Nudity in Film

Nudity in film is any presentation in motion pictures of people while naked or wearing less clothing than contemporary norms consider modest. The presentation of nudity, in films or otherwise, has long been controversial, and most nude scenes in films have had to be justified as being part of the story, in the concept of "artistically justifiable nudity". In some cases nudity is itself the object of a film or is used in the development of the character of the subject. In some cases, nudity has been criticized as "superfluous" or "gratuitous" to the plot, and some film producers have been accused of including nudity in a film to appeal to certain audiences. Many actors and actresses have appeared nude, or exposing parts of their bodies or dressed in ways considered provocative by contemporary standards at some point in their careers.

Nudity in film should be distinguished from sex in film. Erotic films are suggestive of sexuality, and usually contain nudity, though that is not a prerequisite. Nudity in a sexual context is common in pornographic films, but softcore pornographic films generally avoid depiction of a penis or a vagina. A film on naturism or about people where nudity is common may contain non-sexual nudity, and some other non-pornographic films may contain very brief nude scenes. The vast majority of nudity in film is found in pornographic films.

Nude scenes can be controversial in some cultures because they may challenge some of the community's standards of modesty. These standards vary by culture, and depend on the type of nudity, who is exposed, which parts of the body are exposed, the duration of the exposure, the pose, the context, and other aspects. Regardless, in many cultures nudity in film is subject to censorship or rating regimes which control the content of films, with the intention of limiting content that is deemed by the classification authorities or the movie industry, or both, to be harmful or undesirable, morally or otherwise.

Many directors and producers apply self-censorship, limiting nudity (and other content) in their films, to avoid external censorship or a strict rating, in countries that have a rating system. Directors and producers may choose to limit nudity because of objections from actors involved, or for a wide variety of other personal, artistic, genre-bound or narrative-oriented reasons.

Over the years, the nudity in film was a source of scandal and provocation; but its presence today is treated largely naturally, frequently with nudity being shown in scenes that naturally require it, such as those that take place in nature or in the bathroom or in love scenes. For example, The Blue Lagoon (1980), by Randal Kleiser, shows the awakening of the sexual instinct in two shipwrecked young people on a tropical island where nudity is part and parcel of the natural environment in which they move. The relationship between a painter and his model, who traditionally poses in the nude, is the context of a number of films. In La Belle Noiseuse ("The Beautiful Liar", 1991), by Jacques Rivette, the painter's model motivates him again after a period of lack of inspiration of the artist. Similarly, in Titanic (1997), by James Cameron, Kate Winslet poses nude for Leonardo DiCaprio. These films show the close relationship between film and the traditional art nude in art in films such as The Adventures of Baron Munchausen (1988), by Terry Gilliam, where Uma Thurman poses as Botticelli's The Birth of Venus, and Goya in Bordeaux (1999) by Carlos Saura, where Maribel Verdú poses as Goya's The Naked Maja.