Sex in Cinema: Greatest and Most Influential Erotic / Sexual Films and Scenes

Sex in Cinema: In the following collection, excerpted from the Mini-History of Sex in the Cinema at this site, here are some of the most significant milestones, and most influential and memorable sexual/erotic scenes and films on the big screen through cinematic history. Most of these films, with portrayals of sex and/or nudity, were considered quite erotic, groundbreaking, unique and/or controversial at the time.

Sex in Cinema: In the following collection, excerpted from the Mini-History of Sex in the Cinema at this site, here are some of the most significant milestones, and most influential and memorable sexual/erotic scenes and films on the big screen through cinematic history. Most of these films, with portrayals of sex and/or nudity, were considered quite erotic, groundbreaking, unique and/or controversial at the time. HISTORY OF SEX IN CINEMA - INDEX (chronological by film title) Intro \| Part 1 \| Part 2 \| Part 3 \| Part 4 \| Part 5 \| Part 6 \| Part 7 \| Part 8 \| Part 9 \| Part 10 \| Part 11 \| Part 12 \| Part 13 \| Part 14 \| Part 15 \| Part 16 \| Part 17 \| Part 18 \| Part 19 \| Part 20 \| Part 21 \| Part 22 \| Part 23 \| Part 24 \| Part 25 \| Part 26 \| Part 27 \| Part 28 \| Part 29 \| Part 30 \| Part 31 \| Part 32 \| Part 33 \| Part 34 \| Part 35 \| Part 36 \| Part 37 \| Part 38 \| Part 39 \| Part 40 \| Part 41 \| Part 42 \| Part 43 \| Part 44 \| Part 45 \| Part 46 \| Part 47 \| Part 48 \| Part 49 \| Part 50 \|
Sex in Cinema: Part 42 Greatest and Most Influential Erotic / Sexual Films and Scenes (chronological by film title) Milestone Films With Scenes That Were Especially Notorious, Infamous, Controversial, or Scandalous
Movie Title	Brief Scene Description	Example
Lawn Dogs (1997)	Actress Angie Harmon, who later achieved recognition for her serious legal aide role in TV's Law and Order, appeared in this John Duigan-directed drama as neighborhood Pam; in one scene, she was interrupted during love-making with 21 year-old, trailer-dwelling lawn cutter and loner Trent Burns (Sam Rockwell), employed as a lawn cutter in the affluent but rural suburban Kentucky neighborhood of Camelot Gardens, by a noise at his trailer window caused by 10 year-old precocious neighbor girl and Trent's kindred spirit Devon Stockard (Mischa Barton in her feature film debut role); in another scene, Devon reacted to her mother Clare's (Kathleen Quinlan) sexual encounter with a fraternity-college kid by urinating on her father's car windshield, and by removing her nightgown on her roof and howling wildly at the moon; also, Trent blocked traffic when he stopped on a one lane bridge, stripped naked (with full-frontal nudity) and then gracefully dove (with flips) into the river, and in a slightly controversial scene, Devon (in a non-sexual scene) opened her shirt to show Trent her long pace-maker surgery scar and have him touch it
Liar, Liar (1997)	In this major comedy vehicle starring Jim Carrey as lawyer Fletcher Reede, his son Max's birthday wish came true -- his father could not tell a lie for 24 hours; in a memorable elevator scene, he shared the enclosed space between floors with a big-busted, newly-hired office worker (Krista Allen) who told him: "Everybody's been real nice"; uncontrollably and in uninhibited truthful fashion (expressing what most men would be thinking in the same situation), he blurted out: "It must be because you have big jugs, I mean, your boobs are huge, I mean, I wanna squeeze 'em. Mama! (with sucking noises from his mouth)"; she slapped him before the doors opened on the next floor; keeping more true to her exhibitionist nature, model and 2000-2001 Baywatch star Krista Allen had already appeared nude as the title character in a number of soft-core 1994 Emmanuelle in Space made-for-TV films at the beginning of her film career, including Emmanuelle: First Contact, Emmanuelle: A World of Desire, Emmanuelle 3: A Lesson in Love, Emmanuelle 4: Concealed Fantasy, Emmanuelle 5: A Time to Dream, Emmanuelle 6: One Last Fling, and Emmanuelle 7: The Meaning of Love	Liar, Liar (1997) Emmanuelle 3: A Lesson in Love (1994)
