Poly-themed Movies

flakey

New member
Hey everybody :)

In my first post, when talking about my wife, I mentioned how I thought watching typical romantic comedies afected her negatively by creating a certain image of how relationships are/should be.

So I was wondering if there's any movies that actually do portray polyamory out there, or at least hints of it.

What about music, and other art forms? There must be people expressing themselves out there about polyamory, no?


The only example I can think of right now is the triad portrayed in Woody Allen's Vicky Cristina Barcelona... Interesting movie, by the way.

Anything else anybody think of ?
 
I'm a huge fan of "Shortbus". It's very human, creative, thoughtful and just makes me feel all warm and fuzzy too. And the "Sex Not Bombs" room is just plain HAWT :)
 
After a quick online search, here is a list I found.... (I have not seen any of these)

"All That Jazz" (1979) Bob Fosse (Roy Sheider, Jessica Lange, Leland Palmer, Ann Reinking, John Lithgow, Ben Vereen, Sandahl Bergman, Wallace Shawn)
This musical semi-autobiography of drinking, smoking, pill-popping, womanizing choreographer Bob Fosse spends a large fraction of its time dealing with his constant cheating and the effects it has on the people who love him. More cheating than polyam, more polyam than polyfi, but well done and doesn't pull any punches.

"Anna and the King" (1999) Andy Tennant (Jody Foster, Chow Yun-fat)
Based on the story of Anna Leonowen.

"Big Top Pee-wee" (1988) Randal Kleiser (Pee-wee Herman, Kris Kristofferson, Valeria Golino)
A subplot has Pee-wee's former fiancee Winnie taking up with the 3 or 4 Piccolapupula brothers. Boy, does she look happy!

"Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice" (1969) Paul Mazursky (Robert Culp, Natalie Wood, Elliot Gould, Dyan Cannon)
More a wife-swapping tale than any model for a healthy poly relationship. Still, widely known, and helped raise poly questions in many people's minds when it first came out.

"Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid" (1969) George Roy Hill (Paul Newman, Robert Redford, Katharine Ross)
"Has a very active poly flavor to it. While it was never stated as such, both men seemed to have a very active relationship with the woman." - Gene Wolf

"Cafe au Lait" French film about a woman who becomes pregnant by one of her lovers. The three of them wind up forming a family of sorts to raise the child.

"Carrington" (1995) Christopher Hampton (Emma Thompson, Jonathan Pryce [best actor, Cannes])
"The true story of a bunch of writers and artists in England in the 20's, 'The Bloomsbury group', of which perhaps Virginia Woolf is the most well-known outside literary circles but she does not appear in the film. Jonathan Pryce plays a gay man; Emma Thompson is straight but in love with him; eventually she marries another, bisexual man and the three of them live together for some time. Problems occur when (1) Thompson's first fiancee has difficulties giving her up; (2) Thompson has a secret affair with the bisexual man's closest friend; (3) the bisexual man openly introduces another woman into the arrangement, which Thompson doesn't mind but Pryce does; (4) Pryce falls ill." - (anonymous)

"A Change of Seasons" (1980) Richard Lang (Shirley Maclaine, Anthony Hopkins, Bo Derek, Mary Beth Hurt)
A surprisingly good performance from Bo Derek, and a superb one from Shirley Maclaine, help elevate this movie above the norm. Maclaine's professor husband (Hopkins) has an affair with Derek; she then has an affair of her own, and the four decide to go on a holiday together to see whether they can work something out ...

"Enemies: A Love Story" (1989) Paul Mazursky (Anjelica Huston, Lena Olin)
From a story by Isaac Bashevis Singer. A man with three female partners gets very different things from each relationship.
"An interesting depiction of what I call 'squeaky wheel poly', where the person who yells the loudest about problems is the one who gets most of the attention" - Stef Jones

"French Twist" ["Gazon Maudit"] (1995) Josiane Balasko (Victoria Abril, Josiane Balasko, Alain Chabat)
About a woman who ends up with a husband and a wife. Very funny, with lots of realistic irrationality as they work through all the issues. There is a review at the Out magazine web site which includes the following quote: "Everybody dreams of having this, your house, your husband, your children, and your wife," Abril says with an impish laugh. "You would have no guilt, no clandestinity, no lies. What more could you ask for?" How about a sequel?

"The Hunger" (1983) Tony Scott (Susan Sarandon, David Bowie, Catherine Deneuve)
More bi than poly, and only a few moments of that (between Deneuve and Sarandon, and then at the very end Sarandon appears to have new partners of both genders).

"Lovin' Molly" (1974) Sidney Lumet (Beau Bridges, Blythe Danner, Anthony Perkins, Susan Sarandon)
Follows the lives of three men and the one woman they share from the time they are children until they are seniors. One man, who you never see, is the legal husband (and her first lover), the other two are best friends and her alternate lovers. Based on "Leaving Cheyenne" by Larry McMurtry.

"Micki + Maude" (1984) Blake Edwards
(Amy Irving, Dudley Moore, Ann Reinking, Wallace Shawn, Andre the Giant)
A man who wants a child badly ends up getting both wife and girlfriend pregnant.

