Let’s carry on with my S-E-X-Y movie list. One last time, the Orson Well quote:
“Ecstasy … is not to be communicated by a couple of people, or one person, or any combinations there of, unless it’s actually happening … [Ecstasy] is really not part of the thing we can do on celluloid.”
Disproving the magnificent Orson Wells is a weighty task, but if the numbers are correct, there’s no shortage of demand. From an article on Forbes magazine analyzing internet traffic for sex sites:
“In 2010, out of the million most popular (most trafficked) websites in the world, 42,337 were sex-related sites. That’s about 4% of sites. From July 2009 to July 2010, about 13% of Web searches were for erotic content.”
Here at Script Gods we’ll just be talking (thank you!) mainstream movies. Script, then the film clip to follow. Compare and contrast. I guarantee a couple aren’t on your list. Vamos!
- PLEASANTVILLE: MOM’S LATE NIGHT BATH
Originality = no other scene like it in the movies. Go ahead and name another scene like the bathtub masturbation scene in Pleasantville. Black and white world turns color, tree bursting into flame on Mom’s climax. The best scenes advance character and story, like this one does.
For my students who point out that this script ruthlessly gives detailed camera angles and it’s famous and I’ve never written one of near equivalent fame despite my screaming to NEVER, EVER direct the script– Thank you for pointing that out. I know, I know…
INT. PARKER BEDROOM – NIGHT
George crosses from the dresser to the TWO TWIN BEDS in the
middle of the room. He wears long sleeve pajamas that are
buttoned up to the neck. George puts his glass of warm milk
on the nightstand and climbs in his own single bed. It is
barely wide enough for his body and takes some maneuvering.
GEORGE
Sweetie? You coming to bed?
There is no answer.
GEORGE
Betty?
INT. BATHROOM
She stands in her bathrobe staring down at the tub. Her
dressing gown is buttoned to the neck as well.
BETTY
(calling out)
Yeah… I’m just going to take a
bath first.
CLOSER – BETTY
She swallows once as she stares down at the tub–then reaches
for the spigot and turns on the water. Betty’s heart beats a
little faster as she HEARS the WATER THUNDERING DOWN.
CLOSER STILL
Betty reaches up and unties the little silk ribbon at the
top of her robe. She slips it off, and lets it drop to the
floor, standing naked in the middle of the bathroom. Betty
glances toward the mirror and then quickly glances away. She
takes a deep breath and steps into the tub.
EVEN TIGHTER – ON HER FACE
Betty slides down into the warm water, breathing in the steam,
and closing her eyes for a moment. She lingers like that for
a second or two, before settling a little lower in the tub.
Betty opens her eyes, but they only half open. There is the
slight trace of a smile.
EXTREME CLOSE UP BETTY’S FACE
Her eyes close again as she bites her lower lip gently. The
water continues to THUNDER DOWN as she arches her back.
Betty’s breathing seems to quicken as she opens her eyes all
over again:
HER POV – BATHROOM
All at once, everything around starts to turn from black and
white to color. A bird out the window becomes a red breasted
robin. The tile on the tub turns out to be purple. Green
towel… Pink robe… Bright yellow daisies on the plastic
shower curtain.
CLOSE UP – BETTY’S FACE
She stares in amazment. Beads of sweat form on Betty’s
forehead as the world goes to TECHNICOLOR. The THUNDERING
WATER POUNDS IN THE BACKGROUND, but beneath can be heard the
beginnings of a faint, low, MOAN. Her eyes dart around the
room. Her breathing quickens: Faster… Harder… More
intense… Then suddenly…
EXT. ELM STREET – NIGHT
The HUGE ELM TREE across the street suddenly BURSTS INTO
FLAMES. Fire shoots straight up into the sky as billowing
clouds of black smoke fill the air. BRIGHT ORANGE FLAMES
LIGHT UP THE NIGHT
- EYES WIDE SHUT: THE RITUAL
Yes, I know Tom Cruise doesn’t get laid here. He’s about the only one who doesn’t in this mystifying Kubrick conception. Not sure why people hate on this movie. Is it, perhaps, they just can’t get their arms around it? The events in this sequence are so original I honestly don’t care if it doesn’t add up. I’ll repeat that: The little voice in my head that screams PLAUSIBILITY asks how such a conspiracy among hundreds of people could go unnoticed, how a murder could go under the radar witnessed by so many. I…don’t…care. It’s so fucking creepy! Love love love the scene, here provided in abridged script form. The full video of the movie will be taken down, but as of this writing can be found here. The sequence starts at the 1:16:00 mark. I’ll include a six-minute version below…
INT. HOUSE
BILL enters a large, candlelit, mirrored vestibule where two servants
in black suits, their faces covered by grey masks, whisper in unison:
SERVANT 1
Password?
BILL
Fidelio Rainbow.
SERVANT 1
Thank you, sir.
One of them takes his coat, while the other opens a door.
BILL enters a long room, dimly lit with candles, with high ceilings and
walls covered with black silk.
A line of mirrored doors on each side run the length of the room.
There are about fifty men and women dressed as monks and nuns,
their faces completely covered by masks.
Gently swelling strains of Italian liturgical music comes from an organ
playing somewhere.
As his eyes become accustomed to the dim light, BILL sees that the
women are naked beneath the full-length, black veils that flow down
from their head bands.
His eyes wander from voluptuous bodies to slender bodies, from
delicate to richly developed figures, and he is filled with inexpressible
desire.
Occasionally, eyes turn towards him but immediately look away as
soon as he notices them.
