SCENES OF A SEXUAL NATURE

I came across this delightful quintessentially English movie from 2006 that is a series of vignettes of some gentle romantic encounters that is a perfect alternative to the overblown commercialism of ‘THE Wedding’ today.  Set on one sunny day on glorious Hampstead Heath (London’s ‘Central Park’) it follows the minute detail of seven very different couples whose single stories really don’t link or overlap, but who share the recurring theme of trying to establish what makes a relationship work in their pursuit of love. Some seek it, some need it, some spurn it & some pay for it, but we’re all involved in it.

OK, so the eye catching title is ‘borrowed’ from the warning shown before an ‘adult’ movie trailer and is a misnomer as there is in fact no-sex at all.  But there is a lot of joy, laughter, wonderful wry Brit humor, almost some tears, and even a bit of lust.  However what makes it a compelling treat is the superb writing and a first rate big name cast that such wee indie films never ever attract.   So intriguing in fact that for once I actually sat through the whole Extras section on the DVD to discover the fascinating story behind the movie.

This first time director and first time screenwriter came up with the initial idea and planned it so that all the action took place in one day, in one outside location which would need no set build whatsoever, and could be shot over 10 days so that any actor could do their part in 2 days without disrupting their usual high powered schedules. And all to be done with THE tiniest budget in the world. With extraordinary luck they secured a stellar cast of award winning actors such as Ewan McGregor, Eileen Atkins, Hugh Bonneville, Sophie Okinedo, Adrian Lester, Mark Strong, Catherine Tate, Douglas Hodge, Benjamin Whitrow etc who all did it for Equity Minimum and a sheer love of the project itself.   The Producers turned it into the most successful self-distributed movie of the year, before Sony brought out the DVD.  All fascinating stuff.

It never made it the US BUT it is now available on Netflix.

I will fess up that it wasn’t just my anti-wedding mood that led me to this delightful discovery, but the fact that the cast included Tom Hardy, who’s fan club I am desperate to join for all the wrong reasons. I first really noticed him in his breakthrough role in ‘Inception’  …. a movie that I watched but never blogged as it literally bored me to sleep …. but amongst this over-hyped over-produced monster of a movie, there was Mr. Hardy shining so bright.  I checked him out on IMDB and I must say that if I knew it was him in the leading role in the horrifically violent prison-drama/biopic  ‘Bronson’ I would have never had missed it.  It’s now firmly  next on my list.  Be warned: the next several blogs will most likely be on the collected works on Mr. H.

Meanwhile enjoy this wonderfully subtle movie where nothing really happens BUT everything that really matters, does.