20 BDSM Movies More Provocative Than Fifty Shades Of Grey

Think Fifty Shades Of Grey pushes the boundaries of sex in cinema? Think again.

by Andrew Dilks
The huge success of the movie adaptation of Fifty Shades Of Grey this weekend is for many a sad indictment of the decline in cinematic standards in recent years. The film - received poorly by critics, and deservedly so - has gone on to break all records for an R-rated movie, grossing something in the region of $235 million globally since its release last week. Regardless of the fact that much of the titillation on screen is tepid in comparison to many other movies and the script is barely an improvement on the frankly atrocious writing in the original novel, movie-goers have nevertheless flocked to see it in droves. How much this was thanks to die hard fans of the novel is perhaps irrelevant - one thing is for sure, audiences can expect the sequels to make their way to the silver screen some time in the future. Fifty Shades of Grey has come in for a great deal of criticism for misrepresenting the BDSM (bondage and discipline, dominance and submission, and sadism and mashochism) scene it attempts to depict, while campaigners against domestic abuse have lambasted the film for its irresponsible depiction of Ana and Grey's relationship. For those disappointed with Fifty Shades Of Grey - or those who thought it pushed the envelope when it comes to on-screen sex - who are looking for some genuine thrills in the BDSM movie department, here are 20 movies well worth your time.

20. In The Realm Of The Senses

If you need any evidence that filmmakers were exploring the nature of sexual taboos long before Fifty Shades Of Grey came along you needn't look any further than Nagisa Oshima's classic 1976 movie, In The Realm Of The Senses. Telling the story of a former prostitute who becomes a cleaner in a hotel where she embarks upon an increasingly experimental sexual relationship with the owner, In The Realm Of The Senses pushed the boundaries of transgressive cinema and remains a potent viewing experience today. The culmination of their relationship - and the swelling tides of jealously - end in a bloody finale which saw the film heavily censored for many years.

19. Quills

If any one writer and thinker can be said to epitomise the libertinism of the late eighteen and early nineteenth centuries, that writer is the Marquis de Sade. Sade's penchant for often violent eroticism landed him in hot waters with the authorities on more than one occasion. Quills, starring Geoffrey Rush and Kate Winslet, avoids presenting a blow by blow biopic of de Sade's life, instead opting to use his life as a launch pad for ideas about sexuality, pornography and censorship. While it isn't the most challenging film to have been made based around de Sade's writings (more on that later) it's nevertheless a solid movie with strong performances throughout, including Joaquin Phoenix and Michael Caine in supporting roles.

18. The Notorious Bettie Page

After directing the big screen adaptation of American Psycho - a film which plays with elements of dominance and pain for horror effect - Mary Harron turned her attention to perhaps the first famous bondage model in her biopic The Notorious Bettie Page. Page's early life was marred with abuse and control - from a devoutly Christian background she was abused as a child and later gang raped, experiences which led her down her path as a model. Harron tackles the subject matter with sensitivity, while Gretchen Mol delivers one of the best performances of her career (which perhaps isn't saying a great deal).

17. Matador

Spanish director Pedro Almodovar is no stranger to exploring non-mainstream sexual preferences in his movies, often taking homosexuality and transgender issues as the basis for the characters who inhabit his stories. Matador takes the idea of domination and sadism to the extreme and features a murderer who kills her prey during sex, sinking a sharp pin into their neck which she keeps concealed in her hair. Sumptuous-looking and featuring Antonio Banderas in a role which was to eventually catapult him into the international spotlight, Matador is an intelligent thriller which flirts with sexual taboos.

16. Blue Velvet

David Lynch's classic movie Blue Velvet is today widely considered one of the greatest films made by this unconventional director and perhaps one of the finest movies to emerge from the 1980s. Delving into the dark underbelly of America, beneath the picket fences which present an image of respectability, it reveals a world of domination and cruelty. Dennis Hopper's performance saw him return from the movie wilderness in true style, his psychopathic character Frank Booth one of the greatest screen villains of all time. While Lynch isn't primarily concerned with issues relating to BDSM it is touched on most evidently in Booth's relationship with Dorothy Vallens (Isabella Rossellini). Blue Velvet is a deeply symbolic tour de force of cinema not to be missed.

15. Belle De Jour

If David Lynch mines the shadowy realms of contemporary America's mass subconscious, Louis Buñuel is something of a master of highlighting the hypocrisy of the bourgeoisie in twentieth century Europe. Belle De Jour - perhaps his most famous film - approaches this critique through the eyes of a bored housewife who takes it upon herself to become a prostitute. Catherine Deneuve's radiant performance as Séverine Serizy is central to the film's success - few actresses have achieved such an iconic level in the history of cinema. Buñuel amplifies the eroticism by subversively blurring the line between reality and fantasy, giving the sadism and masochism a hint of surrealism which renders the film somewhat ethereal. It's another masterpiece of cinema which touches on BDSM issues with depth and maturity.

