The Little Death (2014)

Directed and written by Josh Lawson
Starring: Damon Herriman, Bojana Novakovic
Music by: Michael Yezerski
Language: English

Rating 4/5

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The Little Death is the French idiom for orgasm but it’s also the title of this not-so-popular Australian comedy written and directed by Josh Lawson, who also starred one of his characters (Paul).

Having a multi story narrative, The Little Death shows us the story of five different, normal, suburban couples, all somehow affected by their fantasies and fetishes. And additional character - a smiling man in his 60s who introduces himself to the neighbors to inform them he just moved in… and he is also a registered sex offender – serves here as a common element to  tie all the stories together. Apparently, none of these “couples” is interested in the controversial background of the new neighbour, being all too busy dealing with their desires and the consequences in their lives and relationships.

From a kinky perspective, this movie offers good material to think and talk about.

We have, for example, the couple who dive into role play with unexpected results and another one struggling with rape fantasies (and the difficulties of making it real) but we also have couples dealing with more controversial fetishes: Rowena, who is afraid to reveal his husband she gets sexually aroused from watching him cry (dacryphilia), does everything possible to put her partner in emotional distress while Phil, who is constantly rejected by his wife, finds out he can enjoy his wife’s company when she is practically unconscious (every night he drugs her tea).

The Little Death occasionally switches from the typical dark comedy shades to some kind of kinky romance (the last chapter, the story between the call center operator and the deaf man, winks at the most romantic audience), successfully remaining light and enjoyable with both registers. But it also seems to lack something in its narrative, giving the general feeling something is missing in the end.

The Neon Demon (2016)

Directed by Nicolas Winding Refn
Screenplay by Mary Laws, Nicolas Winding Refn, Polly Stenham
Starring: Elle Fanning, Keanu Reeves
Music by: Cliff Martinez
Language: English

Rating: 3/5

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Nicolas Winding Refn is definitely one of the best directors of our time – or at least one of the most promising – and he surely confirmed this with The Neon Demon, a glamorous, dark psychological horror where every scene is composed with an aseptic, elegant, obsessive attention to detail.

This is the style the Danish director is developing in years, something actually distant from Bronson’s aesthetics: as Refn finally entered Hollywood’s realm (with Drive), his style turned into something more sophisticated and visionary, something that lies between Tom Ford and David Lynch. It was already possible to witness this change in Only God Forgives but it’s with The Neon Demon that Refn’s intentions became utterly clear.

The problems is Refn is also becoming so self-absorbed to keep referencing his own aesthetics, leaving the rest aside. Like? A good plot. Or a proper characterization of his mannequins, who now look all empty and vague. And, sure, it’s cool to make minimal, slow-paced, aseptic movies starring young, good looking, soul-less actors like Ryan Gosling (Drive, Only God Forgives) or Elle Fanning, but the result is no one can actually feel some empathy for the characters they are asked to interpret or relate to them. Poor acting skills? Could be, but this does not seem to be the case. Director’s choices are here to blame in my humble opinion, even though I still believe Refn has a great potential to express.

The Neon Demon is about Jesse (Elle Fanning), an aspiring model whose natural beauty captivates everyone around. It does not take a long time before this overwhelming charm generates unwanted attentions and arouse envy among other girls within the industry. And Jesse, who is initially depicted as a helpless, naïve, little thing with a strong lack of confidence, soon decides to fully embrace the power of her beauty and turns into a narcissistic, arrogant teen revealing her true, “demonic” nature.

The movie does not show much from a kinky perspective, but being entirely focused on beauty and fascination it transpires sexual tension and subtle eroticism in all its length. Even when sex is completely missing from the scene: the test shoot with Jack, the professional photographer, is a good example of that. 

*** SPOILER ALERT: SKIP IF YOU ARE PLANNING TO WATCH THE MOVIE *** 

No sex is involved but still, it’s there, as Jack, who shows an indubitable dominant character, orders Jesse to pose fully naked, paint her body with his hands and mold her posture like a sculptor with a piece of clay. Yes, here I am talking about some kind of objectification.
The dream where Keanu Reeves - now a sinister motel manager - forces the girl to keeps her mouth wide as he slides a big knife in her throat might also trigger some dirty minds.

