STACK NZ Jun #63

FEATURE

DVD & BD

THINK KINK The Divinyls declared there’s "a fine line between pleasure and pain”. These four films dare to explore it.

9 ½ WEEKS Businessman Mickey Rourke dominates art gallery assistant Kim Basinger in Flashdance director Adrian Lyne’s ‘80s erotic drama. He blindfolds her and feeds her stuff from the fridge; she dances seductively to Joe Cocker’s You Can Leave Your Hat On .

What was it that surprised you about the book? I was very, very vaguely and naively aware of the BDSM subculture. I do not want to say I am well versed in the subject now, but I know more about it. But I did not know how massive it was. It is becoming bigger and people are becoming more aware of it. I also learned a lot more about the psychology of it… The biggest thing that it boils down to is the gain or the release of control. Of course it was awkward and embarrassing at times. It is not easy to do sex scenes. I am sure everybody says that. At first it is scary. But the set is closed, there aren’t many people, and Sam had created such a safe, protective environment. We tried to strip away all of the anxiety of what we were doing, to really master the art of these scenes… The biggest thing was that we did not want it to look like you were accidently watching people have sex. For the viewer, it is supposed to be a sensual environment, like you were How difficult was it to shoot?Was it ever awkward or embarrassing?

SECRETARY “Mr. Grey will see you now.” Lawyer Edward Grey (James Spader) that is, whose new secretary (Maggie Gyllenhaal) discovers her job description includes being spanked whilst reading letters aloud.

How did you find the right tone for the movie?Was that a difficult thing to maintain throughout the shoot? No. I actually think that Sam Taylor-Johnson and (DOP) Seamus McGarvey did an incredible job with that. They understood how private these moments are. You do not feel wrong when you watch it. You do not feel dirty. You feel protected. Seamus is such an incredible director of photography that the way that these scenes are shot they are really just beautiful. They are very elegant. They are very classy. So I do not think they were worried about it. I think that if they were, they probably would not have done the movie.

MAITRESSE A young Gerard Depardieu learns the, er, ropes of the BDSM scene after he breaks into the home of a professional dominatrix. This 1975 French flick features some rather painful practices – some of which are definitely not simulated. Bring out the gimp!

What is your ideal love story?

watching this story in your imagination and how you would see these scenes.

My favourite love story is Harold and Maude (1971).

Fifty Shades of Grey is out on June 10

NYMPHOMANIAC In Lars von Trier’s episodic arthouse-porn epic, sex addict Charlotte Gainsbourg enlists the services of sadomasochist Jamie Bell, whose tools of the trade include a spanking glove filled with coins. Ouch!

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