Live Flesh (1997, Sp.) (aka Carne Trémula)	Writer/director Pedro Almodovar's crime film and twisted story of passion and vindictive romance between five individuals was loosely based on Ruth Rendell's book "Live Flesh"; it told of prostitute Isabel Plaza Caballero's (Penelope Cruz) son named Victor (Liberto Rabal) and his obsession over a period of years with drug-using hooker Elena (Francesca Neri); after serving a prison term for shooting (?) and paralyzing a clean-cut, handsome cop named David (Javier Bardem), Victor entered into a 'teach-me-about-sex' affair with experienced and promiscuous Clara (Angelina Molina) - the wife of David's abusive and psychotic cop-buddy Sancho (Jose Sancho) while David married Elena (who could only be satisfied through oral sex) - in the meantime, sexually-obsessed Victor was stalking Elena while working at her orphanage for disadvantaged children; in the end, Victor was given one pleasurable night of intertwining passion with Elena, but violence ensued: Sancho shot and killed Clara, Clara wounded Sancho, and Sancho killed himself
Lolita (1997)	Director Adrian Lyne's controversial version of Vladimir Nabokov's novel told about a young nymphet (14 year-old Dominique Swain) and an obsessed professor named Humbert Humbert (Jeremy Irons); the first view of Lolita was in the garden where a lawn sprinkler soaked her pale sundress; in one very controversial love-making scene in a hotel, they slept in the same bed and she wet-kissed him on the mouth after having showed him "everything" -- during the fade-out, Humbert explained in voice-over: "Gentlewomen of the jury, I was not even her first lover"; in another scene, Lolita nuzzled next to his crotch and inched her hand up his inner thigh when she asked him for a $2 allowance; in the film's most provocative scene, Lolita rocked pleasurably on Humbert's lap while reading the newspaper comic pages; due to its subject matter and young star, it faced obstacles to theatrical release in the US; it was produced on the heels of the Child Pornography Prevention Act of 1996 and the murder of 6 year-old JonBenet Ramsey (publicized as being a beauty pageant contestant); cuts were demanded to bring the film into conformity with the 1996 law; after it failed to get a distributor for an American theatrical release, for its aberrant, still-taboo and touchy topic of underage sexuality and incestual pedophilia, it was eventually bought by Showtime cable for viewing - which showed it on August 2, 1998, after which its video rights were purchased by Blockbuster in early 1999, followed by a limited US theatrical run (to qualify for Academy Awards consideration); however, since Blockbuster refused to rent NC-17 films -- it could only be seen in a heavily-censored version differing from the European release version or the cable version; it was originally filmed by Stanley Kubrick in 1961
Lost Highway (1997)	David Lynch's cryptic, non-linear film about double lives included many steamy sex scenes performed by Patricia Arquette (in a dual role as hip, brunette LA goth wife Renee Madison and washed-out blonde gun moll Alice Wakefield) with two other characters: jazz musician/accused death row murderer Fred Madison (Bill Pullman) and Peter Raymond Dayton (Balthazar Getty) respectively (in a confusing identity switch); when Pete seemingly appeared to finally realize his passion for Alice - lying naked together in the desert and lit by the car's headlights while making love, he told her: "I want you", and she whispered in his ear: "You'll never have me"; there was also a disturbing, dialogue-less scene in which mobster Dick Laurent/"Mr. Eddy" (Robert Loggia) forcibly had her strip in front of him at gunpoint
Open Your Eyes (Abre Los Ojos) (1997, Sp./It./Fr.) and Vanilla Sky (2001)	Spanish director Alejandro Amenabar's surreal, psychological suspense film was compared to Hitchcock's Vertigo (1958); it starred Penelope Cruz as gorgeous Sofia, who performed a bold, topless love-making scene with handsome but disfigured lothario Cesar (Eduardo Noriega); the film was remade by Cameron Crowe in 2001, starring Cruz in another similar nude scene with real-life lover (at the time) Tom Cruise	Open Your Eyes (1997) Vanilla Sky (2001)
