Throughout cinema history, there have been some iconic nude scenes that have transcended the bounds of the films in which they appeared. Our weekly columnAnatomy of a Scene's Manatomywill take an in-depth look at these scenes, their history, their deeper meanings, and their legacy.
This October, we're offering upsomeseasonally appropriatechills and thrills—along with our patented spills—with a month of horror movies that bring more male nudity to the table than their contemporaries! This week, Danny Boyle's 28 Days Laterintroduces international audiences to fast-moving zombies, Cillian Murphy, and Cillian's cock!
One of the biggest sleeper hits of the summer of 2003 in North America was Danny Boyle's take on the zombie genre 28 Days Later. In a summerlittered with big budget disappointments, audiences made their way to this uniquetwist on a very familiar genre. The film had been released the previous November in the UK and was a modest hit, grossing roughly six million pounds against a budget of five, but it was far from a smash. This caused distributor Fox Searchlight to givethe film a limited release in the US that summer, not really expecting it to do much business.
Boyle himself was in something of a lost period as a director in the early 2000s,seemingly lost after failing to meetthe sky high expectations forThe Beach.While that flickdid okay at the box office, it was apparently very trying for him to make, driving him to get scrappy for his follow-up. 28 Days Later was based on an idea that Beach novelist Alex Garland had for a zombie apocalypse story where the zombies moved quickly, instead of lumbering toward their victims. Hoping to keep costs down for this film—as they had ballooned beyond his control on The Beach—Boyle decided to cast mostly unknown actors in the film. This would not only keep production costs down, but also add to the verisimilitude of the endeavor.
Speaking of which, Boyle decided to also shoot digitally, which certainly wasn't unheard of at the time, but wasn't yet the norm. The technology allowed him to shoot quickly, cutting down on the additional expenses of shooting on film, and while it doesn't look very good through 2020 eyes, the film really couldn't have gotten made any other way. To help ground things a bit, Boyle did turn to two character actors familiar to most audiences, even outside of the UK. Brendan Gleeson and Christopher Ecclestonplay fairly major parts in the film's second and third act, respectively, but are ultimately not among the main characters.
For the male lead, Boyle went with Cillian Murphy, thenworking mostly in bit parts in movies. He had garnered some attention in 2001 with a much larger role in the miniseries The Way We Live Now, but was still a complete unknown outside of cultured British circles. This obviously didn't last long as he quickly became one of the most in-demand actors in Hollywood, but at this particular moment, he had the right level of anonymity to better sell Boyle's concept. What's even more fascinating, though, is how we're introduced to him, especially when you consider how recognizable he is nearly 20 years later.
The film's first five minutes—and then some, in fairness—are devoted to pure expository set-up to firmly establish the world in which the film is set. A group of animal activists and anarchists set free a group of infected chimpanzees from a laboratory, causing a new infectious disease called Rage to spread through the British population. Most of said population was decimated by swarms of infected humans who move with athletic speed in overwhelming numbers, with a handful of survivors making it by establishing routines to stay alive.
The film then jumps the titular number of days into the infection, where we cut to a decimated and mostly deserted St. Thomas Hospital in London. Here we meet Jim, played by Cillian Murphy—who has been in a coma whileall of this shit was going down—just naked on a hospital bed. Five minutes into one of the biggest hits of the summer of 2003, we get an extended look at our protagonist's dick...
By the end of 2003, Murphy had a small but consequential role in the Oscar winning drama Cold Mountain.Twoyears later,he was playing Scarecrow in Batman Begins and the rest, as they say, is history. He's carved out quite a niche for himself, never getting to the level of stardom or acclaim many of his early fans thought he'd reach, but it's almost more impressive that he continues to be considered underrated as a result of his career choices. One can't help but think that he's achieved the exact level of success he had hoped for because his career does seem very deliberately orchestrated. It's also interesting to consider, in this particular light, that he hasn't done a full frontal scene since.
Of course Murphy wasn't the only one to get a major career boost out of his participation in28 Days Later. His co-star Naomie Harris saw her star rise steadily after this film, including landing an Oscar nomination for 2016's Best Picture winnerMoonlight. Director Danny Boyle would winan Oscar for 2008's Slumdog Millionaire,which was alsothehighest grossing film of that decade. Screenwriter Alex Garland would alsogo on to bigger and better things, scoring an Oscar nom for scripting his 2015 directorial debut Ex Machina.Gleeson and Eccleston also landed, respectively, in the Harry Potter andDr. Who Universes, so it's hard to argue they haven't done alright for themselves.
It's strange now to think that so many careers were launched—or re-launched—in a cheaply made, quickly shot British zombie movie that inexplicably grossedeight times its budget in a crowded American summer movie season, whichopens with a shot of its male lead naked.
Catch up with our Spooky Horror Editions of Anatomy of a Scene's Manatomy...
—David Naughton in An American Werewolf in London
Catch up withALL of our other editions of Anatomy of a Scene's Manatomy...
—Oliver Reed Alan Bates inWomen in Love
—Ewan McGregor inVelvet Goldmine
—A Pair of Stars are Born inY Tu Mamá También
—Harvey Keitel inBad Lieutenant
—Viggo Mortensen inEastern Promises
—Jason Segel inForgetting Sarah Marshall
—Jaye DavidsoninThe Crying Game
—David Bowie Rip Torn inThe Man Who Fell to Earth
—John Cameron MitchellinHedwig and the Angry Inch
—Ross Lynch inMy Friend Dahmer
—Rocketmanvs.Bohemian Rhapsody
—Bruce Willis inColor of Night
—Robert De Niro and Gerard Depardieu in Bertolucci's1900
—Louis Garrel inGodard Mon Amour
—Henry Juneand the NC-17 Rating
—The Gay Cowboys ofBrokeback Mountain
—Tom CruiseinAll the Right Moves
—Christopher Atkins inThe Blue Lagoon
—Sylvester StalloneinThe Italian Stallion
—9 SongsCombines Real Music with Real Sex
—The Naked Men ofA Room with a View
—John Cameron Mitchell'sShortbus
—Ben Affleck's Abnormally Smooth Dick inGone Girl
—Joseph Gordon-Levitt inMysterious Skin
—Will SmithinSix Degrees of Separation
—Richard Gere inAmerican Gigolo
—Ralph Fiennes and Matthias Schoenaerts inA Bigger Splash
