From John Waters to Lars von Trier: five times arthouse cinema went too far
Arthouse cinema has always provided a fascinating alternative to the mainstream, although this often means alienating many viewers in the process. Experimental and unconventional modes of filmmaking are not for everyone, challenging the idea of cinema as a form of escapism.
Rather, many arthouse films revel in the most weird, violent, graphic and disturbing realms of culture, forcing us to think about things we’d perhaps rather not. For decades, some of cinema’s most significant enfant terribles have subjected us to images that won’t be leaving our minds anytime soon, from Gaspar Noé to John Waters.
Transgressive works of cinema are expectedly hard to watch, and it shouldn’t come as a surprise if such a film includes strikingly intense scenes of violence and sexuality. However, there have been countless occasions where arthouse auteurs have done things that audiences have deemed “too far”.
Whether that be eating real dog poo or including graphic, unnecessarily long scenes of sexual abuse, here are five moments from arthouse movies that continue to shock.
Five times arthouse cinema went too far:
Irréversible – 10-minute rape scene
Gasper Noé is a cinematic provocateur whose work has made him both highly coveted and highly criticised. From 3D cumshots in Love to incestual abuse in I Stand Alone, there seems to be little that Noé deems ‘too much’ for his work. However, we couldn’t avoid mentioning his 2002 film Irréversible, which features a ten-minute-long rape scene featuring Monica Bellucci’s Alex.
While the movie’s innovative use of form, lighting and music is admirable, critics were much less sold on the inclusion of an intense rape sequence that feels like it’s never going to end. After Bellucci’s character is raped in a dark tunnel, she is brutally beaten – almost to death. It is a tough watch for anyone, but for many female viewers, Irréversible crossed the line.
Pink Flamingos – Divine eats real dog crap
Keeping with the faeces theme, it would be wrong not to include the most iconic scene from John Waters’ arthouse classic, Pink Flamingos. The low-budget movie really put the Pope of Trash on the map thanks to his no-holds-barred approach to filmmaking. Waters got his actors to push themselves as far as they were willing to go. As a result, Pink Flamingos includes bizarre sequences involving a prolapsed anus, rape involving a crushed chicken, and real oral sex between drag queen Divine and his on-screen (adult) son.
However, the most memorable scene involves Divine, real name Harris Glenn Milstead, picking up a piece of real dog shit and placing it in his mouth (although he apparently didn’t actually swallow it). Talking to Rolling Stone, Waters explained, “I guess it’s one of the most famous scenes I ever shot. Certainly, no one ever tried to do it again. It was a first, a last and pointless! Infantile! No special effects – it was real. And it frightens people to this day.”
Salò or the 120 Days of Sodom – the whole film
There’s no way you can pick out just one scene from Pier Paolo Pasolini’s career-defining work Salò or the 120 Days of Sodom as the most shocking. Easily one of the most notorious arthouse movies ever made, Salò is not for the faint of heart, taking viewers on a relentless journey through torture – literally.
The movie sees a group of libertines capture and torment a group of naked teenagers, set against a backdrop of fascist Italy. Acting as an allegory for capitalism, totalitarianism and consumerism, the film contains plenty of disturbing scenes involving rape, murder and other horrors, from tongue and eye removals to being force-fed shit.
The Brown Bunny – unsimulated oral sex
It is a little weird to watch a movie where the main character is receiving genuine oral sex from another actor, knowing that they also wrote and directed the sequence. Yet, that’s exactly what happens in Vincent Gallo’s The Brown Bunny. The actor/filmmaker is attended to by Chloë Sevigny in one intimate scene, which sees her get as close to straight-up pornography as possible in the name of art.
Gallo is a strange man, and The Brown Bunny, dubbed by Roger Ebert as the worst movie in the history of the Cannes Film Festival, didn’t do much to prove otherwise. Paired with his poor treatment of Christina Ricci on the set of Buffalo ‘66, The Brown Bunny just seems like one big personal indulgence for Gallo, which makes it rather uncomfortable to watch.
The House That Jack Built – the picnic
Lars von Trier has a pretty severe reputation in the film world. While he has made some fantastic contributions to the arthouse realm, he has often pushed the boundaries of his craft a little too far. When he’s not busy attempting to joke about “understanding Hitler,” the filmmaker’s controversial nature extends to explicit and unforgiving scenes involving sex and violence.
One of the worst is arguably the picnic scene in The House That Jack Built, where Matt Dillon plays a terrifying killer. He massacres two young boys while forcing their mother to watch, which we witness from his perspective. Then, after forcing her to engage in the picnic with her dead sons, she too is murdered. Brutal doesn’t feel like a strong enough word.