With his deep and abiding love of exploitation films and the wanton wet work in his own filmography, it’s always been a little odd that Quentin Tarantino rarely includes sex with his violence. Speaking with Spanish journalists at Diari ARA (via Variety), the 9-time director explained why.
“It’s true, sex is not part of my vision of cinema,” Tarantino said. “And the truth is that, in real life, it’s a pain to shoot sex scenes, everyone is very tense. And if it was already a bit problematic to do it before, now it is even more so. If there had ever been a sex scene that was essential to the story, I would have, but so far it hasn’t been necessary.”
The answer itself is a mix of pragmatism and artistry, and it makes perfect sense. His films have almost always been about power, cruelty, and bullets than they have about coitus. Less getting together and more tearing people apart.
Besides, try to think of any of his movies where a sex scene might have served the story, as his rubric calls for. It’s not that easy. There’s certainly no reason to cram one into Reservoir Dogs or Inglourious Basterds, and the flirtatious passion of characters like Vincent and Mia or Shosanna and Marcel work far more marvelously than a sex scene would.
Tarantino is currently prepping his 10th and ostensibly final film as a director, aiming to shoot this fall for a project focused on a film critic in the 1970s. Naturally, it signals one last chance to avoid putting sex in a movie.
(via Variety)
