NEW YORK (AP) 鈥� Ira Sachs never set out to make an NC-17-rated film.
The New York-based, 57-year-old filmmaker of sharply observed independent films ( 鈥淟ittle Men鈥� ) was compelled to create, as he says, 鈥渁 film of intimacy.鈥� 鈥淧补蝉蝉补驳别蝉,鈥� Sachs' ninth feature, would be his first film coming out of the pandemic and he craved a closeness and tenderness that had been missing from both life and American movies.
鈥淚 really wanted to make a horny film,鈥� Sachs said in a recent interview from Spain, where he was receiving an award. 鈥淟ike, a film that gave pleasure and was about pleasure. And part of that pleasure is about sex but also the pleasure of cinema. Color and light and texture and skin and bodies. They鈥檙e all these things that cinema can activate different than any other art form.鈥�
which opens in New York and Los Angeles theaters Friday and expands afterward, stars the heralded young German actor Franz Rogowski as Tomas, a Paris-based filmmaker who recklessly embarks on a romance with a French schoolteacher Agatha (Ad猫le Exarchapoulos), wrecking his relationship with his husband, Martin (Ben Whishaw).
鈥淚 had sex with a woman,鈥� Tomas tells Martin the morning after meeting Agatha in a nightclub. 鈥淐an I tell you about it please?"
Tomas鈥� instinctual but reckless actions cause havoc with the hearts of all three. The triangle evolves in fleshy and emotional detail, tracking their evolutions of attraction, love, sex, dependence and exasperation. Desire and passion plays a central role 鈥� most would say a highly realistic one 鈥� in the characters' lives and in the fabric of Sachs' sexy, messy and brutally honest drama.
Though nothing graphic is ever shown, the lingering lovemaking scenes 鈥� particularly one between Tomas and Martin 鈥� led the Motion Picture Association to slap 鈥淧assages鈥� with its highest rating. An NC-17 rating precludes anyone under 17 from being admitted, with or without a parent of guardian. Sachs is highly critical of the decision, calling it homophobic, outdated and disconnected from the essence of his film.
鈥淲hat concerns me is the warning shot a rating like that gives to other filmmaker about what images will be allowed without punishment,鈥� Sachs says.
鈥淭he censorship of queer images exists from top to bottom,鈥� he adds. 鈥淚t鈥檚 not just the MPA. It鈥檚 also what films are financed, what films are supported by festivals, what films get bought, what films get shown. So I think the system is one of limits. And I feel grateful that I was able to make a film outside of those limits.鈥�
The arthouse distributor , which acquired 鈥淧assages鈥� after its acclaimed premiere at the Sundance Film Festival, rejected the NC-17 label and is instead releasing 鈥淧assages鈥� as 鈥渦nrated.鈥�
The MPA says its Classification and Rating Administration simply rates movies based on 鈥渨hat happens on screen and how it is depicted."
鈥淭he sexual orientation of a character or characters is not considered as part of the rating process,鈥� an MPA spokesperson said in a statement.
NC-17 ratings are rarely applied. Last year鈥檚 Marilyn Monroe biopic 鈥淏londe,鈥� on Netflix, for earning such a rating. Some films elect to keep it while others are instead distributed without a rating. Ratings battles can help gin up publicity, but an unrated or NC-17 film is also closed off of screening or advertising in numerous places.
For Sachs, 鈥淧assages鈥� harkens back to an older, mostly European approach to filmmaking. Sachs, son of was born in Memphis, Tennessee but considers French films 鈥渕y cousins and my aunts and my uncles.鈥� While writing 鈥淧assages鈥� he watched Chantel Akerman鈥檚 鈥淛e Tue Il Elle" (1974), Luchino Visconti鈥檚 鈥淭he Innocent鈥� (1976) and Frank Ripploh鈥檚 鈥淭axi zum Klo" (1981).
鈥淵ou have to go back in time to remember what you have permission to shoot,鈥� says Sachs.
"We live in a repressed culture,鈥� the director adds. 鈥淵ou can鈥檛 be fully outside of that culture, but you can remind yourself that there are there are doorways that you can walk through that take you somewhere else.鈥�
A portal to 鈥淧assages鈥� was Rogowski, the soulful, beguiling screen presence of Christian Petzold鈥檚 鈥淭ransit鈥� (2018) and Terrence Malick鈥檚 鈥淎 Hidden Life" (2019). After Sachs saw him in Michael Haneke鈥檚 鈥淗appy End" (2017), he says, 鈥淚 was turned on." Sachs wrote 鈥淧assages鈥� with Rogowski in mind.
Sachs, whose 2014 film 鈥淟ove Is Strange鈥� starred John Lithgow and Alfred Molina as a longtime couple who decide to wed, often makes films crammed with autobiography. Tomas, he grants, has many similarities with himself. (The film Tomas is shooting is titled 鈥淧assages.鈥�) The overarching theme of Sachs' work, he says, is an attempt to 鈥渢ake a look at myself and the role I play in life and try to understand the ways in which I can be dangerous to others."
鈥淭omas has a hard time being his own friend and that often makes him not see his partner鈥檚 needs or other people鈥檚 boundaries,鈥� Rogowski says. 鈥淥nce I understood that, it was a lot of fun to create all this chaos and inflict so much fictional pain on fictional characters.鈥�
A key aspect to 鈥淧补蝉蝉补驳别蝉,鈥� Rogowski notes, is its humor. In one memorable sequence 鈥� an all-time meet-the-parents scene 鈥� Tomas returns straight from a night with Martin to Agatha's apartment. He's still wearing a sheer black mesh top when he belatedly sits down to meet Agatha鈥檚 father and mother.
鈥淚t鈥檚 not just a narcissist causing trouble,鈥� says Rogowski. 鈥淚t鈥檚 also a very funny costume party.鈥�
Rogowski likewise finds the NC-17 rating absurd. Anyone over the age of 12, he says, knows about sex. 鈥淛ust have fun on Google for five minutes and you know how it works," he jokes.
鈥淚t鈥檚 weird that you can see brains exploding in action movies but you cannot see two men having sex. It鈥檚 absurd to me and also a little bit sad,鈥� Rogowski adds. 鈥淭hese ratings to me don鈥檛 feel like they鈥檙e protecting younger audiences. To me, they feel like they鈥檙e protecting the values of very old people.鈥�
Nevertheless, 鈥淧assages" is now branded as something illicit and daring despite being, as Sachs says, 鈥渁 film about real people doing real things.鈥� But that may be enough to make it exceptional.
鈥淚t鈥檚 a provocation in a certain way,鈥� says Sachs. "But less because I think I鈥檓 doing anything at all radical."
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Jake Coyle, The Associated Press
