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With lots of kinky gay BDSM sex scenes, elaborately choreographed orgies, full-frontal nudity and men in rubber, “Pillion” has easily been among the most sexually graphic films of Cannes so far (and also one of its most warmly received).
But it turns out the festival cut of the unorthodox romance — which screened in the Un Certain Regard section — was a mere bagatelle compared to what could have been shown.
According to first-time director Harry Lighton, several scenes from the film — about a meek young man (Harry Melling) who becomes the sexual submissive to a tall domineering alpha male biker (Alexander Skarsgard) — were cut to spare the blushes of the crowd in Cannes.
“It was purely because I didn’t want to push the audience into feeling they were being deliberately shocked by an image,” he explains to Variety. “So for example, there was one close up of a dick, a hard dick … like down the barrel of the lens. And after watching the film on that ‘fuck-off’ screen I thought, yeah, cutting it was probably the right decision!”
As Skarsgard notes: “There’s definitely a raunchier version of this movie … what you’ve seen is the family friendly version… there’s also the Alexander Skarsgard cut.”
There could be more edits for “Pillion” ahead to ensure it gets a release in the U.S. (where it’s with A24), with Lighton admitting that he has to “de-shine” some ejaculation.
“Apparently that’s what pushes you over the edge!”
For all the wildly graphic nature of the film — even without the bits that end up on the cutting room floor or are de-shined away — “Pillion” at its heart is a touching and frequently hilarious romance about an introverted man’s journey of self-discovery, a journey that just happens to involve a whole lot of BDSM. And that’s what drew Melling to the project when he was sent the script.
“What’s so interesting about it, for me, was how it feels so relatable and familiar, but maybe dealing with a subculture that people aren’t so familiar with,” he explains. “It was how those two things interplay that I found so fascinating. You were taking romantic comedy tropes and subverting them.”
For Skarsgard, chosen by Lighton because he needed a “six foot blonde guy” (and, jokes the actor, “Chris Hemsworth wasn’t available”), the film came his way after a series of darker roles.
“I was coming off some quite dark films, character-wise, like ‘The Northman’ and ‘Infinity Pool,'” he says. “So I was ready for a conventional rom-com!”
But how did Skarsgard feel about being objectified on screen, especially given the amount of scenes in “Pillion” where his character is seen slowly unzipping his biker leathers to show his muscular physique beneath (and all watched on by a mesmerized Melling)?
“Oh yeah,” smiles Skarsgard. “It was delicious!”
English (US) ·