Vishnu Warrier
Capturing sex scenes in movies in all their beauty, passion and intimacy is not an easy task and many a times they do come off as hilarious and ridiculously blown over-the-top. There are plenty of love making scenes that have been provocative but very few could overwhelm you with a sense of passion and intimacy that can have a lasting impact on you. I have always been fascinated by filmmakers who capture lovemaking scenes at its emotional core, in a way that justifies the dynamics of the relationship between the characters. So with all that said now, here is a list of the top movie sex scenes ever. Note: If you are hoping for 50 Shades of Grey sex scenes then you are looking at the wrong list. Read here.
25. Nine and a Half Weeks (1986)
There is absolutely nothing artistic about the love-making in this movie. It is pure frantic sex between two volatile people. There is nothing that can keep them together if not for the passion they feed of each other. If you are looking for a hot, mad, passionate, crazy sex scene, your search ends right here.
24. Frida (2002)
A lot of other sequences could have held this position, but why does ‘Frida’ make the cut above the rest? Well, it is not the sex scenes that are provocative in the film but Frida herself who is provocative. I am not going to pick one particular scene from the film — you can pick any — because Frida (Salma Hayek) is a walking symbol of sexual provocation. The kind of sexual confidence she exudes is irresistible. Well, you might even just call her ‘Goddess of Sex’.
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23. Secretary (2002)
‘Secretary’ explores the world of BDSM (Bondage and Discipline, Dominance and Submission, Sadomasochism). And it does so through a weird relationship between boss and his secretary. The movie reveals an array of emotions and expressions that a normal person would be scared to accept or express and the movie addresses that. It brings to light the darkness of fantasies gone wild. But if you look closely, the foreplay between the boss and the secretary isn’t actually sexual. Everything the boss does is to showcase his dominance.
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22. Vicky Cristina Barcelona (2008)
‘Vicky Christina Barcelona’ is oozing with sexuality. Is it because of the presence of three super-hot actresses or the underlying implicit sexual energy, I will leave that for you to decide. One scene in particular that’s extremely provocative in the film. When Cristina (Scarlett Johansson) and María Elena(Penélope Cruz) make love to each other in a photo-processing room that’s dimly lit in red, it is irresistibly provocative. What makes it even more darkly exciting is that both women are in love with the same man.
21. Blue Valentine (2010)
When two people drift apart they lose the warmth for each other. Lovers become strangers because their lives are not what they had supposed it to would be. The romance withers slowly. This is exactly what happens to Dean Pereira (Ryan Gosling) and Cindy Heller (Michelle Williams). When they get back, when they seem to be finding the answers to their loveless relationship, there comes a scene which is immensely provocative. It paints a picture of struggle where two loves are trying to search the passion they once had. They try to compensate the lack of warmth with a forced passion.
20. Monster’s Ball (2001)
It is said that when a person is grieving, he or she looks for sex as an outlet. The scene between Hank Grotowski and Leticia Musgrove in ‘Monster’s Ball’ best represents that. They both are grieving and one night find comfort in each other’s presence. The reason the scene is so sexy and provocative is because both don’t hold back. Both of them let themselves go completely within each other. They are entangled in each other’s breaths and for that fleeting moment they find themselves free of any baggage.
This might not work well if you aren’t aware of the context of the film which leads to the scene. Featuring Billy Bob Thornton and Halle Berry, this is quite simply one of the most moving and believable sex scenes ever filmed. Hank and Leticia share open themselves up and share each other’s sorrows and grief in a deeply personal moment as they break into each other’s souls, stripping themselves off on an emotional level. It works as consolation, as solace for broken souls and to mend each other’s pain, showing us the real beauty and power of human intimacy. Easily, one of the best movie sex scenes of all time.
19. Basic Instinct (1992)
The sex scene between Detective Nick Curran and Catherine Tramell is a wildfire of fantasy. The scene is sexy for the mystery it has and for the thrill that precedes it. The character of Catherine is mysterious and has so many layers that the scene acts as an unearthing of her hidden personality. It sets the stage to humanize her portrayal. The reason the scene works for the audience and is still reminisced is for the way it is played. There is the tying of the hands, the battle between the characters to overpower and at the same time giving in. Also, the furnitures like the Victorian bed and the mirror on the ceiling is very integral to the scene and make the whole set up even more provocative.
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18. The Notebook (2004)
Noah and Allie are reunited. They kiss in the rain as he takes her to the house and they make mad love in a beautifully chaotic mess of a scene that lets the characters vent their emotions. It’s a fantastic build up as Noah and Allie, being childhood lovers, have fallen apart from each other for a long, long time and fate has this toyed with their emotions in the most cruel way possible. Allie is engaged to another young man which seemingly makes things a lot more complicated, making this scene a lot more intense, emotional and powerful than you could probably think.
