Psychosexual
Noah’s Barks pages relating to the psychosexual genre, media focusing on the psychology of sex and gender.
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Sweet Poolside
An early effort by Shūzō Oshimi, ‘Sweet Poolside’ is a short romance story between a boy and a girl who bond over their gender incongruities. (read more)
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Trouble Every Day
Some of the bloody imagery here is gorgeous, but most of Trouble Every Day is forgettable. The analogy of sex to cannibalism or murder is hardly anything fresh, and in its minimal approach the film fails to say anything more. Even in regards to what themes are there, sex is actually extremely distant from the… (read more)
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Belle de Jour
I continue to like the ideas of Luis Buñuel more than his actual films. His humiliation of the bourgeois continues in Belle de Jour, but there’s an additional element I’d not seen before: an actual sympathy towards sexual deviants as people repressed by the expectations of society. Catherine Deneuve becomes a victim herself as the… (read more)
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Speed Grapher
‘Speed Grapher’ is an absurd, exploitative thriller that is nonetheless entertaining and shocking in its creativity (among other things). (read more)
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The Flowers of Evil
Albeit not a substitute for Shuzo Oshimi’s incredible manga, The Flowers of Evil stylistically captures the anxiety and internalized disgust that emerge during pubescence’s discovery of sexuality. (read more)
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Crash
Those who champion Crash as another David Cronenberg cult classic at least have an understandable reason: it’s arguably the last of his original format. Sexual psychology abounds, draped in darkness and colored with Cronenberg’s body horror tastes in a mangled orgasmic car Crash. What’s missing is his ability to contextualize this psychology through human beings… (read more)
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A Dangerous Method
The subject of A Dangerous Method, the relationship between Carl Jung and Sigmund Freud, is too great and too interesting to compress under two hours, and it especially doesn’t deserve to have the Sabina Spielrein romance as the center-weight. The need to squeeze in so much exposition and to doll it out in scientific jargon… (read more)
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Venus in Fur
It’s impressive and very pleasing to me as a fan that Polanski has still not lost himself after decades of films. Akin to many of his works, Venus in Fur is a single-setting psychological playground where Amalric and Seigner compete for dominance over each other and the screen. The two are wrapped in a clever,… (read more)
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Possession
Possession is one of the most unsettling horror films ever. Dialogue is strange and the entire cast performs in subtly off ways. The atmosphere is surreal and the narrative provides more questions than answers. Also notable is the powerful emotional insanity of the crumbling romantic relationship between the two leads. Possession will make you feel… (read more)
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Eyes Wide Shut
Eyes Wide Shut is a Stanley Kubrick take on the original story of loyalty and natural temptation featuring the director’s usual crystal clear, beautiful cinematography (despite not being shot in New York City) and some intriguing symbolism, but is hurt immensely by the mediocre performances of Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman. Kidman believes constantly speaking… (read more)