I Want Your Sex joins a small list of films I expected to loathe, which managed to overturn my expectations. The list of movies that have been massive disappointments would be much longer, but one can’t keep writing about contemporary cinema without a full tank of optimism.
Reflecting on that minor but hardy genre, the sex comedy, the first thing that springs to mind are the ‘nudge, nudge, wink, wink’ films Britain churned out in the 60s and 70s. The Carry On or Confessions movies were a perpetual, populist festival of smutty gags and risqué scenarios. Australia had its moment too, with films such as Alvin Purple (1973) and a string of features that followed the introduction of the ‘R’ rating in 1970.
It’s hard to know what a director needs to do to earn an R rating today. We have become blasé about sex, nudity and other topics that used to ruffle the censors, while being morally outraged at anything deemed sexist or racist. Such strictures virtually eliminate the frivolous sex comedies of the 1970s which have been relegated to the cinema’s vault of shame. The paradox is that so many recent movies featuring actual sex or appalling sexual violence are critically acclaimed. It may not be coincidental that some of the most gruesome examples are by female directors such as Catherine Breillat.