Try entering the hashtag #houseporn on your reference social network. What you will get is not pornography, or not what is conventionally understood as such, but a succession of images of houses from different periods and styles, which share the common element of stimulating both the eye and the greed of the viewer. A similar principle has been followed in the recent film Saltburnby Emerald Fennell, which has caused a lot of talk for its nudes and calculatedly bizarre sex scenes, but also for the real estate that gives it its title, which is actually the mansion of Drayton House, in the British county of Northampstonshire.
What is truly pornographic about the film is the way the house is filmed, how the camera recreates its opulent interiors and the scenic beauty of its façade. This choice of staging is not entirely arbitrary, since for the protagonist (played by Barry Keoghan), a fraud consumed by intense social resentment, the house is the authentic object of desire, and sex is only one of the tools you use to obtain it. But Saltburn It is not the only film that has followed this strategy. In fact, on some occasions, the eroticism of the story has been overshadowed by that provoked by its settings. There are artistically irrelevant films of which the only thing worth remembering are their beautiful locations, but also some masterpieces where houses are successfully used to set the tone and reflect the psychology of the characters. These are some notable cases.
L'inhumaine (1924), by Marcel L'Herbier
That an opera singer (Georgette Leblanc) starred in a silent film, or that its plot was that of a melodrama with elements of science fiction, was not the most eccentric thing about this little-known gem, the apotheosis of art deco. The houses in which the action is set reproduce cubist designs by the young architect Robert Mallet-Stevens, who would become one of the greats of the Modern Movement. The audience was speechless, although they were also divided between those who hated the film and those who defended it as an avant-garde work. Painter Fernand Léger and future directors Claude Autant-Lara and Alfredo Cavalcanti also collaborated on the mind-blowing artistic direction. It couldn't be more modern in 1924.
The rule of the game (1939), by Jean Renoir
A masterpiece of French cinema, after a discreet reception at the time, it has been insistently appearing on all lists of the best films in history for decades. Renoir painted a corrosive portrait of the high bourgeoisie in which the decorations had to faithfully reflect all the opulence of this social class. Highlights include the luxurious apartment of the attractive Marchioness Christine de la Chesnaye (Nora Gregor) and the chateau in which the entire second half takes place, with its enormous expanses of checkerboard flooring. “It is the film of films,” François Truffaut said of it.
My uncle (1958), by Jacques Tati
Tati decided to set his third film as a director in a futuristic house with a lot of glass, designer furniture, proto-home automation technology and unexpected mechanisms that gave rise to the gags most hilarious visuals. It also played in contrast with the old buildings of the Parisian neighborhood in which the protagonist, Monsieur Hulot, functioned better than in the coldness of the high-tech. That in her day she was therefore branded as reactionary does not tarnish her merits.
Che? (1972), by Roman Polanski
Fresh off the success of The seed of the devil and the failure of MacbethPolanski decided to undertake a modern and spicy adaptation of Alice in Wonderland. That the result is one of her worst films, and that at times it seems made solely for the purpose of exhibiting the body of the American actress Sydne Rome i
s something that few could argue. Just as it is also true that the house in which it is filmed, a villa on the Amalfi coast, is a feast for the eyes. The property, like the works of art that appear in it, belonged to the film's producer, Carlo Ponti, Sophia Loren's husband.
Confidences (1974) and The Leopard (1963), by Luchino Visconti
Rarely has a universe been recreated with such accuracy and evocative capacity as Visconti did in The Leopard. The long dance sequence in a Sicilian palace during the Risorgimento was filmed in the authentic Palazzo Valguarnera-Gangi in Palermo, a marvel of the late Baroque. A decade later, Visconti returned to have the same protagonist, Burt Lancaster, who he played in Confidences a character inspired by the writer and art critic Mario Praz. Praz is the author of The house of lifean essay that is in itself the Old Testament of #houseporn. In shot after shot, the cluttered interiors of the old Roman palazzo where the film's solitary professor lives contain so much information that the human eye is unable to register it all. The big surprise comes when we are shown the impressive terrace overlooking the Roman domes, which the dark character played by Silvana Mangano understandably covets.