Paradoxically, the most explicit scenes are not as interesting as those where sex is entirely missing: there is, for example, a long lesbian, necrophiliac scene (don’t be surprised: blood baths and cannibalism are also featured in this elegantly gross movie) but it’s probably there just for the director’s pleasure in shocking the audience 

*** KEEP READING FROM HERE ***

What we have in the end is not a must-watch masterpiece but if on a Friday night you have nothing better to do, well, The Neon Demon might still be an esthetically pleasant way to waste two hours of your time with a plot-less, visionary movie from a director I hope to see soon at his best again.

La Pianiste (2001)

Directed by Michael Haneke
Written by Michael Haneke, Elfriede Jelinek (novel)
Starring: Isabelle Huppert, Benoît Magimel
Language: French

Rating: 5/5

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Based on Nobel Prize for Literature winner Elfriede Jelinek's novel, La Pianiste can be undoubtedly considered the best Haneke's movie (so far). Helped by the masterful Isabelle Huppert's interpretation, the Austrian director here perfectly portrayed the sexually and emotionally repressed piano teacher, who is the main character of this intimist drama. 

Erika is in fact a cold, castigated woman in her forties who still lives with her mother - a controlling, asphyxiating figure who tries to take her daughter away from every kind of frivolousness and instead pushes her hard to succeed in her professional life. The relationship between the two women is unhealthy and based on unresolved issues that slowly consume them both. Moreover the cumbersome presence of her mother stops Erika from having normal, healthy intimate relationships, which she replaces with a long list of paraphilia: she enters a sex shop to watch porn and smell semen from the used tissues she finds in the video cabin; she walks a drive-in theater to stare at couples having sex; she self-inflicts genital injuries. 

The only one who tries to shake Erika from her lonely, severe routine is Walter, a young engineering student and talented piano player who claims he falled in love with her. Erika, who initially rejects his exhausting avances, in the end will drag him in a world of humiliation and masochism the student can hardly understand. Powerful.

Irréversible (2002)

Directed by Gaspar Noé
Written by Gaspar Noé
Starring: Monica Bellucci, Vincent Cassel, Albert Dupontel
Music by: Thomas Bangalter
Language: French

Rating: 4/5

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Irréversible is probably one of the bravest and most original French movies of the past 15 years but unfortunately it is destined to be remembered for the controversial rape-scene, not for its unquestionable merits. The movie can boast of an excellent cast (Bellucci-Cassel - at that time still married), an interesting soundtrack (Thomas Bangalter is one half of the internationally acclaimed Daft Punk) and an experimental structure (something here reminds both the early Christopher Nolan and David Fincher).

Irréversible follows Marcus (Vincent Cassel) and Pierre (Albert Dupontel) as they try to find the one who raped and brutally beaten into unconsciousness Marcus’ girlfriend, Alex (Monica Bellucci). 

The movie is divided into thirteen scenes presented in a reverse chronological order. This is probably the the best and worst aspect of the whole movie. In fact this non-linear narrative introduces some original elements but at the same time makes impossible to create a sort of climax, with the result that the most intense scenes - the one at the gay BDSM club and the rape - are displayed at the very beginning and in the middle of the movie, respectively. As the end of the movie approaches, Irréversible gets boring and loses tension, this is the reason why it is not possible to rate it 5/5.

For the two scenes mentioned above the movie has been labeled as "unwatchable" but it should definitely meet the taste of many BDSM lovers (at least those who are not easily impressed). For example, the scene in the gay BDSM club is epic: here everything looks confused and claustrophobic, the twirling camera movements accidentally show men having rough sex, involved in sadomasochistic practices or even self-fisting; the controversial rape scene is on the other hand somewhat "chaste" - the camera lies in front of the two actors but there is nothing explicit in it, the act itself and the violence after the rape make the scene brutal. Paradoxically, it was enough to capture all the attention of the critics on that part only. Underrated.