The films Harry Styles watched for his ‘My Policeman’ sex scene
Following up on Olivia Wilde’s Don’t Worry Darling, Harry Styles‘ next acting performance will be as a closeted policeman living in Brighton during the 1950s. For a scene in the film, Styles forms a sexual relationship with a man by the name of Patrick (played by David Dawson).
The director, Michael Grandage, feels that through the movie, he is able to pay “homage to a few things that have been important to me in the way we shot the movie.” My Policeman is set to arrive in cinemas on October 21st and will be released on Amazon Prime on November 4th.
Grandage further noted the themes of the film: “As a gay man, I thought, I if I’m going to direct this film, I do at least want to somehow make sure that — if I’m lucky enough to carry on living in another 10, 15, 20 years or so — I want to be able to look at the film constantly and go, ‘I did what I set out to do in terms of intimacy.”
He added: “I just knew that there was a way of telling a very specific story about same-sex intimacy that, each time we saw it in the film, helps move the narrative on. You can’t do that if you just fade to black.”
Grandage also explained that a 1963 black-and-white film by the title of The Servant, starring Dirk Bogarde, was an influence on the film, particularly in how he approached the sex scenes. Grandage said: “I find it a massively affecting film, with its menace and its underbelly. [Director Joseph Losey] understood so much about how to tell a story by just a picture and not needing any dialogue at all.”
As such, Grandage suggested that Styles and the rest of the main cast watch the film to better understand his intentions. Yet, this was not the only film that Grandage offered to Styles. He also informed him of the beauty of Hiroshima mon amour, directed by Alain Resnais and Don’t Look Now by Nicolas Roeg.
The latter film featured a famously extensive sex scene starring Donald Sutherland and Julie Christie and was given its fair share of controversy during its release. Grandage commented on the frank and provocative nature of the scene and its influence on My Policeman: “Often we just go, ‘And now, the intimacy scene — one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, 10, and gone.’ What happens if you extend those moments into scenes that are as big as some of the other scenes?”