Screams and whispers (1972) and Fanny and Alexander (1982), by Ingmar Bergman
As Bergman explained, the red walls between which the sisters of Screams and whispers They represented a maternal womb. Everything there occurred in an indefinite space between sleep and wakefulness, between life and death, the realistic and the abstract. After in Fanny and Alexanderthe same director, with the help of set designer Anna Asp, contrasted the warm bourgeois interior of the family home where one of the most memorable Christmases in cinema was celebrated with the icy austerity of the stepfather's house.
Interiors (1978), by Woody Allen
The interiors of the title refer both to the tortured psyches of the protagonists (three sisters and their mother) and to the professional activity of the latter, a decorator with a special love for gray and cream tones, matching her limited ability to show keen. All of this can also be understood as a metaphor for film direction, a self-referential nod on the part of Woody Allen. Its sophistication marks the highest point of the New York director's interest in interior design, which can also be seen in the apartments of Hannah and her sisters, Alice either Husbands and wives, among many others. When he moved to Paris, case of the recent A lucky breakthe level does not decline.
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and a half weeks (1986), by Adrian Lyne
With its advertising aesthetic and its decaffeinated masochism, what is perhaps the most famous erotic drama of the eighties today stands out above all for the brave interpretation of Kim Basigner and for the Manhattan penthouse of Mickey Rourke's character where much of the action takes place. . It is a careful representation of the universe yuppie in vogue at that time: with glass walls, monochromatic accents and furniture signed by Breuer, Meier or Mackintosh. Not too cozy, but decidedly sexy.
Return to Bridesheadtelevision series (1981) by Charles Sturridge and Michael Lindsay-Hogg and film (2008), by Julian Jarrold
Both adaptations of Evelyn Waugh's novel about a family of British Catholic aristocrats and their struggles with faith and divine grace were filmed at the same property, Castle Howard. These are two typical examples of British academicism, with first-class performers (Jeremy Irons, Laurence Olivier and John Gielgud were in the series, and Emma Thompson or Matthew Goode in the film) and perfect setting, but with somewhat faint staging. . Homosexuality (or plain sexuality) repressed by social and religious demands becomes the highlight of the menu. It does not seem risky to say that Saltburn has borrowed a few elements from its plot and characters. For the rest, Brideshead (that is, Castle Howard) has gone down in history as the quintessential British mansion.
dangerous friendships (1988), by Stephen Frears
Another adaptation of a literary classic, this time from the epistolary novel written in the 18th century by Choderlos de Laclos (in turn adapted for the theater by Christopher Hampton), set a few years before the French Revolution, when the country's nobles did not They seemed to harbor more concerns than erotic ones. The brief plot of sexual conquests and revenge unfolds in a variety of chateaux and private hotels neoclassical and rococo where the parquet floor creaks deliciously, like the crystals of the chandeliers tinkle when they are lifted by the servants.
Return to Howards End (1992) and What's left of the day (1993), by James Ivory
James Ivory filmed two of his best works in the first half of the nineties, adapting EM Forster (Return to Howards End) and Kazuo Ishiguro (What's left of the day), and with casts led by Emma Thompson and Anthony Hopkins. Once again, the concepts period cinema and quality They join forces to offer sumptuous settings with a 100% British seal. In the first case, the country house that gives its name to the title once again is the center of a tangle of intrigues, deceptions and unsatisfied desires. In the second, the stately mansion in which the protagonists work as servants is at the same time a way of life and a prison that frustrates all aspirations for happiness.
Io sono l'amore (2009) and Call Me by Your Name (2017), by Luca Guadagnino
Luca Guadagino is an addict houseporn, to the point that there are those who have called it “decorative”. His entire filmography reveals an evident appreciation for interior architecture, and he has even made his professional debut in that area. Perhaps the two films of his in which this is most evident are Io sono l'amoreshot at the monument art deco Milanese Villa Necchi Campiglio, and Call Me by Your Name, which takes place in Villa Albergoni, a 16th-century country house in the province of Cremona. Faced with this truly staged hardcore porn, the supposed passions that in theory occupy the center of both works are somewhat muted.
The maid (2016), by Park Chan-wook
It must be noted that, in this case, everything was at the same level: the carnal lubricity does not detract from the decorative one in this thriller packed with plot twists. The story is set in Korea occupied by Japan before World War II, in a palatial residence that mixes Japanese and English styles. In reality, it is a house designed at the beginning of the 20th century by the influential British architect Josiah Conder and located in Japan. However, most of the interiors were built in a studio: it is especially difficult to forget the immense library in which the protagonist stages her erotic literature sessions.
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