A monk brushes against him and nods a greeting, but from behind
the mask BILL sense a searching and penetrating glance.
A strange, heavy perfume, as of southern gardens, pervades the
room.
Again an arm brushes against him, but this time it is that of a nun.
Her face is fully masked, and like the others, naked under the black
transparent lace of her veil.
THE WOMAN
You don’t belong here. There’s still a
chance for you to get away.
BILL is momentarily unnerved by this but he is also completely
captivated by the beauty and sensuality of this woman.
BILL
I’m terribly sorry but I think you’ve
mistaken me for someone else.
THE WOMAN
Please don’t be foolish about this. You
must leave at once.
BILL
Who are you?
THE WOMAN
It doesn’t matter. You must go.
BILL
Will you come with me?
THE WOMAN
That’s impossible.
BILL
Impossible?
THE WOMAN
Impossible….
…She whispers, despairingly
Go.
BILL
Is there no way I can ever see you again.
THE WOMAN
No. We must never meet again. It
could cost your life and mine.
Just at that moment, a tall man stops before them, and with a slight
bow, courteous but imperative, says:
TALL MAN
Will you dance with me?
THE WOMAN hesitates but the TALL MAN puts his arm around her
waist and leads her away the adjoining room.
A moment later, a voice whispers behind BILL.
ELEGANT MAN
Password!
- FAR FROM HEAVEN: LATE-NIGHT DINNER
What a crusher for Cathy, the Julianne Moore character, the perfect 50’s housewife. Perfect house, perfect kids, perfect marriage. Off she goes to her husband’s office to drop off a late-night dinner, and finds….this!
Shocking behavior wasn’t acceptable for the movie world portrayed and repression just drips. Nasty, nasty white middle-class 50’s shit. This scene defines Plot Point 1– there is no movie without it. Train tracks. Inner character needs/wants meeting with story narrative, and actually driving it.
INT. OFFICE BLDG. LOBBY – NIGHT
Cathy, emerging through the shimmer of a revolving door, as
quiet dissonance emerges, building slowly throughout the
scene. She walks across the large marble-floored lobby,
Tupperware in hand, to the night-watch’s table.
CATHY
I’m just dropping something off to
my husband on the twelfth floor.
Mr. Whitaker.
The NIGHT-WATCH motions her in and Cathy continues briskly to
the elevators.
INT. 12TH FLOOR – NIGHT
The elevator doors open. Cathy steps out onto the darkened
floor and starts down the central corridor toward the
executive suite.
As she approaches the outer office she realizes there is no
one else in sight, no lights, no sign of work.
CATHY
(to herself, perplexed)
Frank?
She glances around as she continues, doubtfully, in the
direction of his office. Then she notices
A soft strip of light coming from beneath his office door.
CATHY
(shaking her head)
Oh, Frank…
In a rush of wifely sympathy she walks up to the door and
politely opens it.
CATHY
Frank – ?
INT. FRANK’S OFFICE – NIGHT
Instantly she sees it: a shirtless blond man with loosened
pants locked in a writhing kiss with another man in
shirtsleeves, who appears to be fondling him. Immediately
they turn and jolt apart. It takes her a moment to register
that the man in shirtsleeves is Frank.
All at once Cathy gasps, pulling back and turning, dropping
her Tupperware. She shuts her eyes and struggles for breath.
Inside we can hear the men scrambling to dress, knocking
something over in the process.
Suddenly Cathy turns facing the door, reeling, horrified.
Music burns with the weight of realization as she starts backstepping
slowly, staring out in confusion and disbelief.
She glimpses something through the crack of the door and
stops.
Frank catches sight of her from inside.
Cathy stares.
He looks down. Suddenly the blond man slips out past him,
darting briskly down the hall. He disappears down the
stairwell where we can hear his echoey steps slowly fading
away.
All at once Cathy turns and runs, music returning with
thunder and storm.
FRANK
Cathy!
- THE GETAWAY
Nobody, NO-BODY would put this scene on a best sex scene list. But c’mon…this is young Sally Struthers as a strumpet. She takes up with Rudy, a wounded bank robber who randomly busts in on her and husband Harold. It’s not a nice thing to watch your wife willingly submit to another man and poor Harold eventually comes to a bad end. But look at Sally Struthers with that chicken bone! Damn, girl!
The video corresponds to one of these two scenes, not sure which:
INT. AUTO COURT MOTEL – MORNING
RUDY REACHES OVER TO THE NIGHTSTAND AND SHUTS OFF the radio.
His eyes stare vacantly ahead for a moment.
HAROLD CLINTON IS TIED SECURELY INTO A CHAIR, his mouth
tightly gagged.
RUDY BEGINS TO SMILE. FRAN IS NEXT TO RUDY WITHIN THE bed,
wearing only a bra, sleeping, one arm wrapped around Rudy’s
middle.
RUDY
How you doing over there, Harold? You
sleep okay last night? Good. I’m glad to
hear it. Did you listen to the news? That
means we don’t have to drive so hard
today, Harold… we’re gonna be
travelling a lot faster than they are…
We got a lot more time than I figured.
Rudy continues smiling. He pulls the sheet away from Frank,
then allows his hand to reach down, cupping her breast from
inside the bra. Fran half awakens, pulls herself closer to
Rudy.
=============
INT. MOTEL – NIGHT
HAROLD IS TIED TO A CHAIR, RUDY IS LYING ON THE BED, half-
clothed, eating chicken, drinking a beer, while Fran slowly
strips down to bra and panties.
