Of Love and Other Demons (From Locarno 2015): Peckinpah and Sex Part 3 – ‘Straw Dogs’
A Weekly Column on Love and Erotica in Cinema by Justine A. Smith
Of Love and Other Demons: Sam Peckinpah and Sex – ‘The Getaway’
“Of all Sam Peckinpah’s films, the violence in ‘The Getaway’ often strikes me as the most senseless.”
Of Love and Other Demons: Sam Peckinpah and Sex – ‘The Ballad of Cable Hogue’
“Cable Hogue ogles and desires Hildy because she appeals to him sexually: there are no shades of grey here, no self-reflection. In the world of Peckinpah, sex is often just sex.”
Of Love and Other Demons: ‘Black Orpheus’ (Marcel Camus, 1959)
“‘Black Orpheus’ embraces sex as multiplicitous. This somehow makes the love more noble, because it is not confused with lust, and sex becomes a celebration rather than a symbol of it.”
Of Love and Other Demons: ‘Mamma Roma’ (Pier Paolo Pasolini, 1962)
“Pasolini suggests in ‘Mamma Roma’ that the spiritual beauty of humanity often emerges from vulgarity and contradiction.”
Of Love and Other Demons: ‘Tabu’ (Miguel Gomes, 2012)
“The strength of ‘Tabu’ lies in how powerfully sex is captured, offering aural and visual textures that inspire sensorial memories.”