Over a decade ago now, a graphic film released that’s still widely talked about today.
With its ‘severe’ unsimulated sex scenes, Nymphomaniac: Vol 1 is regularly warned over by its viewers because it’s, well, rather full on.
Starring Shia LaBeouf, Mia Goth, Stellan Skarsgård, Uma Thurman and Willem Dafoe, it’s one of the provocative works of the infamous filmmaker Lars von Trier.
Charlotte Gainsbourg has been in a number of his films and played the ‘sex-obsessed’ Joe as Nymphomaniac follows her erotic life from birth to the age of 18.
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And she opened up about what starring in the graphic film was really like as she featured in various brutal and shocking scenes. Even LaBeouf admitted he was ‘terrified’ to shoot the film with what viewers describe as a ‘near absurd level of extreme sexual content’.
While the Nymphomaniac that is most widely available comes in at just under two hours, a full director’s cut lasts five and a half hours and Gainsbourg prefers that version.
“That's the first one I saw. To me, it's really Lars' film. It's his taste and his rhythm and everything he worked for,” she told The Independent.
But the star was clear that she did not find the film’s sex ‘shocking at all’.
“It's necessary for that story; that's what we need to see,” Gainsbourg explained. “I saw a lot of beauty inside the brutality and inside the crudeness of the sex he's showing."
Although, that doesn’t exactly mean it was a breeze to film as she was still ‘recoiling’ at the thought of some of Nymphomaniac’s scenes.
“It was so embarrassing to perform," the Antichrist actor added. "I wanted to do it, but at the same time I wanted to hide."
How were the ‘unsimulated’ sex scenes really filmed?
As Rotten Tomatoes users warn, the film is ‘not for all tastes’ and you ‘have to WANT to see it’ rather than just randomly throw it on. Mostly, it really is the sex scenes you need to be prepped for.
And at the time, many people believed it was the actors performing unsimulated sex. LaBeouf didn’t quite help with this as he claimed to MTV previously: “There’s a disclaimer at the top of the script that basically says, we’re doing [the sex] for real.
“And anything that is ‘illegal’ will be shot in blurred images, but other than that, everything is happening.”
However, it’s not quite as it appears as body doubles were used to digitally impose over the actors.
Film producer Louise Vesth previously told The Hollywood Reporter: “We shot the actors pretending to have sex and then had the body doubles, who really did have sex, and in post (production) we will digital-impose the two.
“So above the waist it will be the star and then below the waist it will be the doubles.”
Other movies where actors have actual unsimulated sex in them
While some films carefully craft scenes just for the camera, others go all the way and feature unsimulated sex scenes.
Antichrist (2009)
Starring Willem Dafoe and Gainsbourg, Antichrist follows a couple who carry out acts of sexual behaviour and sadomasochism when they initially sought safety in a cabin.
With the main theme of religion as its backdrop, the actors are replaced with body doubles and have intercourse by a dead tree, where bodies are kept in the exposed roots - making for a very uneasy watch.
The Brown Bunny (2003)
Vincent Gallo wrote, directed and starred in his 2003 movie The Brown Bunny alongside Chloë Sevigny.
A scene that drew significant controversy at the time shows Sevigny’s character performing unsimulated oral sex on Gallo, something she later dubbed 'very complicated'.
She told Playboy in 2001 that the scene elicited 'a lot of emotions', adding: "I'll probably have to go to therapy at some point."
But Sevigny went on to admit: "But I love Vincent. The film is tragic and beautiful, and I'm proud of it and my performance.
"I'm sad that people think one way of the movie, but what can you do? I've done many explicit sex scenes, but I'm not that interested in doing any more. I'm more self-aware now and wouldn't be able to be as free, so why even do it?"
Love (2015)
Gaspar Noé’s film follows a passionate couple who introduce a third person to their relationship, which they later regret as she becomes pregnant.
Starring Aomi Muyock, Karl Glusman and Klara Kristin as the throuple, it follows the characters as they break up and one is left with the third in a loveless relationship.
The unsimulated sex scenes are pretty shocking and even include a graphic ejaculation scene.
9 Songs (2004)
The flick sees Kieran O'Brien and Margo Stilley take part in a number of sex scenes - something the latter has spoken out about.
Addressing the heavy backlash the 9 Songs received, Stilley told LADbible: "It's a shame that it's been torn apart into these little pieces and bastardised online, to be honest."
Intimacy (2001)
In the 2001 release Intimacy, actors Mark Rylance and Kerry Fox engage in an unsimulated oral sex scene.
Reflecting on the movie, Rylance said it was the 'most difficult job' he's taken on in his career.
He explained: "I was convinced it was a vital story about the difficulties people face finding intimacy in a big city like London.
"Hanif Kureishi's writing couldn't have been more intimate and revealing, but I found the making of the film and the subsequent publicity and personal attacks very, very painful. I wish I hadn't made it."
Meanwhile, Fox claimed it was 'not one of her regrets'.
Topics: Shia LaBeouf, TV and Film
Jess Battison