Skin: A History of Nudity in the Movies (2020)

The definitive documentary on the history of nudity in feature films from the early silent days to the present, studying the changes in morality that led to the use of nudity in films while... See full summary »

Director:

Danny Wolf

Writers:

Paul Fishbein, Danny Wolf

Stars:

Warren Beatty, Martine Beswick, Linda Blair

Cast

Credited cast:
Warren Beatty	...	Self (archive footage)
Martine Beswick	...	Self
Linda Blair	...	Self
Peter Bogdanovich	...	Self: Interviewee
Clara Bow	...	Self (archive footage)
Joseph I. Breen	...	Self (archive footage)
Phoebe Cates	...	Self (archive footage)
Claudette Colbert	...	Self (archive footage)
Martha Coolidge	...	Self
Elizabeth Daily	...	Self: Interviewee (as E.G. Daily)
Sybil Danning	...	Self (2019)
Joe Dante	...	Self (2019)
Bruce Davison	...	Self: Interviewee
Ken Davitian	...	Self
Kristine DeBell	...	Self

Storyline

The definitive documentary on the history of nudity in feature films from the early silent days to the present, studying the changes in morality that led to the use of nudity in films while emphasizing the political, sociological and artistic changes that shaped that history. Skin will also study the gender inequality in presenting nude images in motion pictures and will follow the revolution that has created nude gender equality in feature films today. It culminates in a discussion of "what are nude scenes like in the age of the #METOO movement" as well as a look at CGI nudity that seems a large part of motion pictures' future. The documentary will compare the use of nudity to further storylines vs. simple exploitation and discuss how nudity is used in movies today with the explosion of must-see television and its influence on the film medium.

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Plot Keywords:

vagina | labia | female full frontal nudity | female full rear nudity | female pubic hair | 

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Taglines:

The definitive documentary on the history of nudity in feature films from the early silent days to the present, studying the changes in morality that led to the use of nudity in films while emphasizing the political, sociological and artistic changes that shaped that history.

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Genres:

Documentary

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Did You Know?

Trivia

CinemaBlend spoke with director Danny Wolf and he told them that even he was surprised what actors the new documentary was able to speak with, and what topics they were willing to cover. Wolf mentioned several controversial nude scenes that the movie deals with, including the infamous male nudity in Borat (2006) and the rape-revenge film I Spit On Your Grave (1978), but beyond even those Wolf was shocked that Mariel Hemingway was willing to speak about her portrayal of Playboy centerfold Dorthy Stratten, in the controversial Star 80. According to Wolf: "I like a documentary where you never know who'll pop up next. How cool is it that you wouldn't expect Kristine DeBell from Alice in Wonderland to pop up, or Camille Keaton from I Spit on Your Grave. Or Ken Davitian from Borat. These people all did interesting, talked-about, controversial nude scenes in their movies, and I think those are the stories, and those are the people, that make this documentary interesting. It's not just who you expect to see. It's, 'Oh my gosh, I can't believe they got that person.' Or, 'Oh wow, Mariel Hemingway is actually going to talk about her nudity in Star 80.' Which has been a controversial topic for years, and here she is addressing it."

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Quotes

Malcolm McDowell: [talking about the release of 'Caligula' after it been spliced together with scenes of unsimulated sex] I hated it because, you know, somewhere when you watch that movie, you realise there is really a wonderful movie here, that's been sort of hijacked by Bob Guccione, who was the publisher of Penthouse. But he had absolutely no taste, and all you had to do was look at his magazine to figure that out!

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Connections

Features Bad Lieutenant (1992)

User Reviews

Lots of female history, as told by a bunch of men

The history is really neat and thorough, some of the interviews were cool, but overall, this film is clearly from the predominantly male perspective. There are some "redeeming" monologues where actresses talk about the consensual (or not) aspects of the shoots, but mostly it's 40 minutes too long and features mostly male interviews with "experts" on the topic. I heard so much about the male interviewees personal preferences for their favorite nude scenes, way more than any honest female perspectives. They feature a ton of shots of rape scenes (I figured they'd certainly talk about it, show some periodically, but they just flash right to the most violent moments a lot) some of which are not mentioned as rape scenes. Very white, very male, completely avoids anything having to do with the feminist or non-white moments of history occurring over the years while the cinema was evolving.

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

18 August 2020 (USA)

Also Known As:

Skin: A History of Nudity in the Movies

Box Office

Budget:

$375,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Plausible Films

Technical Specs

Runtime:

130 min

Color:

Color