When art meets desire: 10 movies that push the boundary of porn and cinema
There’s something strange about how often we see nudity and how rarely we talk about it. On screen, it’s everywhere – in dramas, comedies, and art-house indies – yet it still carries a kind of quiet tension. Even now, when a scene in a film drops its clothes, it becomes a talking point. Is it necessary? Is it exploitative? Or is it trying to say something that can’t be said any other way?
Although we’re all born naked, nudity remains one of society’s biggest taboos, and its presence in cinema usually requires a strict age rating or even censorship. Thus, many movies, despite being genuine cinematic endeavours, have been condemned or deemed highly controversial due to their high levels of nudity.
There are certainly times when directors insert nude scenes that seem simply gratuitous, leaving audiences to question whether that topless shot was really necessary to the plot. However, many films utilise nudity as part of their narratives – after all, when a character is entirely naked, that is when they are at their most vulnerable.
Oxford Reference defines pornography as “Explicit depiction, in pictures, writing, or other material, of sexual subjects or activity in a manner intended to arouse.” In most cases, established directors do not include nudity and sex in their films to arouse the audience, whereas that is the sole purpose of pornography.
Thus, we have compiled a list of ten movies that feature a significant amount of nudity, whether that be in a sexual context or otherwise, which are not pornographic films.
10 movies with lots of nudity that aren’t porn:
Anatomy of Hell (Catherine Breillat, 2004)
New French Extremity master Catherine Breillat earned the title of one of her country’s most controversial directors due to her uncensored depictions of female sexuality. Through movies such as A Real Young Girl, Fat Girl and Romance, Breillat shocked audiences with graphic depictions of sex and violence, sometimes involving unsimulated acts.
However, with Anatomy of Hell featuring the porn star Rocco Siffredi, Breillat pushed the boat further by leaving her actors naked for what feels like most of the runtime. Lead actor Amira Casar is constantly on display for Siffredi’s character, who she invites to observe her. Close-up shots of genitals are frequent, yet the film uses such graphic imagery to communicate themes of female objectification and male violence.
Caligula (Tinto Brass, 1979)
In 1979, Malcolm McDowell starred in Tinto Brass’ Caligula as the Roman Emperor, although viewers expecting a serious historical epic got a lot more than they bargained for. The film contains heaps of nudity, including extras known as Penthouse Pets performing unsimulated sex. McDowell and many of the other main actors, such as Helen Mirren, appear in the nude, bringing the salacious sex life of the historical figure to the big screen.
Brass’ film received negative reviews, with some people going as far as to dub Caligula ‘one of the worst films ever made’. The movie was banned in many countries due to its sexual and violent content, and was heavily edited and censored for specific locations. These days, many consider Caligula a cult classic.
Crash (David Cronenberg, 1996)
If you’ve ever fancied watching a movie where people find themselves inextricably aroused by car crashes, then David Cronenberg’s Crash has got you covered. The body horror master created the erotic thriller in 1996, starring James Spader, Holly Hunter, Deborah Kara Unger and Rosanna Arquette. The characters do whatever it takes to satisfy their urges, including staging car accidents to immerse themselves in their fetish.
Despite the nudity and sex on display in Cronenberg’s film, it leaves audiences to question the connection between the body and the mind, with humanity’s innate fascination with death at the heart of Crash. Many audiences might consider Crash a sexy film, but it’s anything but pornography.
The Dreamers (Bernardo Bertolucci, 2003)
Bernardo Bertolucci’s The Dreamers is the epitome of the ‘sexy French film’ stereotype. Set in late ’60s Paris, where protests and riots were becoming increasingly prevalent, Bertolucci zooms in on the lives of two privileged siblings who believe themselves radical and intelligent. Yet, they spend their days doing a whole lot of nothing, apart from sleeping with each other.
Soon, they invite an American student into their world, creating a twisted love triangle. The actors – Louis Garrel, Eva Green and Michael Pitt – spend much of the movie without clothes on, whether that be to enact uncomfortable sex scenes or share the bath together.
