When one sees a film labeled with an NC-17 rating, several strange connotations come to mind, connotations that don’t necessarily reflect fairly on the movies themselves. For one, many come into the theater expecting to be shocked by something in this movie; after all, this isn’t just some lame torture-porn, R-rated movie, this is an NC-17 movie! Many times the source of this “shock” in the film comes in the form of an increased amount of sexuality and nudity (which is clearly more damaging to younger viewers than “Hostel”), and this has given NC-17 films an unfortunate hook for the audience. Thanks largely to the commercial success of movies like “Showgirls,” many people think that NC-17 films are a place to see naked actors and actresses on a large screen in a place that is not as shady or embarrassing as a dirty movie theater.
Well, hopefully this column might dispel some of the unfortunate views on these films. While it’s true that these movies do contain “ gratuitous” nudity, here is a list of three films that are not only spectacular examples of film making but also fully embrace their NC-17 rating to produce fascinating films for adults.
“Midnight Cowboy” (1969): Although it was later re-released as an R-rated film, “Midnight Cowboy” broke ground when it was released and to date is still the only X-rated film (what they called it before deciding to switch to the more boring NC-17) to win best picture at the Oscars. The film tells the story of an ambitious young Texan named Joe Buck (played by Jon Voight in an Academy Award nominated performance) as he leaves his rural home and travels to New York with the aim of becoming the best male hustler around. There he meets the scuzzy conman Enrico “Ratso” Rizzo (Dustin Hoffman in another Oscar nominated performance—notice a trend?) and together the two of them slowly realize that the dream of making it big in the city isn’t so easy after all.
Poverty, sickness and desperation soon get the best of them, and it’s in these moments where the film fully embraces its X rating. As Joe becomes more and more desperate to try and survive, the film becomes almost hard to watch, as his sunny idealism that pervaded the earlier part of the film slowly disappears into the unsympathetic and more realistic life of a New York prostitute. While it’s definitely not a date movie (not many of those here) the film’s riveting performances and direction unflinchingly invert the American dream of making it in the big city.
Fun fact: The famous line “I’m walkin’ here!” is from this movie and it was completely ad-libbed when a taxi driver ignored the signs, drove on to the set and almost hit Dustin Hoffman.
“The Dreamers” (2003): Bernardo Bertolucci’s film is a celebration of the 1960s, Paris and, most importantly, of film. The movie tells the story of a young American named Matthew who, while studying abroad in Paris in the summer of 1968, meets an eccentric pair of twins named Isabelle and Theo during the student riots that went on during that time. All three share a passion for film and they soon become fast friends, to the point where Matthew is invited to spend the month in their apartment in the heart of Paris. Here they exchange differing views on music, politics and, of course, film, all while participating in the “free love” that was so popular during the ’60s.
However, as the riots start to get more out of hand, Matthew tries to shake the twins out of their delusional world view and force them to question their taboo sexual relationship and realize that just talking about world issues won’t solve anything. Bertolucci’s film is a love letter to the ’60s, capturing perfectly the wonder and naivete that pervaded the idealism of the time. More apparent though is the love for cinema that is resplendent throughout the movie. Oftentimes the characters act out famous film scenes, and Bertolucci intercuts these scenes with clips the movies themselves to give the audience an insight into the minds of these characters. A must see for any movie fan.
Fun Fact: This is Eva Green’s screen debut, and she is stunning in every sense of the word.
“Shame” (2011): Last but not least, my favorite film on the list, Steve McQueen’s “Shame” tells the harrowing story of a New York City sex addict whose world is disrupted when his needy sister is forced to stay with him. I’ll be blunt, Michael Fassbender gives one of the best performances I have ever seen in this film, and the Academy not nominating him this year was one of the biggest Oscar snubs ever. The performance, like the film, is all about subtlety, as we see Fassbender’s character Brandon’s world slowly crumble all around him as he sinks deeper and deeper into desperation. Sure, it may be slow at some parts, but that’s because it establishes the monotony of Brandon’s daily life, with Fassbender acting the hell out of every scene with the most subtle of facial expressions.
At the end of the film we’re left with another tragic tale of addiction and desperation in New York City, a fitting conclusion to a list started by “Midnight Cowboy.” If you appreciate good acting this is a must see, as Fassbender bears it all in this movie (literally; queue the George Clooney joke about Fassbender’s future career in hands-free golf told at last year’s Golden Globes).
