( Note to the reader: If reading about sexual matters offends your sensibilities, I request you to use your discretion before you continue reading. Though the essay does not refer to sexual acts as such, it is a review of a movie on sexual desires and the pleasures of the body)
It is rare for a movie to make you pause, think and reevaluate your views on something that has always been pushed under the carpet, talked about in hush tones, thought of as socially subversive, dismissed as morally and religiously dangerous, and generally regarded as taboo and a matter that should just be done with as quickly and mechanically as possible and get on with our lives. Yes, I am talking about being comfortable with our sexuality and its expressions. As a civilization, we have made a mess of sex. On the one hand, man is often ashamed of his physicality, and, on the other hand, man is perhaps the only animal whose sexual urges have no seasonality or direction. It runs unabated throughout his life, and ironically enough, there is a perennial conflict between sex as a procreational act and sex as a means of pleasure, fantasy, and personal fulfillment. A husband and wife may have lived a happy life, and parented kids, but could be deeply unsatisfied – sexually. This is a uniquely human condition. Different cultures across the world have dealt with this paradox in different ways, but for the most part, even today, sex is considered strictly procreational, and any other use of it is taboo – to be repressed, hidden, sublimated, and sacrificed at the altar of a higher self. But that is not always possible. That is why, almost unanimously, across all countries and cultures, there is a night-life, a counter-culture of sex workers, to whom people surreptitiously go to or invite, to fulfill their urges and fantasies. It makes one wonder what will happen to society without this subterranean network of sexual services and devices (readily available these days with a click of a button) — one would assume the pent-up libidos of the masses will only spark anarchy and chaos.
“Good Luck to You, Leo Grande”, a new movie currently streaming on Hulu is essentially an intimate dialogue between two individuals on the nature of sexual satisfaction, the role of pleasure in life, and coming to terms with the miracle and beauty of one’s own skin – no matter how wrinkled and old it gets. Nancy Stokes, played by the brilliant British Dame Emma Thompson, is a fifty-seven-year-old retired school teacher who taught moral science to students. Uptight, prim, Nancy has lived her life thus far with clear boundaries of right and wrong. Her husband died a few years before, and her two children – a boy and a girl – are settled in life. Nancy’s relationship with her children has changed over the years, and at this stage in Nancy’s life she finds her son to be a boring young man with whom she has nothing to talk about, and her daughter, an eccentric who chases wild dreams and is rarely at one place for any length of time. Nancy is an independent woman without the burdens of marital obligations, and she believes it is time to loosen up because Life is slipping away; Nancy realizes that all the reticence and moral posturing that seemed so necessary and imperative growing up was only a socially inculcated defense, a moral code imposed from the outside and now with no obligations’ to tie her down, it is time to become whole again. She makes a daring move.
As the movie opens, Nancy arranges to meet Leo Grande, played by Daryl McCormack, a British actor ( appears in the British crime drama Peaky Blinders), in a hotel room. Leo is a sex worker. He is a good-looking young man( an adonis – literally), gentle, polished, articulate, and knows his way around older women. He runs a website that offers sexual services for a duration and a fee. Nancy explains to Leo that she hasn’t had an orgasm in her life. She has a list of things she would like to experience, and she hesitantly pulls out a crumpled sheet of paper, puts on her reading glasses, and reads out the list of sexual activities she would like to perform or be performed on her. Nancy reads out the list as if she is reading out a list of groceries. It is a repository of her un-lived and harmless fantasies and sexual desires, ones that, perhaps, some of us also secretly desire and hope to consummate someday without the censure of our moral self or the judgmental eyes of society. Who Knows? Leo listens to Nancy without judgment and is willing to help her live out her desires.
The movie is divided into four meetings between Nancy and Leo. While the intent behind each meeting is sexual, the relationship between the two protagonists begins to gently thaw with each session, they open up to each other and attempt to find out more about their lives – how have they become who they are? Nancy learns that Leo has had a broken childhood, and his sexual promiscuity alienated him from his mom. We find out that this image of a debonair sexual escort is Leo’s alter-ego, a way of making money, and at the same time, doing what he is essentially good at – assuaging the sexual needs, reticence, and nervousness of his clients. Nancy’s probing questions about his childhood and upbringing help us understand how he reconciles what he does with who he really is. Leo is clearly uncomfortable with Nancy’s constant reminder of his past. However, he is a great listener and empathetic conversationalist; he understands that Nancy, by wanting to know more about him, is only attempting to gain a moral ascendancy and a rationale to justify her desires. The movie is careful not to raise the question of race. Daryl McCormack, the actor, is of mixed race. Director Sophie Hyde gently handles the sensitive moments of intimacy to bring out an array of emotions in the viewer, the least of which is sexual titillation. Even though the movie is about sex, we rarely feel aroused. It is the intelligent conversation, deep empathy, a gentle unraveling of the meaning of pleasure, and the incredible depth of performances by Emma and Daryl that captivates. Katy Brand’s well-constructed and intelligent dialogues bring out the complex and intricate issues of sexuality with a sensitivity that is refreshing and rare these days.
Nancy begins the movie by admitting she has never had a real orgasm in her life. She always faked it when her husband made love. Now that he is gone, she wants to experience what it feels like. She experiences one right at the end of the movie, not during sex, but after it, by merely watching Leo casually walk naked across the hotel room. It is a powerful scene. When the mental blocks are removed, the senses operate with natural ease, and the doors of perception (as William Blake called it) becomes highly sensitive to every sensory impression, everything becomes eros, filled with love and overflowing sensuality. That is the natural state of the human body. Unfortunately, It is civilized life that distorts its effortless functioning.
At sixty-three years, when most actresses would like to cover their bodies with layers of clothing, Emma Thompson stands nude in front of the camera unconditionally comfortable with her body, and in deep acceptance of what is. It is the crescendo of the movie. After the cathartic sessions with Leo, Emma is now totally at ease with her body. The sagging breasts and the loose skin doesn’t matter anymore. After all, it is this skin that had stayed with her for so long and brought her to where she is right now. It was young and taut once, it is aging and wrinkled now, but it still is her only tangible reality. We live and die with it, and it carries no shame. In the four decades of her acting career, Emma Thompson has won virtually every award and accolade there is to win – two Academy Awards, two British Academy Film Awards, two Golden Globe Awards, a British Academy Television Award, and a Primetime Emmy Award. Alongside Meryl Streep, she is one of the finest actors of our generation. “Good Luck to You, Leo Grande” will rank among the best work she has done. The sheer audacity in accepting such a role, and giving it an intelligent and sensitive treatment, is a testimony to her passion to bring intelligence and sensitivity to the roles she accepts. Nobody portrays vulnerability, hesitation, intelligence, and strength – all in one breath – as well as Emma Thompson can. That is why she was able to portray Jane Austen’s characters so well. Nancy Stokes in “Good luck, Leo Grande” may turn out to be her finest role yet.
The movie unrolls like a four-act play – two actors and a hotel room for the most part. Yet, it is beautifully picturized. There is a coziness to the camera angles and the lighting, and the close-up shots. There is hardly a misplaced expression on Emma and Daryl’s faces, each one comfortable with the other and even the physicality between them is natural and unforced. In short, great chemistry between the two helps the director convey the essence without any distraction. We stop watching the bodies and start paying heed to what the characters are discussing. That is an accomplishment for a movie about sex.
If you have a subscription to Hulu, you are an adult and are not squeamish about sexuality and its dimensions, I recommend this movie.