Emma Thompson plays the widow who hires a prostitute

The film “Good Luck, Leo Grande” promotes the debate on body shame, sexual repression and intimacy; see trailer

In Good luck, Leo Grandand, coming out in Brazilian theaters today, Nancy (Emma Thompson) is a 55-year-old widow who decides, once in a lifetime, to experience good sex. For this she hires a professional, Leo Grande (Daryl McCormack), with whom she meets in a London hotel. The film, directed by Sophie Hyde and written by Katy Brand, is a rarity. Thompson really thinks it’s revolutionary. “Let’s face it, female pleasure has never been at the top of the to-do list in current systems,” the actress told The Associated Press. “It was never like, ‘Oh, we have to take care of this.'”

For director Sophie Hyde, who joined the project when Thompson was already cast in the lead role, the film was an opportunity to explore topics that interested her, such as intimacy, power, sex and body. “We bring a lot of shame into our bodies. We were taught this way. It affects our ideas about sexuality and sex and limits our interaction with other people,” Hyde said in an interview with Estadão.

No wonder the film uses mirrors to talk about Nancy and her relationship with her body, with sex and with Leo. At first, Nancy poses in front of the mirror and tries to make herself prettier, knowing that Leo will soon be knocking on her door. Eventually, her relationship with the mirror changed completely: she now sees her body for what she is. “We are so self-conscious of our image and a large part of our life is spent thinking about what others will think about our appearance,” noted Hyde. “It is important that we sometimes also recognize that we are allowed to think about how we feel what our bodies are doing. It seems obvious, but it is not.”

The interaction between people and the building of intimacy were particularly relevant topics because the invitation came a few months after the pandemic. “We were separated from each other, from the world, for quite a while at that point, and the idea of ​​connection and intimacy seemed very powerful to me,” recalled the director.

To talk about it, he needed an actor to act with on tiptoe Emma Thompson, as both characters are on screen 100% of the time, the film takes place exclusively during their encounters. McCormack, a 29-year-old Irishman best known for his role in the Peaky Blinders series, was an actor who combined ideal physique and generosity of spirit with the person beside him. “I think he’s cool that he’s very masculine and very feminine at the same time,” Hyde said. “It allowed us to bring a kind of man to the screen that we don’t see very often.”

In Emma Thompson’s case, what the director admired most was her ability to flip the switch from funny to tragic in an instant. Humor was an essential part of how Hyde wanted to tell this story. “I wanted an entry point into the film that was fun,” she explained. It’s a way to talk about serious things like sex and the body that make us uncomfortable.

Taboo

“We find it very difficult to talk about sex,” Thompson told the AP. “Sex has become taboo and at the same time it has been industrialized and sold to us like a can of sardines. Pleasure is centered on the brain, body and heart. It is important because it is not one center. It is very rare that everyone it’s stimulated. in the right way at the same time. We’re so complicated, aren’t we? Yet we’re not willing to acknowledge that complication because it makes everything more difficult. But actually, in the end, that’s what makes life more interesting. “

The actress assured that she never saw pleasure as something wrong. “Having pleasure is great,” she told the AP. “It is extraordinary that anyone can do it. If we think about the history of masturbation, it is terrible what has been done by the Christian faith and others. The fact that personal pleasure, pleasure for the body, has become something illegitimate seems to me to be problematic. It’s a sin, something diabolical to do to human beings. Because we are made for pleasure, of course. “

Source: Terra

Emily

Emily Jhon is a product and service reviewer at Gossipify, known for her honest evaluations and thorough analysis. With a background in marketing and consumer research, she offers valuable insights to readers. She has been writing for Gossipify for several years and has a degree in Marketing and Consumer Research from the University of Oxford.