T he number of explicit sex scenes in mainstream movies are on the decline. Even as violence remains ever-present across all types of media, sensuality has been relegated to televisions shows and books, intimacy usually alluded to rather than shown.
And yet sex that surprises audiences, disturbs them, and even pushes the limits of taste has a robust cinematic history. Sometimes unfamiliar or boundary-pushing sexual actsβinvolving a threesome, alone time with a ripe piece of fruit, or pornography about octopiβserve essential elements of the story and work to elucidate an aspect of human nature. Sometimes, particularly before the MeToo movement, sex scenes pushed the bounds of propriety and exploited the actors involved.
Those incidents have driven directors away from showing the most intimateβand, in many ways, importantβparts of our lives. Sometimes these scenes are deemed provocative by audiences, in other instances, the ratings assigned by governing bodies have made them infamous. But sex that breaks new barriers in movies, when done right, can jumpstart conversations about how we connect with one another.
Here are the most sexually provocative movies of all time. The Franco-Italian romance starring Marlon Brando centered on a couple that conducts an anonymous sexual relationship in an unfurnished apartment in Paris.
And in a interview, actor Maria Schneider said she felt humiliated by the scene , which hadn't been in the script and was improvised by Brando. Years later, in the MeToo era, her experiences were re-examined as an instance of assault on camera.
