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Stories about love and sensuality… Sometimes we recognize ourselves in them, and sometimes, on the contrary, we discover a new world, the existence of which we did not know. Each of them has a unique rhythm and mood. And the thoughts that the characters share with us may help us look at our experiences from an unexpected angle.
1. Duke of Burgundy, 2014
About what? About female affection and the bizarre forms in which it sometimes manifests itself. For 104 minutes, not a single man will appear in the frame, but in the hall among the spectators who have gathered to listen to a report on butterflies, looking closely, you can find two mannequins, of course, female. And what about the Duke of Burgundy? He is also a butterfly. As is the hawker. Whose name also functions as a stop word used in sado-masochistic practices.
What for? To admire the fragile beauty of objects and living beings and make sure that relationships are not always dominated by the one who looks the main thing to an outsider’s eye.
Quote: “If only we could all end our suffering by simply saying ‘hawk’.
Director: Peter Strickland.
Cast: Chiara D’Anna, Kata Barch.
2. “Young and beautiful”, 2013
About what? The fact that cynicism can partly compensate for confusion and loneliness, but not cure them. A lyceum student sells physical intimacy to strangers, young, mature, and old—not out of need or self-interest, but for a sense of power over them and out of curiosity about her own experiences. Neither morality, nor the law, nor parental prohibitions stop her. One day she meets an old woman who is willing to pay her to talk about her late husband, who was one of the girl’s lovers.
What for? To think about our own youth and the parting words that we give ourselves at this time for the rest of our lives.
Quote: “Sex for the sake of sex for money and sex for the sake of money are not the same thing … You eat to get enough, that is, only in order to satisfy your hunger. Or you eat to enjoy delicious, favorite, gourmet food and satisfy your hunger at the same time.
Directed by: Francois Ozon.
Cast: Marina Waqt, Charlotte Rampling.
3. Don’t Look Down, 2008
About what? A young but experienced girl teaches the mysteries of tantric sex to her young lover, who lives near a cemetery, walks on stilts, reads his father’s love letters and is transported to other cities at the moment of orgasm.
What for? To plunge into the atmosphere of mystical realism, enjoy the leisurely passage of time and allow ourselves to let go of those we love.
Quote: “All your life you will say goodbye, but this does not mean that you need to stop loving.”
Directed by: Eliseo Subiela.
Starring: Antonella Costa, Liandro Stevelman.
4. Elegy, 2008
About what? About the love of an old man and a young woman, about time, fears and hopes, about the eternal question “How long can this go on?”. That age is measured not only by time, but also by experience. About the gaps in the beloved’s past that we fill with our fantasy.
What for? To learn to show compassion together with the characters. And to consider how love is combined with freedom and what we could sacrifice for the sake of affection and intimacy.
Quote: “A beautiful woman cannot be seen… we do not notice a person. To see hidden behind the shell prevents the barrier of beauty. We are so blinded by the outside that we do not look inside.”
Directed by: Isabelle Coixet.
Cast: Ben Kingsley and Penelope Cruz.
5. “Women’s perversion”, 1996
About what? About the complex relationship of a woman lawyer with a kleptomaniac sister, a psychiatrist mistress and her own deep archetypes. The script was based on a book by psychoanalyst Louise Kaplan. The scientific work is devoted to the roles that women play in modern society, and the pain that sometimes causes the performance of these roles.
What for? To look into unconscious fantasies and understand how much masculine and how much feminine we are, and how well these sides of our personality fit together, as well as with the circumstances in which we operate.
Quote: “Ever since I was a girl, I’ve dreamed of becoming a judge so that I can wear this long black robe… and not wear underwear.”
Directed by: Susan Streitfield.
Starring Tilda Swinton.