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17. Black Swan (2010)
Darren Aronofsky’s disturbing psychological thriller features one of the most dashingly erotic lovemaking scenes you’ll ever see. The sheer randomness from which it comes out brings on a special level of tension and excitement on to the scene. Aronofsky creates a wildly erotic atmosphere, rightly keeping us on the edge and adding a sense of anticipation to the heated moment. Mila Kunis dominates the scene, subduing Portman, with her ravishingly seductive eyes and dashing charisma that further pumps up the scene. It’s rough, tense, wild and incredibly arousing.
16. Lost Highway (1997)
David Lynch’s nightmarish voyage into the depths of human subconscious is one of the most enigmatic and intriguing pieces of cinema ever crafted. The film follows a man who is convicted of murdering his wife after which he morphs into a different man, named Pete, and starts leading life as a mechanic. Pete develops a complex relationship with a gorgeous, attractive, young woman, named Alice and towards the end of the film, the two meet up at an empty cabin in a desert and make love. Brilliantly shot with an eerie atmosphere painting the dark psyche of its characters, the scene is a beautifully poetic, tragic portrait of lust.
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15. Shame (2011)
‘Shame’ is a painful film to watch and experience. An unflinching and honest depiction of addiction and how it consumes our existence, ‘Shame’ is one of the most harrowing cinematic experiences I’ve ever had. In one of the film’s most famous scenes, Brandon Sullivan, played brilliantly by an in-form Michael Fassbender, has sex with two women in a wild display of unbridled fantasies that is both undeniably erotic and passionate yet so profoundly harrowing and disturbing to look at. Masterfully directed and acted with breathtaking intensity, this scene is one of the most powerful and honest portrayals of raw sexuality on-screen.
14. Antichrist (2009)
An immensely disturbing portrait of parenthood and sexuality, ‘Antichrist’ is one of Danish provocateur Lars Von Trier’s most exciting works that attracted and repulsed viewers in equal measure. The prologue sequence begins with a couple making intense, passionate love as their kid watches them, climbs up to the window and jumps out of the apartment. In a classic Von Trier-ish opening sequence with extreme use of slow mos intended to devastate viewers, the scene quite brilliantly achieves what it sets out to; a viscerally erotic and profoundly disturbing image of human nature at its most frighteningly vulnerable edges.
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13. Atonement (2007)
The lovemaking scene in ‘Atonement’ is so gelled in its context that it might not strike a chord for those of you who haven’t watched the film. Cecilia confronts Robbie about a sexually charged letter he had written to her as the two make out in a library in a spontaneous, uninhibited moment of heated romance. The scene manages to capture the plethora of emotions the characters go through as their throbbing desires and emotions become almost palpable and is vital to forming the emotional core of the relationship between its characters.
The scene special because of several reasons: the way the moment is build with sonnets, the way the gown worn by Cecilia Tallis (Keira Knightley) shines in the dust of the library, the way the candles offer only a hint of light and the way Cecilia looks into Robbie Turner (James McAvoy) gasping eyes. Even the way the whole scene has been shot, it could easily be mistaken for a painting.
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12. Munich (2005)
Disturbing is not a word one would easily associate with Steven Spielberg but this scene defines every aspect of that word. After a devastating revenge mission for his country, Avner Kaufman returns home a much different man than his worst nightmares could have possibly ever imagined. On the night of his return, a mentally disturbed Avner has sex with his wife that culminates in an explosion of seething rage and repressed anger. As the scene turns brutally terrifying, violent images of terrorists murdering the athletes at the airport flash Avner’s mind. John Williams’ haunting score and some slick editing ensures that this scene remains etched in your memory and elevates this uncrowned masterpiece of a film right to the top of Spielberg’s revered oeuvre.
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11. Boogie Nights (1997)
Perhaps a controversial pick for the list. But the audition scene in Paul Thomas Anderson’s ‘Boogie Nights’ is one of the most exciting and enthralling sex scenes ever captured on screen. The sheer energy of the scene bursts out on to the screen as we forget the characters are just doing a scene as part of a porno flick in the film. The warm, motherly affection of Amber brings a rare quality of eroticism on to the scene as it completely grabs you and sets up the tone for the film to follow. A deadly gorgeous Julianne Moore and a young, dashing Mark Wahlberg turn the scene into an unforgettable moment of unhinged sexual madness.
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10. Irreversible (2002)
While the film is infamous for its disturbing rape scene that goes on for a bit longer than 5 minutes, it also features one of the warmest and most beautiful lovemaking scenes ever captured on screen. Hours before Alex and Marcus leave for the party, they lie in bed, engaging in a playful lovemaking sequence so full of charm and warmth that becomes almost painful to watch as we are already revealed of their tragic destiny. It’s a sad, sad scene that depicts the warmth and brutality of life at once because in the end we know that “time destroys everything….”