Eyes Wide Shut (Stanley Kubrick, 1999)
Stanley Kubrick made his last feature, Eyes Wide Shut, in 1999, shortly before his death. It remains one of his greatest movies, exploring a seedy sex cult attended by New York City’s elites. Tom Cruise’s Bill, a wealthy doctor experiencing marital issues with his wife, Alice, played by Nicole Kidman, visits the masked orgy, which is, unsurprisingly, full of naked people.
The audience is invited inside the mansion with Bill, where we witness the creepy rituals where cloaked attendees watch fully naked women kneeling on the floor as a mysterious red-cloaked figure commands the room. Elsewhere, Cruise and Kidman, who were a couple at the time, also have their fair share of nude scenes.
Henry and June (Philip Kaufman, 1990)
If you’re going to watch an adaptation of an Anais Nin book, expect plenty of nudity. The erotic writer’s book Henry and June provided the source material for Philip Kaufman’s movie of the same name, based on Nin’s diary entries. Detailing sexual discovery and an intense involvement with Henry Miller and his wife, June, Kaufman adapted the steamy tale for Hollywood in 1990.
The film stars Uma Thurman, Fred Ward and Maria de Medeiros, and due to its graphic content, became the first to receive an NC-17 rating by the MPAA. The actors engage in many nude scenes, informing Nin’s emotional and psychological journey.
Love (Gaspar Noé, 2015)
Argentine filmmaker Gaspar Noé, based in France, is known for his provocative cinematic style, causing Cannes walkouts and divisive critical reactions through his shocking body of work. Through early movies such as I Stand Alone and Irréversible, the director explored themes such as incest and rape, with the latter featuring a controversial nine-minute rape scene shot in a singular take.
Although most of Noé’s films include at least a little bit of nudity or sex, he didn’t hold back with Love, which contains many sex scenes, often shot from above, and even a 3D cumshot. This might sound like porn (the sex is real, too), but Noé uses explicit nude scenes to explore the emotional effects of an incredibly sexually-charged relationship.
Salo, or The 120 Days of Sodom (Pier Paolo Pasolini, 1975)
Salo, or The 120 Days of Sodom, is not for the faint of heart. Pier Paolo Pasolini’s revolutionary attack on fascism and the Italian government is told through the torture of innocent teenagers. Kidnapped by a group of libertines, the teenagers are forced to strip completely naked and submit to authority, which results in some vile actions, like being force-fed shit. The adults also rape their captives or force them to have sex with each other.
It’s a hard watch – one that proves that sex scenes and nudity aren’t always placed in movies to titillate. Salo, or The 120 Days of Sodom, is anything but sexy. It’s distressing, often gross, and, at its core – devastating. But that’s what makes Pasolini’s film so vital.
Showgirls (Paul Verhoeven, 1995)
One of the worst films ever made or a certified camp classic? Whether or not Showgirls is worthy of merit has been the question on many people’s lips since the movie’s release in 1995. Most people go with ‘no’, although filmmakers like John Waters believe it deserves recognition for its sheer ridiculousness, once stating via Film Quarterly, “Showgirls is funny, stupid, dirty, and filled with cinematic clichés; in other words, perfect.”
Verhoeven’s movie follows Elizabeth Berkley’s character as she tries to make it as a showgirl in Las Vegas, spending the majority of the runtime with all her clothes off. There are also plenty of sex scenes, including a questionable pool sequence between Berkley and Kyle MacLachlan.
Nymphomaniac (Lars von Trier, 2013)
Over the years, Lars von Trier has generated his fair share of controversy through his movies and questionable comments (such as jokingly claiming to “understand Hitler”). The director has made many movies that critics have dubbed ‘pornography’, from The Idiots to Antichrist. But none come close to Nymphomaniac, the story of a sex addict, played by both Charlotte Gainsbourg and Stacy Martin.
The movie contains an incredible amount of nudity and sex – even the promotional posters feature the actors semi-naked. The movie uses a rigorous amount of sex to convey themes of human fulfilment, or a lack thereof, as well as loneliness and depression.
