Archive for June, 2008

Sometimes a Barefoot Aphrodite has to turn off the films and make a trip to the spa–it has to be done. And how appropriate that my choice for this all-to-infrequent luxury was a “Heaven and Earth” massage of feet, neck and scalp. First of all, I had a male masseuse and it is very sensual to have a man undo your necklace (and do it up again). Second, it is very sensual and sexy to have a man kneeling at your feet (the massage begins with a foot soak while your feet are massaged). And third, it’s just plain sensual and lovely to have your feet massaged! Pure heaven.

While on the topic of feet, it just so happened that I watched “Kinky Boots” the evening before my foot massage. Two and a half feet of irresistible, tubular sex! While not a sensual movie overall, you can’t help but find Chiwetel Ejiofor’s show numbers as the drag queen Lola absolutely charming, funny and sexy all at once–a very sensual combination. It is also sensual to subtly and unsubtly rock everyone else’s world when they are questioning yours. And those boots! Yowza! Definitely worth watching!

Adrian Lyne, Adrian Lyne, Adrian Lyne, I wish you would go all the way and be well and truly sensual. The next featured film on Barefoot Aphrodite will be another directed by Lyn (the first is Unfaithful). Just as with Unfaithful, Lolita, Fatal Attraction, Lyne is an expert at creating a sense of place–capturing the look, feel, smell of everything he touches with the eye of his camera. But it is exactly these images that promise so much and, for me, really, REALLY disappoint. In the end, they are empty images inhabited by people with a mean streak or coldness. They often reflect an initial delicate appreciation of women and their form or sexuality that becomes abusive and voyeuristic. I hate to blame it on his nationality or sex but…why can’t this director get it right and come through on a truly sensual film for women?

I dated an Englishman while living in France (how did that happen?!) and when a friend of his came to visit from England he asked, “So what do you think of English men.” As I pondered my response, my boyfriend said, “She thinks they are cold-hearted bastards.” And maybe that is why Lyn doesn’t come through. While the next featured film is quite beautiful in many ways, he supposedly elicited the desired emotions from the lead actress by being essentially abusive. If you’ve got that mean streak running through you, yourself… Still, one can hope that Lyne will learn as he ages and maybe, maybe come through in the end…one can hope…

While you gotta love a film with a truly sensual man, sensual films for women often, if not always, require a sensual actress who can transmit that sensuality to the woman watching the film. Think of Ana Lopez Mercado in our reviewer’s pick “Y Tu Mama Tambien“ and her seductive dance at the outdoor bar or her swim in the ocean where she allows herself to be swept away by life. My realization about sensual actresses came to mind watching “Facing Windows” (”La Finestra di Fronte,” 2003). The handsome guy across the way was nice (especially when he took his glasses off) but the truly sensual one in the film was the main character, Giovanna, played by Giovanna Mezzogiorno. A beauty, Mezzogiorno can also act up a storm and speak volumes with just a glance from her beautiful eyes (the film reminds you of this by ending with a shot of her eyes alone while the credits roll). I was then reminded to add this note to the blog when I watched her a second night in a row, just by chance, in “The Last Kiss” (”L’Ultimo Bacio,” 2001) where Mezzogiorno again erupted into a sensual being after being wronged by her man. In an earlier blog entry I listed the sensual men who consistently showed up in our list of sensual films for women–it will be interesting to go back and see if there are certain women who show up more than once…?

Sensual films for women do not necessarily require a sensual man but it sure doesn’t hurt. And a film can not qualify as sensual but contain a serious sensual moment or sensual character. Ah, Colin Firth. Very sensual as Frank in “Then She Found Me” (2007). Apparently almost passed over because Helen Hunt thought he was too handsome for the part, Firth is irresistable as the flustered, recently divorced dad who falls for Helen Hunt’s character, April Epner. Who doesn’t love a man who actually “looks” at the woman he is making love to, really looks into her eyes. And who doesn’t love a man who is handsome and attractive but isn’t afraid to voice his doubts and fears and passion. Not a sensual film overall but if you’re looking for a sensual man, watch it for Colin!

What did you do today that was sensual? Think about it. And did you stop to enjoy it? As much as I value the sensual, I often have to make myself stop and enjoy the moment. Today it was cooking in the kitchen with Nora Jones playing (there is something very sensual about listening to the lyrics “As I sit and watch the snow Fallin’ down I don’t miss you at all” when it is summery and hot out), chopping cilantro, dogs at my feet, Italian white wine close at hand, perfect weather outside. These are the moments that life are made of and yet how many of us really stop and say, “This is wonderful!”