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9. Broken Embraces (2009)
Spanish auteur Pedro Almodovar’s highly stylized noir-ish melodrama is a searing tale of intense, pulsating romance that explodes in the form of a thriller. Almodovar splashes feelings and colours on to the screen, blending elements of romance, comedy, melodrama and film within a film. The lovemaking scene between Lena and Mateo is a beautiful, cathartic explosion of feelings and desires captured with magnetic intensity and raw emotional power that so beautifully depicts the characters’ pain, desperation, madness and longing for each other.
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8. Eyes Wide Shut (1999)
I cannot possibly describe what this scene is about in concrete phrases and terms. In Stanley Kubrick’s bizarre erotic surreal drama, Tom Cruise plays Bill, a doctor who embarks on a bizarre, frightening sexual odyssey after his wife admits that she once fantasised about a man she met long ago. To decrypt the infinite meanings and possibilities behind the scene in a short write up such as this is nearly impossible but this sequence where Cruise’s character wanders around a secret society’s orgy perhaps plays out as a metaphor to the warped human psyche plagued by bizarre immoral fantasies and disturbing secrets and is a brutal mock on male sexuality and chauvinism.
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7. Brokeback Mountain (2005)
Jack and Ennis spend time together in the mountains during the summer and gradually develop a complex sexual and emotional relationship. Two men feel strongly for each other; they think it is friendship. Until one night it becomes more than that. One passionate night! The scene acts as an outlet for the bottled emotions of the two men.. Ang Lee beautifully conveys the passion, intimacy, angst and repression felt by his characters and makes way for character development with this scene which manages to sketch out the complex nuances and dynamics of their relationship.
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6. Titanic (1997)
The image of a sweat-drenched Kate Winslet with her hands pounding against the car windows was the epitome of sensuality and lovemaking for a generation of kids who grew up watching the magic of love and the pain of disaster in James Cameron’s iconic romantic drama. The couple run away from the girl’s fiance’s bodyguard and reaches near the back end of the ship where they end up making love in a car. The scene perfectly captures the nervousness, angst and excitement of first-timers in a way that is hard not to adore and add to that the sizzling chemistry between Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet further elevates the scene to great heights.
5. Carol (2015)
Todd Haynes’ modern classic is a subtle, graceful tale of romance between two women in Manhattan in 1950s; a married mother going through a divorce and a young photographer. The main characters make out in a hotel room during a vacation in a stunningly captured moment of sexual liberation and emotional freedom. It’s a gorgeously shot scene, enriched with a sense of warmth and tenderness that you wraps you up in its humanity. Cate Blanchett’s magnetic feminine charisma further brings a rare maturity to the scene.
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4. Blue is the Warmest Colour (2013)
Perhaps the greatest romantic film of this decade, Abdellatif Kechiche’s ‘Blue is the Warmest Colour’ tells the story of Adele who meets an attractive, blue-haired painter in a lesbian bar and forms a deeply intimate bond with her. In one of the most famous sex scenes ever filmed, Kechiche captures every breath of passion his characters exude in a long 6 minute take with no cuts and intense focus on the nuances and details that bring an incredible amount of realism on to the scene. Some criticised the scene for its length but it floats like a wave with unbridled desires and emotions, overwhelming you with its raw intimacy.
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3. Y Tu Mama Tambien (2001)
Arguably the greatest road trip film ever made, ‘Y Tu Mama Tambien’ is a visually enthralling, emotionally charged, melancholic tale of friendship, love and self-discovery. Famously triggering controversy over its explicit depiction of sex and drugs, the film is replete with some of the most memorable lovemaking scenes ever filmed on screen. In the motel room, Luisa seduces Tenoch and they abruptly break into sex in an intense moment brimming with passion and nerves. It’s a brilliantly captured scene of astonishing power and beauty that is invigorating and addictive in its verve and enthusiasm.
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2. Mulholland Drive (2001)
The mere concept of two gorgeous women making love is provocative and this scene leverages that. Betty (Naomi Watts) and Rita (Laura Harring) are two different personalities, but both of them are mysterious. The sex acts as an anchor in the flood of emotions that they have experienced in the past couple of days. Their act is not mechanical; it happens to embrace the love and the care they have felt for each other. The reason this scene is hailed as one of the best is because it oozes raw sexuality and vulnerability.
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1. The Double Life of Veronique (1991)
Krzysztof Kieslowski has this ability to soak you in emotions that gets you completely invested in his characters. This is most evident in his 1991 fantasy drama, ‘The Double Life of Veronique’; an intriguing mood piece about the lives of two young identical women, separated by the boundaries of language and geography. The lovemaking scene here happens right after Weronika’s death on stage and the scene cuts to Paris where Veronique makes love with her boyfriend. It’s a deeply passionate moment of intimate romance that gets into your skin, subtly intoxicating you in the sheer madness of lovemaking. The heat of intimacy transcends on the screen as we see the characters soaked in each other’s souls and their bodies melting in tenderness.
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