10 Best Erotic Scenes

For those of you worn out by the travails of daily life, a sampling of the 10 best erotic scenes in movies can provide some moments of pleasant distraction that will hopefully spur deconstruction, discussion and debate.  Without further ado, here is a list of erotic moments that will leave an indelible impression on hearts and minds:

1. "Don't Look Now" Donald Sutherland and Julie Christie fearlessly display their bodies in a lovemaking scene brilliantly intercut with shots of them getting dressed for dinner.  This is how real sex looks and sounds, not artificial or manufactured, but groping and desperate and oh so real that rumors persisted for years that the actors had actually had sex in the scene to give it the utmost credibility.
2. "Body Heat" Kathleen Turner plays head games with William Hurt in the Florida heat, as they literally sweat their way through a seduction that culminates in the scene where Hurt's character stands outside a window, gazing at Turner who stands in her bedroom with a come-hither look that fairly scorches the screen.  Unable to stand the teasing, Hurt breaks the window and goes to claim his prize, and movie history is made with one of the greatest slow-burn moments of erotic desire in movie history. 
3. "Mulholland Drive" The sexual tension between Naomi Watts and Laura Harring finally comes to a boil in a bedroom scene that is playful and especially erotic in that very little nudity is shown.  Watts' character is the aggressor, and the contrast between her pale, blonde body against Harring's tanned, dark-haired form adds to the erotic ambience. 
4. "Lost Highway" Patricia Arquette is the seductive girlfriend of a mobster, involved with Balthazar Getty, a mechanic in over his head.  In a desert scene, the two make love in the glare of a car's headlights, bodies glazed and slightly out-of-focus, lending the scene an aspect of passionate, erotic illusion.
5. "Unbearable Lightness of Being" Juliette Binoche and Lena Olin form an emotional connection, and in a scene of great erotic power, they photograph each other in various stages of undress, then play a spirited game of naked hide-and-seek. 
6. "Y Tu Mama Tambien" A road-trip film with two adolescents and a ravishing woman they both covet, this film's entire run-time is filled with erotic longing, passion and lust.  And yet for all it's nudity, the most erotic scene is the moment, when the woman, played by Maribel Verdu, wakes up on an early morning and walks into the ocean, the look of wonderment and freedom on her face more erotic and promising than anything else in the film.
7. "Postman Always Rings Twice" Jack Nicholson and Jessica Lange's attraction finally explodes when he tries to seduce her and she slaps and belittles his manhood.  He lifts her and she wraps her legs around his waist and they make love against the wall, their clothes still on. Prime example of how nudity often ruins erotic moments, because what isn't seen is far sexier than what is, and the look of rapture on Lange's face is more erotic than any full display of her body could have been.
8. "Last Tango In Paris" Marlon Brando's character gives a bath to Romy Schneider, his young, confused lover, while telling her a story about his dead wife.  It's a quiet, contemplative moment, but the way she listens and the way Brando tells it, while almost absently washing her is understated and cloaked in desire.
9. "Unfaithful" Diane Lane stars as the titular cheating wife, and in the best, most erotic scene of the film, the camera lingers closely on her face as she heads home from an assignation with Martinez, and the passion, lust, sadness and guilt on her face tell the whole story of the film in one unforgettable minute.
10. "Hud" Paul Newman's rogue cowboy sits on the bed of Patricia Neal, a woman he desires, and for nearly 20 seconds of silence, he stares at her with a cockeyed grin while she smokes and returns the look, knowing what he wants, but having no intention of granting his wish.  A great scene of erotic desire without dialogue.