s dress. There is more, so much more. I highly recommend it as a sensual film but be prepared for the film to tear at your heart.

Ah, the holidays. Should be such a sensual time–the first snows, tramping through the woods to choose a tree, the soft glow of Christmas lights, fireside conversations, hot chocolate, food made only at this time of year with special scents and textures. But do we enjoy the special sensuals at this time of year? Look at the films of the season and it is hard to find one that reflects on experiencing the beauty of the holiday season. ”It’s a Wonderful Life” and “A Christmas Carol“or more recent films like “One True Thing” spend a large portion of the film demonstrating how little we appreciate what we have. It’s an old lesson but perhaps this is the time to finally take a moment and experience the sensual. Light a fire, make some mulled wine, sit down with the best of friends and watch “A Christmas Carol.” Tis the season–make it sensual.