In the middle of shooting one of his all-time worst films ever, Otto Preminger gambled that a little provocative symbolism might at least get people talking. It did. How different is this clip from, say, the train going into the tunnel shot at the very end of North by Northwest? Not very. The same question comes to mind whenever you watch a striking, decades-old clip. Does this kind of thing happen anymore in mainstream cinema? Or has straight-dealing erotic symbolism (as opposed to its use in a comedic or satiric vein) been pretty much tossed out?