Poison Ivy 3: The New Seduction (1997)	This erotic thriller was the third in a long series of 'Poison Ivy' films -- this time with Violet (Jaime Pressly in her feature film debut), Ivy's evil and manipulative younger temptress sister, regularly seducing anyone, including her best friend Joy's (Megan Edwards) boyfriend Michael (Greg Vaughn) and divorced head of household father Ivan Greer (Michael Des Barres); in a succession of sexy scenes, she reclined in a bathtub, went swimming topless (slow-motion) in a shiny gold thong bikini in an outdoor pool, then later after a night swim - poured champagne over herself to get attention, and had another disrobing scene in red thong underwear; the first two films in the profitable series were Poison Ivy II: Lily (1995) with Alyssa Milano, and Poison Ivy (1992) with Drew Barrymore
Preaching to the Perverted (1997, UK)	Writer/director Stuart Urban's R-rated dark comedy-drama (his debut film) told about young and innocent British government intern Peter Emery (Christien Anholt), a computer buff dispatched by a Christian right group called the United Front Opposing Filth, who investigated the world of London's S&M undercover (with a concealed camera); during which time he became obsessed with New York sex goddess and fetish dominatrix Tanya Cheex (lesbian actress Guinevere Turner) in the underground sex club named House of Thwax (who in one scene invited fetishists on-stage: "Volunteers - Approach the altar"); he tried to persuade her to go straight, while she ended up perverting him ("One day, I'm going to give you such a spanking"); the end credits listed nipple and tongue doubles for Turner, who also confessed that modest members of the cast wore a flesh-colored G-string with fake pubic hair (a muff-wig, pubic wig, or merkin)
Private Parts (1997)	Betty Thomas' controversial comedy-drama was a quasi-autobiographical account of "Shock Jock" Howard Stern's rise to stardom as the self-crowned "King of All Media" - it was based upon his best-selling book in 1993; it followed him from his early days as a geek and his marriage to Alison (Mary McCormack) to his uncensored, scatological fame as a DJ on NY morning radio; it included the infamous scene of a female listener being sexually stimulated by the vibrating bass sounds of her speaker, and a voyeuristic scene of an on-air massage from buxom porn star Jenna Jameson in a cameo appearance; the film contained both profanity and nudity - and therefore was censored/edited for various network/TV broadcasts
Starship Troopers (1997)	Paul Verhoeven's science-fiction film included an infamous uni-sex shower scene with male and female soldiers (including Tami-Adrian George as D'jana and Dina Meyer as tomboyish Dizzy Flores) sharing the same open shower stalls at boot camp; some critics accused the film of gratuitous nudity (female breast nudity and partially-veiled male frontal nudity), although it was of a non-sexual nature; in the scene, the camera showed various grunts talking about their "excuse" for joining up with the futuristic 23rd Century Mobile Infantry while soaping up and rinsing off
Titanic (1997)	James Cameron's romance epic about the cruise ship's demise in 1912 was one of the biggest blockbusters of all time and a Best Picture Oscar winner; it told a flashback story about the discovery of a nude sketch and a 56-carat diamond necklace; the setting for the drawing was later realized with a younger Rose DeWitt Bukater (Kate Winslet) - a society rich girl who posed naked (wearing only the blue diamond necklace) for poor boy Jack Dawson (Leonardo DiCaprio); some versions of the film (the TV network version and others) edited out or modified this brief nude scene; also, in the stereotypical 'make-out' scene in the back seat of a car onboard between the couple (with significant class differences), Jack first asked Rose: "Where to, Miss?" (pretending to be a chauffeur), and responded: "To the stars" -- this was soon communicated with a hand reaching out toward and sliding down the steamed up window (in ecstasy?)
