As actors from Jane Fonda to Rose McGowan describe being gawped at naked for hours on end, this astonishing documentary shares horror stories about sex scenes – then shows the way to a sexier future
For all the moans of pleasure and beautiful writhing bodies, Sex on Screen is frequently hard to watch. From its first moments, which recreate preparations for a sex scene on a film set, the tension is palpable. This is made all the more stressful by interviews with actors including Jane Fonda and Rose McGowan, who asks us to imagine the dehumanising experience of spending hours “out there while men in parkas are staring at you with no shirt on”. But what makes Kristy Guevara-Flanagan’s documentary so remarkable is its steadfastly non-puritanical approach. Despite the horror stories, many actors and filmmakers remain enthusiastic about depicting intimacy and shaking up representations of desire.
Storyville’s latest film looks at sex on screen, from the photographer Eadweard Muybridge’s 19th-century studies of motion to the current series of the Sex Lives of College Girls, and doesn’t shy away from the dark side of its history. And to convincingly argue for sex-positive systemic change rather than a broad reimplementation of the censorious Hays code, the documentary leaves no stone unturned. It explores not only on-set behaviour but the effect on gender politics of sex on screen; the objectification of body doubles and women of colour; and (delightfully) the intricate artistry of constructing merkins.
