Archive for March, 2008

The goal of this site is not just to offer an archive of sensual film for women but also to encourage women to use film as an opportunity to explore the sensual in their own lives. Hopefully the films we have chosen will stimulate the senses such that when you turn off the tv, you will want to continue the experience–maybe watch the film again with a friend or start a sensual film club, talk about the film with other women, have sex with your partner, appreciate the everyday sensuals of your life or perhaps even travel to one of the sensual countries that are the location of the film–who knows! 

 Wanting to travel to the film location has been the case for me with the few movies that I have seen that take place in India. The colors and customs are just fascinating to me–public bathing, floating a candle on the water, wearing a sari that both covers and reveals, the architecture and the brilliant colors of the houses and clothes are just a few examples. The film “Water” that was reviewed last month on Barefoot Aphrodite did not receive a high sensual rating because of the content but I think everyone must have found the environment sensual. Even a comedy like “Darjeeling Ltd” or a poorly scripted movie like “Kama Sutra–A Tale of Love” overflows with sensuals. One of our guest reviewers, Carla, was lucky enough to travel to India in 2007 and you can find her photos that capture some of the sensuals of India on the flickr site.

Watch a film on Barefoot Aphrodite and then explore, explore, explore!

Isn’t it interesting that someone who is deprived of one of the senses can be the best teacher of how to enjoy the sensual? I am thinking of a scene between a blind artist’s model (Mark Gerber) and a sexually repressed minister’s wife (Tara Fitzgerald) in the movie “Sirens” (1994). The blindness of the man allows the woman to observe him nude without timidity (despite his awareness of her presence) and to approach him sexually with a certain anonymity that increases her sexual desire and assures her sexual release as the blind man gently caresses her hands (and wedding ring), face and body. It also allows her the gift of offering the man to another woman by lending her wedding ring, perfume and clothes to the other for a late night tryst. The possibilities are endless as the absence of sight awakens the senses with a rare intensity.

The movie “Tadpole” (2002) is a good example of how important the lead actors can be to the sensuality of a film. Bebe Neuwirth is completely believable as an independent, vibrant, 40-something woman who has no trouble finding a 15-year-old sexually attractive. She lights up the screen much more than the supposed object of attraction, Sigourney Weaver. But the real problem is Aaron Stanford who plays Oscar, the 15-year-old who craves the romance and sophistication of the books he reads and believes he finds it in the hands of older women. I love that the film mostly takes the attractions completely seriously and with little distaste for the age difference as everyone involved is completely willing. But Oscar gives off little sensuality as a boy becoming a man who is busting at the seams with sexual and emotional yearning. Hormones gone wild? He seems like he has little passion for anything and comes off as bland as his uneaten, “favorite”" grilled cheese sandwich. The film also seems incredibly dated for a movie made in 2002 which underlines the importance of the director and how much in love the person behind the camera needs to be with their subject and its environment. New York can be such a sensual background to a love affair and there are a few moments when shots of the city reflect or contrast with Oscar’s angst but most of the time he could be in any city, anywhere. What a great opportunity for a great sensual film for women and what a disappointment!

“Your physical senses give you many perks…: smelling the flowers, sipping the cocoa, reading the funnies, and feeling the velvet, to name just a few. But perhaps their greatest gift lies in presenting you with the opportunity to assess the world around you at any given point in your life, to compare what you think you’ve been thinking, to what you’ve really been thinking.” www.tut.com

Sometimes I am just in the mood for a romantic film that is fluffy and light but has a moment of truth so that it stays with me for awhile. Take “Lake House” (2006, Keanu Reeves and Sandra Bullock) for example. One of my friends groaned when it was over because it was so unbelievable but the other two of us guiltily admitted we had been hooked. But even if you weren’t hooked, you have to admit that there is an exquisite scene where the Sandra and Keanu characters slow dance at a birthday party and react to the electricity between them with an unexpected kiss. That will take you back! Not a sensual movie but definitely a sensual scene. And then even with his deadpan delivery, Keanu gets to me.

But how disappointing the fluff can be when it leaves you feeling empty and even a bit disgusted. Witness “Definitely, Maybe” which seems to be an “either hate it or love it” movie. What is the attraction of Ryan Reynolds? Not handsome or appealing, not funny. And I loved Abigail Breslin in “Little Miss Sunshine” but couldn’t bare her predictable cuteness interrupting the tales of romance. Loved the premiss but not the sitcom-style production–not a moment of sensuality in it and not even good fluff! (You have to tip your hat to Kevin Kline, though, as the drunken writer–he was so good, it felt like he had walked into the wrong film–sassy!)