The ridiculous reason why Ben Whishaw’s queer drama ‘Passages’ received an NC-17 rating
Passages—the queer love triangle drama from acclaimed filmmaker Ira Sachs—with an infamous NC-17 rating.Immediately, that puts a certain idea in your head about what kind of movie Passages might be: “Oh, NC-17?
They must be f*ckin’ in this one—gratuitous nudity, explicit sex, and more, right?”Well, not quite. While the feature does include its fair share of love-making scenes (including an extended one with a “rear view,” which we’ll get to in a minute), it’s certainly not lewd or crude, and no more revealing than plenty of other films that have garnered an R rating.So what’s the problem then?
As many are quick to point out, Passages‘ NC-17 rating reeks of homophobia, inspiring writer-director Sachs to call out the MPA for being “anti-gay, anti-progress, anti-sex.”To back up a bit, Passages is the story of a long-term couple, fussy director Tomas (Great Freedom‘s Franz Rogowski) and introspective artist Martin (out star Ben Whishaw), and a spirited woman named Agathe (Blue Is The Warmest Color‘s Adèle Exarchopoulos) who Tomas sparks a connection with after a surprising tryst.Torn between his partner and his new lover, Tomas ricochets to and from both of their lives, making things messier and messier in the process.
Passages is thorny, horny, darkly funny, romantic, and, yes, very, very sexy.When it premiered at the Sundance Film Festival earlier this year, one scene in particular had audiences talking, in which we watch from behind as Tomas and Martin have passionate sex—in one unbroken, minutes-long scene.
