Sexual Intelligence (2005)

Directed by: Catherine Annau | 82 minutes | documentary | Starring: Kim Cattrall, Michael Bader, Maggie Paley

Oh la la! A sex documentary! About Sexual Intelligence. Featuring ‘Sex & The City’s’ Kim Cattrall. Those become red ears while watching. Would you expect. Not so.

Samantha Jones has become a true phenomenon after six seasons of ‘Sex & The City’. She had sex like men, nice and preferably with as few loving feelings as possible. Actress Kim Cattrall completely appropriated the role of this femme fatale.

In ‘Sexual Intelligence’ she leads the viewer as a guide through different facets of sex and relationships. Where in ‘Sex & The City’ she taught us and delighted us with striking one-liners such as ‘I use my weekends to meet new men so I don’t have to fuck the old ones’ and ‘If only his tongue is lying there while kissing, what do you think his cock does when you end up in bed’ this is a good documentary. Americans are very squeamish when it comes to sex. And Cattrall can’t change that.

Dressed in a long raincoat, Cattrall walks through Pompeii and talks about the artifacts found there. That the focus was on sexuality and that images of pens could be seen everywhere in the streets. The viewer is not much wiser about its meaning. And also not about the link with our sexual intelligence. This knowledge is only used to get the viewer over the sex shame; after all, the distinguished Romans had a lot of sex, so why not us today?

The Greek goddess Aphrodite is also discussed for a long time. As the protector of love and all lovers, she would also be relevant to the same sexual intelligence. However, it is as if this subject is being used as a filling of time. As well as the interviews with six thirty-somethings who talk candidly about their sexual experiences and fantasies. We know these fragments – together with other people, of course – from various documentaries from commercial broadcasters. It seems to be a national hobby these days to dwell on your preferences in bed on television.

Attraction, love, humor and orgasms are the common denominator of the interviewees as ingredients for good sex, in other words: this is the so-called ‘sexual intelligence’.

In an interview, Cattrall states that she has been playing sexually aware women for most of her life. “At my age, I’m expected to play a mother to a married woman. But it’s so great to play a femme fatale.’ In those roles, Cattrall can probably use more of her expertise – that of acting. Superficial sex documentaries aren’t really her thing.