Originally posted 16 years ago: “In ’02 I wrote a short piece about a touchy anatomical subject — i.e., why feet are almost never given close-ups in films.
“Has anyone ever wondered why? Because 90% if not 95% of human feet are strange and alienating, is why. But it goes farther than that. For me, bare feet are a contemporary pestilence that no culture since the sandal-wearing Greeks and Romans has had to deal with. Once upon a time sandled feet were a subject for light mockery, something that only eccentric beatniks went for. Exposed digits have been ubiquitous, of course, in warm weather months since the mid ’60s. I for one regret it.
“Nobody talks about it, but everyone understands. In real life all but the most unusually perfect feet are good for a glance at best, and should rarely be contemplated further. This goes double for the movies. Hands, kneecaps, ear lobes, fingers, noses, biceps, chest hair (or lack of) — these and others anatomical features are routinely displayed in films. But never feet.
“Well, almost never.
“There’s a close-up of Michael Keaton and Geena Davis‘ bare feet soaking in a fountain in Ron Underwood‘s relationship comedy Speechless (1994). An argument could be made that this insert shot was one of the reasons it didn’t perform all that strongly. I remember recoiling in my theater seat after glancing at those gleaming, well-pedicured nubs and deciding I would give Speechless a failing grade.”
Update: I don’t know how many times Quentin Tarantino has zeroed in on women’s feet, but the only instance I recall is Melanie Laurent‘s bare-footed running in Inglorious Basterds.
“The only tolerable close-up of male peds happens about a half hour into Nicholas Ray‘s King of Kings (1961). Jeffrey Hunter‘s Nazarene is looking for spiritual purification in the desert, and at one point the camera cuts to a shot of his bleeding feet stepping on sand and cactus thorns and sharp stones. Hunter’s feet (perhaps Ray used a foot double?) looked good — lean, tanned, athletic, perfect pedicure.
“Having bad feet can really mess with the aura that an attractive or extra-talented movie star has carefully built up. One definition of bad feet are those with extra-long European-styled toes. New York writer Pete Hamill once described the toes belonging to Nastassja Kinski‘s for an interview he did with her in the early ’80s as ‘bad toes.’ So I’m not the first one to bring this up.