"No Way Out" (1987) Roger Donaldson (Kevin Costner, Sean Young, Gene Hackman)
Costner gets involved with Young, who is already involved with his boss (Hackman). Bad things happen. She actively says that she is poly (before she is killed).

"Paint Your Wagon"(1969) Joshua Logan (Lee Marvin, Clint Eastwood, Jean Seberg, Ray Walston)
Lee Marvin and Clint Eastwood live in a triple relationship with Jean Seberg. The woman is sold off to the highest bidder (Marvin) by her Mormon husband, then makes up her mind that she is in love with both Marvin and Eastwood. Since her former husband had two wives, she reasons, why can't she have two husbands? There is absolutely no hint of sexual involvement between the two men.

"Rita, Sue and Bob too" (1986) Alan Clarke (Siobhan Finneran, Michelle Holmes, George Costigan)
A married man's affair with two younger women causes his wife to leave him. Can the three lovers transmute their sexual interest into something more lasting?

"She's Gotta Have It" (1986) Spike Lee
A story of a woman with 3 boyfriends who each are trying to get her to give up the other boyfriends.

"Splendor" (1999) Greg Araki (Johnathon Schaech, Matt Keeslar, Kathleen Robertson)
"an excellent movie. It is about a MFM triad, and covers the beginning of the poly relationship, and they have to decide, when the female becomes pregnant, how to keep the family together. The two males have to work together to show how much they really need the female and how much they love her. ... a good ending"

"The Unbearable Lightness Of Being" (1988) Philip Kaufman (Lena Olin, Daniel Day-Lewis, Juliette Binoche)
The womanizing Tomas falls in love with monogamous Tereza, but only his lover Sabina truly understands him. Meanwhile, Russian tanks roll into Prague. Highly recommended.

"Willie and Phil" (1980) Paul Mazursky (Michael Ontkean, Ray Sharkey, Margot Kidder, Natalie Wood)
About a trio polyamorous relationship.
 
Good Movies

I was in Blockbuster with T the other night trying to decide what movie to watch and he asked if I knew of any good poly-oriented movies (so far we've seen Vicky Cristina Barcelona) and I didn't.

Does anyone know of any good ones out there that are easily rentable?
 
Here's a couple

1. "Threesome" mid-90's with Stephen Baldwin and Laura Flynn-Boyle. Fantastic! I watched it with LR not long after it came out on video. (Before rental DVD's even!)

2. Can't remember the name but if you cross reference-Google Robin Wright-Penn/ Colin Ferrel. It wasn't bad.

Those were the two off the top of my head, but if I think of any more, I'll let you know! =o)
 
I don't even know if you can get this movie anywhere, but I saw it in France and it was hilarious. Gazon Maudit. It has to do with a monogamous couple, with a husband who neglects his wife and she takes on a lesbian lover. The 3 of them have to figure out a way to coexist.
 
Thanks everyone Im going to check these out next time I sit down for movies with T. Has anyone seen Design For Living?
 
Has anyone seen "It's Complicated" yet? From what I could tell from the previews, it looked as if Meryl Streep's character was involved with two men (but I don't know if they knew about each other).
 
Haven't seen it yet, but I believe that Meryl Streep and Alec Baldwin get divorced, he marries his young girlfriend, then starts having an affair with Meryl Streep, his ex-wife.

=o)
 
Oh yah... Paint your wagon! I forgot about that one. I remember my mom loving that movie but letting me know it wasn't right for a women to be in love with 2 men at once. =o)

Funny the things you forget...
 
Well, thanks to Saudade's links, there are some to could check out. =o) I already have "Threesome" saved on instant watch for an evening that we're not all sick as dogs and ready to actually WATCH a movie together. =o)

"Paint your wagon" wouldn't be something Maca would enjoy, it's an old musical. :p

But that "Bandits" sounds cool. =o)
 
I just got this vision of maca singing and dancing

I will have to get that one for the Pengrah, she loves old musicals :)
 
Bandits! squee...

But that "Bandits" sounds cool. =o)

It is! But you need to know it's one of THOSE movies-- it's so terrible that it's actually brilliant to watch. The script was flat and ridiculous, and they got a stellar enough cast that it still sparkles.

Spoiler alert: Cate Blanchett's character falls in with a pair of bank robbers, and then falls in love with each of them. She suggests just dating both of them. Something to this effect:

"What if I don't want to?"
"Don't want to what?"
"Choose. I don't want to choose... I mean, we're bank robbers, right? We break all the rules... I guess I'm an outlaw too."

Few films have made me happier.

End of spoilers

Oh, and Kevin Smith's Chasing Amy certainly isn't a mono film. Not sure what it is, or why it makes me cry every time, but it's worth watching. My tagline on here is a quote from this film.
 
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Frieda

How about "Freida" about the life of Frieda Kahlo and Diego Rivera. They were not polyamorous, but they sure had many loves outside of their marriage. I friggin love Selma Hayek in this role.

Another true story along the same lines I can think of is "Henry and June" based on the diaries of Anias Nin, who struggled with her balancing act between many loves including her husband, cousin, and Henry Miller and his wife June. (The book is waaay better, :) )
 
"it's complicated" is definitly more about an affair then about poly... but there are "complications" which arise in her affair which are kinda inside jokes that poly folks would DEFINITLY appreciate! LOL
 
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