What movies capture this? Certainly not “Vers le Sud” (2005) Don’t be fooled (once again) by the plot summaries or movie posters that tout this movie as hot sex in the Haitian sun. It is more a sad story of lonely women searching for what they can’t find at home and that seems so tantalizingly available in an island getaway where a life of sun, sand and cabana boys exists hand in hand with poverty, decay, political corruption and brutality. The women are seemingly oblivious to this which makes their dalliances all that more pathetic and disturbing. Interesting topic but why is this film sold as something it is not? Look at the movie posters: white woman and black man embracing in the sea (this one is particularly deceptive as it is when the Haitian gigolo is telling the 55-year-old woman that she looks ugly–like a hen in a bathtub–when her hair is wet), older woman smiling coyly at black man as another woman walks away on the beach, older woman and man sit closely while other woman wanders down beach…Anything to lead you to think the film will contrast the poverty and brutal corruption of Baby Doc’s Haiti with the sunny beachside resort corruption of money, race and power? If sensuality and sexuality sell, why are there not more films that are sensual and sexy???

Watched “Brief Crossing” (”Breve Traversee,” 2001) with Sarah Pratt and Gilles Guillan, the story of a woman who meets a 16-year-old boy on the ferry between France and England and spends the evening with him. It is interesting to watch films about young men/boys with older women vs tales of young women/girls with older men. The latter always strikes me as somewhat creepy while the former is somewhat sexy. A cultural/power issue? Regardless, this film made me think again about what makes a film sensual. Sensual films for me almost always involve a certain amount of sexual tension whether it is the “under wraps” kind of “Pride and Prejudice” or the overt kind of “Swept Away.” ”Brief Crossing” certainly exudes sensual tension and is sexy overall but, in the end, it leaves me on the fence about its sensuality. I think the reason is that the movie is mostly about intense verbal interaction between the sexes with little regard for their surroundings. Although you are somewhat aware of the anonymity of the ferry and in one scene get the feel of the contrasting cold night air and dangerous/exciting ocean, you are more aware of just the two main characters who engage in a battle of words with little concern for their what is going on around them. Or maybe it is that the director chooses to focus on the starkness of the surroundings–a cafeteria, a disco club where teenagers dance in the background with little feeling, an anonymous cabin. And then it is hard to believe that Thomas even has a chance with this older woman who rants against men and the ravages of age while he pouts and rather timidly insists that she not include him in the “all men” generalizations. And maybe in the end, the film reflects how cold and passionately brief a sexual relationship can be if no room is made for the sensual.  

There is nothing more sensual than dance. “The rhumba is about love:” even if you have to fake it, you have to make it look like the real thing. “Strictly Ballroom” goes for too much weird “comedy” (flushed faces, atrocious makeup, etc.) to be sensual overall but Paul Mercurio…swoon! As noted in his bio on IMDB: “… Baz Luhrmann…an old friend, offered him the lead in the phenomenal Strictly Ballroom(1992). Under Luhrmann’s direction, Paul’s intensity took over the screen and made him an overnight icon of sensuality.” I’ll say! In a movie that switches from smoky sensuality to grotesque characterizations of people, Paul Mecurio’s presence is consistently nothing but sensual. As the grandmother notes, “Nice body,”–incredible butt but more than that, his dark, brooding face makes you believe his love in every step of his dance. Lucky Fran!

Ah, Sex and the City…! I was a little nervous about going to the movie–I SO didn’t want it to disappoint. I noted before that I would nominate the whole series as a sensual movie and especially the later ones when times got harder but the girlfriends got better. I read the headline from the New York Times review by Manohla Dargis and was prepared to be disappointed. But I listened to a girlfriend and went to see it instead of reading the ridiculously harsh review (this is Sex and the City, after all–fun but not great cinema and never claiming to be anything but) with snide comments about Botox working better than the script, etc. If you loved the series, the movie will satisfy and, for me, that’s  what I needed. There are less men (although a whole lot of one–”Hello, Chris Noth!” and thank you S&C for going for full frontal male nudity) but the theme of the six years was always, “Men disappoint: your girlfriends will always be there” and the movie follows through. The movie started out a little edgy without the heart that you grow used to in the series but slowly it came together and with the rest of the female-packed audience (cheers to the two or three guys who were there), seriously, we laughed, we cried and we didn’t want it to end. The reviewer for the Times doesn’t get it–cool girls don’t wear campaign buttons (check out Season 3, episode 2). Take a girlfriend and go–Sex and the City is light and fluffy and fun and (question the reality factor all you want folks) it’s all about the girlfriends!