14. Crimes Of Passion

Ken Russell's Crimes Of Passion might not have the artistic clout of a film like Belle De Jour but it's still a worthy addition to a collection of films which explore the world of BDSM and is worth watching for Kathleen Turner's performance alone. Turner plays Joanna Cray, a woman who moonlights as a prostitute by the name of China Blue and finds herself involved with a string of clients with bizarre sexual fetishes. As lurid and over the top as is to be expected from Russell (a director who appears to have had the word "subtlety" removed from his lexicon) it's satirical elements might be heavy-handed but if you're after a trashy yet entertaining film then you'd do worse than to watch Crimes Of Passion.

13. Flower And Snake

You'd have to have been living under a rock your entire life to have missed the fact that the Japanese seem to like things a little kinkier than the rest of us. Even before In The Realm Of The Senses came out, Japanese cinema was starting to reflect this tendency, not least with Flower And Snake. Released in 1974, two years before Nagisa Oshima's masterpiece, Flower And Snake - along with the later Wife To Be Sacrificed - marked the beginning of the S&M Roman Porno era. This is a film entirely for enthusiasts of BDSM, and while plenty more has come since which can be considered more boundary-pushing, it still shows up Fifty Shades Of Grey for the tepid cop-out it really is.

12. Cruising

William Friedkin's Cruising might not exactly be a ringing endorsement of either the gay community or the fetish scene but as a film in its own right it serves up a solid psychological thriller which touches on some sensitive issues. Al Pacino plays a police officer sent undercover into the world of S&M gay clubs to track down a serial killer. Critics and gay rights activists alike slammed Cruising at the time of its release - for different reasons - but in the years since a reappraisal has seen this thriller garner a steady cult following. While no masterpiece, Cruising isn't the homophobic movie some suggested at the time of its release, even if it falls short of providing a nuanced depiction of the gay scene in which it is set.

11. Sick: The Life And Death Of Bob Flanagan, Supermasochist

While narrative fiction films dominate this list, it wouldn't be complete without Sick: The Life And Death Of Bob Flanagan, Supermasochist. Few documentaries have provided such an insight into not only the world of BDSM but also the unique performance artist who forms the subject of the film. Bob Flanagan's perfomance art - along with his writing and poetry - is informed by his suffering from cystic fibrosis, his BDSM shows pushing the envelope of pain and artistic expression. If ever you want to see the correct way to hammer a nail through your penis, this is the documentary you need to see. For most of us, it's a unique insight into a world far removed from the one we're familiar with.

10. Maîtresse

23.02.2013maitresse Nestling in between the release of In The Realm Of The Senses and Flower And Snake, the 1975 film Maîtresse can be seen as France's first major contribution to the cinematic exploration of S&M. Starring Gerard Depardieu in one of his earliest roles as a small time crook who inadvertently burgles a home in which a torture chamber sits in the basement, it's a transgressive film which explores the world of a professional dominatrix. The scenes of fetishism were, in the words of the British Board of Film Classification, "miles in excess of anything we have ever passed in this field" although they conceded that the film was neither exploitative nor badly made. It wasn't until 2003 that the film was passed with all the cuts waived.

9. Romance

With half a dozen films by the name of Romance available it's easy to get confused, but Catherine Breillat's 1999 slice of eroticism represents one of the early "mainstream" movies of the era to feature scenes of unsimulated penetrative sex. Caroline Ducey plays Marie, a young woman who's boyfriend refuses to have sex with her, leading her to embark on a journey of sexual exploration with a series of other men. The hardcore sex scenes are offset by a strangely objective study of Caroline's increasing detachment, while the final scenes see her moving further away from conventional sexual encounters towards sadomasochism with an older man. Romance marks the beginning of a period of mainstream and arthouse cinema experimenting with unsimulated sex.

8. Story Of O

Released the same year as Maîtresse, the 1975 French-German co-production The Story Of O was similarly refused a release from the BBFC, although it was eventually passed in 2000. An extract from the synopsis of the plot from Wikipedia tells you all you need to know about why the film caused such controversy: "O is taught to be constantly available for oral, vaginal, and anal intercourse. She is regularly stripped, blindfolded, chained and whipped; her anus is widened by increasingly large plugs; her labium is pierced and her buttocks are branded." Understandably, The Story Of O has become something of a classic for fans of BDSM.