Two Girls and a Guy (1997)	Writer/director James Toback's dark ensemble psycho-drama about love, dishonesty and infidelity was about "two girls" in love with the same "guy"; this R-rated adult-oriented film included a dimly-lit, silhouetted hot seduction scene (an impromptu exchange of oral sex between two semi-clothed, non-nude individuals) in the bedroom of the trendy SoHo Manhattan apartment of struggling, two-timing actor Blake Allen (Robert Downey, Jr.) with one of his two girlfriends - angel-faced blonde Carla Bennett (Heather Graham) while punkish Louise or "Lou" (Natasha Gregson Wagner) sat outside the door -- the scene was trimmed by 45 seconds to comply with censorship regulations and to escape an NC-17 rating
Under the Skin (1997, UK)	Writer/director Carine Adler's debut film (with the tagline: "her passion was undeniable") told about the rivalry between two bereaving sisters: married and pregnant 24 year-old Rose Kelly (Claire Rushbrook) and younger, wilder and more temperamental 19 year-old Iris (Samantha Morton in her feature film debut); when their beloved mother (Rita Tushingham) died from a terminal illness, the unstable and waiflike Iris, who had broken up with her steady boyfriend Gary (Matthew Delamere) and quit her job, sought comfort through promiscuous sexual and physical gratification while grieving over the overwhelming emotional loss of her Mum; as she disintegrated, she engaged in dispassionate and casual one-night-stand hookups with various objectified and dangerous men, including Tom (Stuart Townsend), while sometimes dressing slutty by wearing her mother's wig and rabbit-fur coat and pink sunglasses, or by engaging in masturbation and phone sex - her sexual encounters were described in her own voice-over; in the film's opening, Iris drew with a black marker pen on her naked abdomen; in another scene, the interconnections between sex and death were emphasized by the cross-cutting between a sex pickup (with the kissing of her breasts and stomach) and the burning of the mother's casket
The Wings of the Dove (1997, UK)	Director Iain Softley's British romantic costume drama, based on the 1902 Henry James novel, was a story of forbidden and tormented love, deceptive loyalties and friendship, betrayal, deceit and vigorous sex -- in a secret affair at the turn of the century in Venice; young, desirous, and high-class society woman Kate Croy (Helena Bonham Carter) was threatened with loss of her inheritance and impoverishment by entering into a relationship with poor, working-class journalist Merton Densher (Linus Roache); further complications were provided by a third individual - terminally-ill American heiress Millie Theale (Alison Elliot), who was set up with Merton by the scheming, exploitative, and cynical Kate in order to inherit the woman's fortune upon her death; after the inevitable death occurred, shame and guilt-filled Merton suggested to Kate that they renounce their claims to the ill-acquired wealth; in a scene played with the two stripped nude as they made love (but did not complete the act as she turned away) in his shabby London apartment, the couple discussed their plight; Kate rightly suspected that Merton was still in love with the memory of Millie and therefore couldn't marry her
B. Monkey (1998, UK/US)	Miramax's little-seen crime and romance thriller by director Michael Radford (his follow-up film to Il Postino (1994)) was taglined: "Angel By Day, Armed & Dangerous By Night"; it starred tattooed actress Asia Argento (the daughter of Italy's horror film master Dario Argento), frequently completely naked, as Beatrice (colloquially known as B. Monkey) - an Italian jewel thief practicing her trade in London who uncharacteristically fell in love with a middle-class elementary school teacher (and hospital PA system jazz DJ) named Alan (Jared Harris), while still partners-in-crime with gay couple Paul (Rupert Everett) and Bruno (Jonathan Rhys Meyers); she straddled two worlds while being sexually attracted to the mild-mannered teacher (who became impotent the first time she proposed making love); even after being recut and reshot, the Miramax film - a cross between Jonathan Demme's Something Wild (1986) and Tony Scott's True Romance (1993), did very poorly at the box-office
Edge of Seventeen (1998)	Director David Moreton's (debut feature film) and screenwriter Todd Stephens' semi-autobiographical, unrated, nostalgic gay coming-of-age arthouse film was set in 1984 in Sandusky, Ohio; it told about the sexual initiation and evolution of nerdy, naive 17 year-old high school senior Eric Hunter (Chris Stafford) - especially in regards to his relationship with flirty amusement-park Grub Wagon fast-food restaurant coworker Rod (Andersen Gabrych), a bleached-blonde, openly gay Ohio State college student; in a very frank and explicit scene set in a motel, Eric experienced sexual awakening through an awkward and clumsy physical coupling with Rod and then was left after their quick one-night stand and summer fling; even after discovering his gayness, Eric pursued an unsatisfying romantic relationship with his best female friend Maggie (Tina Holmes) and eventually "came out," frequented the local gay bar, and changed his physical appearance with bleached hair, mascara, and an androgynous look
Gia (1998)	Director Michael Cristofer's provocative HBO made-for-cable TV to video film was a dramatic biopic about one of the first US supermodels whose tragic career rose and swiftly fell with her 1986 death at the age of 26 due to AIDS; it included passionate lesbian love games between doomed, wild, self-destructive, Philadelphia-born, bi-sexual cover girl Gia Maria Carangi (Golden Globe award-winning Angelina Jolie) and photographer's assistant make-up artist Linda (Elizabeth Mitchell); there was a subtly provocative scene in which Gia wore her boyfriend's briefs underwear; there was also a daring, naked fashion-shoot behind a chain-link fence, a naked full-body sensual kissing sequence, and a shared shower scene between the two; after being together, a fully nude Gia the next morning attempted to stop Linda from leaving and pursued her into the hallway naked; the film was released in various versions, including an unrated one (with an additional six minutes of sexually explict footage)