Hurts So Good: The Best of BDSM Film

It’s no secret that sex sells in Hollywood. The more sensual and wanton the characters appear and the more nudity they’re allowed to get away with tends to help sell the idea of a film to both a studio and a mainstream movie going audience.As conversation surrounding sex and different sexual practices people choose to explore becomes more open in society, the desire to see various sexual relationships reflected back at us through film increases tenfold.

On Friday, Peter Strickland’s The Duke of Burgundy, a film that focuses on the sadomasochistic relationship built between Cynthia (Sidse Babett Knudsen) and Evelyn (Chiara D’Anna), will open in North America. While most films about the complexity required to maintain a mature, respectful, and loving BDSM relationship tend to oversell the sexuality of the intimate coupling and ignore the cherished trust shared between the two participants, some like The Duke of Burgundy, are able to portray it without overzealously satirizing or demeaning it. To celebrate the release of The Duke of Burgundy, here are five other movies centered on BDSM relationships that are worth checking out.

Blue Velvet (1986)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZRhN_XTcuLA

Although not a conventional BDSM relationship, the infamous sex scene between Dorothy Vallens (Isabella Rossellini) and Jeffrey Beaumont (Kyle MacLachlan) where Dorothy begs Jeffrey to hit her in lieu of a more vanilla foreplay session focuses heavily on the masochistic desires prevalent. Director David Lynch captures the chaos of the situation beautifully, floating in and out of frame, and ending the scene with a close up of Vallens lusciously full red lips turned upward in obvious glee when Beaumont does eventually strike her.

The Story of O (1975)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mzxVmh_hGKY

The Story of O may not be an accurate portrayal of BDSM relationships, but those still looking for something sensual after blazing through 50 Shades of Grey will find the next level of kink they’re looking for in Just Jaeckin’s controversial film from 1975. Corrine Clery plays the unruly and insatiable O who on a weekend retreat with her boyfriend is introduced to the world of BDSM. She falls in love, with both the foreign acts and her boyfriend, and steps into the submissive role without a second thought. Weekend activities for the lovely couple include whipping and exhibitionism.

 

Secretary (2002)

Maggie Gyllenhaal plays a woman just released from an institution whose boss (James Spader) decides to engage her in an adrenaline filled sadomasochistic dynamic. In one of the more memorable scenes, where Spader demands Gyllenhaal bend over his desk and read a letter that was sent to him as he starts slapping her from behind, their sexual tension becomes more and more obvious the longer she reads. Like many of the other films, it’s only through her relationship with Spader that she learns about a whole new realm of sexuality she’s interested in exploring.

Topazu (Tokyo Decadence) (1992)

The fourth film from Ryu Murakami (writer behind Audition), Topazu follows a submissive prostitute who’s trying to find the perfect dominant partner while suffering from lecherous clients who don’t understand boundaries. Miho Nikaido does a fantastic job of portraying the sexual frustration and emotional discouragement from dealing with a less than attentive partner while trying to simultaneously break free from the one negative aspect to her sexual lifestyle that is holding her back from experiencing the enlightening positivity it has to offer.

The Piano Teacher (2001)

Perhaps the Fatal Attraction of BDSM movies, The Piano Teacher follows Erika Kohut (Isabelle Hupert), a single piano professor in her 40’s who works through the sexual proclivities she finds herself drawn to: she must either repress them for the sake of her mother, or explore them to the hilt with a 17-year-old student who decides he wants to pursue her. She allows herself to be vulnerable to him, only for him to be repulsed by her desires. The film’s climaxing moment appears when he eventually breaks into her apartment and attacks her in a fashion once described to him by Erika as the type of sexual encounter she’d like to have. Controversial and distant, The Piano Teacher starts off as a movie about sexuality and ends on a note of acceptance and impassioned love.