Hollywood films have specific rules to follow if they want to include real sex

[Teh One Who Knocks]

By Jess Phillips, Acting Assistant Showbiz/TV Editor - The Daily Star




Okay, most of what we see in Hollywood is fake. Most of us have accepted by now that gunfights, car chases and, in a lot of cases, sex, are just a charade performed by highly trained actors and a bit of CGI.

But some film directors over the years have opted to feature very real, unsimulated romps to add an air of authenticity to their flicks.

From Robert Pattinson’s masturbation scene in Little Ashes to a particularly disturbing scene in Japanese flick In the Realm of Senses, real sex has made it through various boundaries and restrictions to the big screen.

But it’s definitely not an easy process.

To make it into the cinema, some films have to have scenes of penetration cut out or swapped for alternative, less graphic shots. Before home video was invented, some cinemas would show hardcore pornography films which would use this method – though others slipped through the net uncensored.

A lot of this depends on the rating. Certain scenes would be cut to bring an X-rated film down to an R-rating, as X-rated films are banned or restricted in certain countries.

Even mainstream films like RoboCop had to be edited in the US to bring its rating down so it could be shown in cinemas, even though the country didn’t explicitly ban these films. Instead, many cinemas would simply refuse to show them, resulting in less money being made at the box office.

There are also plenty of production issues that come with using real sex in films. Filmmaker Gaspar Noé confessed that it’s difficult for an actor to get or maintain an erection with a crew present.



It’s also complicated for actors who are in committed relationships to effectively ‘cheat’ on their partner for work, with Noé confessing: “So I've decided that the best way to show real sex is to cast two single people who used to be a couple.”

French film Stranger By the Lake features an unsimulated sex scene between its two male leads – but the most explicit acts were performed by body doubles who were romping for real.

Actor Christophe Paou, who plays Michel in the flick, admitted: “We called them stunt doubles.”



While his co-star Pierre Deladonchamps, who starred as Franck, added: “We’d make love, then we’d stop, these guys would replace us and do it for real. It was very funny the day I met my stunt dick. 'Pierre, let me introduce you to your d*ck'."

And director Alain Guiraudie also joined in the nude festivities, with Deladonchamps explaining: “He did. And also during the rehearsal, to make us more comfortable.

"Actually, he’s in the movie – he’s the first person my character meets on the beach. He’s a naturist himself. But you know, when we got to the set I dealt with the nudity by just telling myself, 'It’s a costume, it’s not me'."

[lost in melb.]

Ew?