7. The Night Porter

If you wanted a sure fire way of transforming a film about sado-masochism into a truly controversial work of cinema, what better way than to throw in the Nazis for good measure. This tactic certainly earned The Night Porter a deserving reputation as one of the most unconventional movies of the time. Dirk Bogarde plays a former Nazi SS officer who reunites with the concentration camp inmate Lucia Atherton (Charlotte Rampling) with whom he had a sado-masochistic relationship during the war. Not surprisingly many critics at the time accused the filmmakers of striving for sensationalism above all else, although this judgment is perhaps too harsh - The Night Porter might have divided audiences with its controversial themes but for the strong-minded there's enough here to warrant a viewing.

6. Venus In Fur

Polanski might be best known for all the wrong reasons - the underage sex scandal has never been forgotten by many - but his handling of the thematic considerations of Leopold von Sacher-Masoch's 1870 novel Venus In Furs is a masterful exercise in minimal filmmaking. Based on David Ives's play - in turn based on the old novel - it centres around a playwright seeking the perfect actress for the lead character. Just as he is about to give up Vanda Jourdain enters the theatre, thus beginning an intense interplay of control, domination and obsession. Venus In Fur is a dark and erotic film unhindered by its single setting and limited number of characters, precisely directed by Polanski.

5. Tokyo Decadence

Returning to Japan for the final time on this list of BDSM-related films and Tokyo Decadence stands out as one of the most popular of the pink cinema movies released in the West. There's little in the way of a substantial plot to Tokyo Decadence but if BDSM is your thing the prolonged scenes of humiliation and domination will no doubt be right up your street. Perhaps the strangest thing about the film is the music composer - Ryuichi Sakamoto will be far more familiar to fans of less specialised cinema, even winning an Academy Award for his soundtrack to The Last Emperor. Seeing his name on the credits to Tokyo Decadence is surprising, to say the least.

4. Crash

David Cronenberg's Videodrome features aspects of BDSM at its most violent, with hints of snuff film making layered into the strange broadcasts its central protagonist discovers. His more recent movie Crash might not go quite as dark but is still an out-there examination of sexual fetishes. James Spader and Holly Hunter stars as people who are aroused by the sight of car accidents, getting off on the gaping wounds fused with auto parts in Cronenberg's divisive adaptation of J G Ballard's novel. Predictably this was considered "the most controversial film of the year" when it was released in 1996 - equally predictably, the passage of time has been kinder and these days fully uncut versions are readily available for viewing.

3. Salò, Or The 120 Days Of Sodom

If there's one movie on this list which takes the concept of sadism well beyond the boundaries of titillation and into the realms of the psychopathic it is Pier Paulo Pasolini's fascist commentary, Salò, Or The 120 Days Of Sodom. Few films are as likely to disturb and repulse the viewer as much as this. Set after the fall of Mussolini's dictatorship in Italy, 1943, Salò, Or The 120 Days Of Sodom explores the depths of depravity of the political elites and can be seen as a metaphor - albeit a rather obvious one - for the corruption of power. Based on the book by the Marquis de Sade this is truly grim viewing not for the weak stomached, with scenes of torture giving way to carnage which resembles a snuff film. If you want to provoke a reaction from someone, show them Salò, Or The 120 Days Of Sodom.

2. The Piano Teacher

Austrian director Michael Haneke has established himself over the years as something of a master of transgressive cinema, forcing the audience to confront their own voyeuristic tendencies when they pay to watch movies depicting violence, be it physical or emotional. With The Piano Teacher Haneke turns his attention towards the outwardly respectable professional who harbours desires she'd much rather weren't made public. From self-mutilation to voyeurism, the eponymous teacher eventually develops a mutual obsession with a young man whom she takes on as her student. The Piano Teacher marked yet another milestone in Haneke's superlative career and is a fascinating, richly detailed study of sado-masochism in the modern world.

1. Secretary

Fifry Shades Of Grey was largely met with complete derision by members of the BDSM community, who lambasted it for its inaccurate portrayal of submission and domination, with some going as far as to suggest that it condoned domestic violence. The antidote to Fifty Shades Of Grey is undoubtedly Secretary, one of the few films out there which many believe captures the essence of the psychology behind BDSM practitioners. James Spader again proves himself as an actor capable of embodying a person with unusual desires, playing a man also called Grey who becomes aroused by the submissive behaviour of his new secretary Lee Holloway (Maggie Gyllenhaal). Widely considered to be the most accurate movie about dominant-submissive relationships, Secretary proves that cinema can explore this often misunderstood subculture with tact and style. What other films about BDSM do you think do a better job of exploring the subject than Fifty Shades Of Grey? Why not let us know in the comments below?
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Andrew Dilks hasn't written a bio just yet, but if they had... it would appear here.