Wednesday, November 11, 2015

Gaspar Noé’s Love

Gaspar Noé is the most polarizing film director currently in the game. He makes uncommonly challenging and profane works. For more than a decade, I have passionately defended Noé’s films not only as art, but great art at that. I understand Noé’s intention, and, while extreme, I find value in it. His first feature, I Stand Alone, climaxes with a massive title card warning the audience that they have 30 seconds to leave the theater. When the title disappears, Noé spends the remainder of his film justifying that warning. Bad things happen in I Stand Alone. Horrible, brutal things. But look closer. Did they happen the way the main character perceived them?

Irreversible, Noé’s second feature, is a rape revenge film told in reverse. The narrative 180 means everything. It means the film begins with a horrific act of violence (one that captures how rage clouds judgment), and concludes with a scene of astonishing beauty. Yes, the center of the film (whether told backward or forward) displays a gruesome rape, but Noé said his intention with Irreversible was to show violence at its absolute worst. No one would argue whether or not he accomplished his objective, but whether he did so with resonance is a matter of strong opinion.

Noé’s Enter the Void is a psychosexual mind fuck that words cannot encapsulate. Noé sought to make a film that portrays what it is really like to trip on hallucinogenic drugs. No matter your personal degree of experience with psychotropic substances, if you’ve seen Enter the Void, you know that, for better or worse, Noé’s intention was again fully realized. 
And now we have Love, Gaspar Noé’s big, bold, beautiful new film about the physical joys and emotional cruelties of young love. The film features real acts of (consensual, modest, and truthful) sex, stunning 3D cinematography, a flawless soundtrack, and a trio of fearless performances. 

Murphy (Karl Glusman) wakes up on the first day of a new year to the sound of his cell phone ringing. He ignores the call. It’s early. He’s still high from whatever he took the night before. He walks to his infant son’s room, plays with him for a bit, heads back to bed. Once in his bedroom, the mother of his child, Omi (Klara Kristin), asks him who called. It was the mother of Murphy’s ex-girlfriend, Electra (Aomi Muyock). Electra’s mother is worried; she hasn’t spoken to her daughter in months. Murphy contemplates what to do, as he hasn’t heard from Electra in far longer. As Murphy thinks, Love jumps back in time to give us glimpses of Murphy and Electra together.

Noé presents this relationship void of the artifice that accompanies most romantic films. There is partying, drugs, afternoons alone, nights with friends; and yes, there is sex. A lot of sex? For a movie, sure, but for a real life love affair full of youth and energy and passion? Not really. The difference, of course, is that most of the sex in Love is real, meaning that the actors were actually going for it on camera. Hearing this fact about the film, many have written Love off as pornography without having actually seen it. Love is not porn, because, as banal as this may sound, it isn’t a film about sex, but rather, love. Sex is a part of Love, sure, but there’s a lot more at play here, just as there is in real life relationships.
There are many ingredients to a relationship – happiness, sadness, jealousy, fear, betrayal, joy, sex – and in Love, Noé depicts them all with equal verve. The arguments Murphy and Electra have are so devastatingly painful, because they feel so real. While the tender moments between them are earnest and heartwarming. There’s a scene where Murphy sits on his windowsill and reads from a small book, Electra’s head rested comfortably in his lap. Watching this, I realized that Murphy and Electra were just as happy here as they are in the bedroom. That’s love when you’re young and new and don’t know and don’t care. Truly, Love is one of the best, most unflinching encapsulations of love that I’ve ever seen.

Many things help with this. Chiefly, the film’s memory-like editing style. Even though scenes are presented out of order, Love is never hard to keep track of. Murphy remembers Electra the way you might remember your first true love, with the bad mixed with the good, sometimes at the blink of an eye. (Ingeniously, frequent flashes of black appear in Love as if Murphy is blinking away a memory, welcoming a new one, or connecting two together.) The movie really feels like you’re in Murphy’s head.

The trio of central performances are a marvel of naturalism. I never once saw Glusman, Muyock and Kristin “act” in Love, which is bound to throw people off. People expect acting in movies. Big speeches and perfect deliveries. The actors in Love (all virtual unknowns, though Glusman has a few credits to his name) talk how real people talk, messy patterns and all. And the film’s eclectic soundtrack consistently punctuates the characters’ intentions. From Pink Floyd to Bach, Erik Satie to Riz Ortolani, John Frusciante to John Carpenter, Love’s soundtrack is as random as it is complete.
In no uncertain terms, Love executes the most effective use of 3D ever realized for a film. As Noé became interested in 3D photography, he discovered that the more the camera moved, the more nauseating the picture appeared. And, considering most 3D movies fit into the action genre, we’ve never seen a 3D film as still as Love. Every composition in Love is captured through a static lens, or one moving gracefully on a Steadicam. And what fine compositions they are. The film was shot by master cinematographer Benoît Debie (Irreversible, Enter the Void, Spring Breakers), and Love is surely his crowning achievement. There’s a scene in Love where Murphy and Electra get into a fight in a nightclub. The camera is setup in a way that the laser lights in the club break into the frame, blocking our vision as they would in real life. During the scene, I found myself darting my head around, trying to get a better look at the actors. And then it hit me. I slid my 3D glasses off, and there were the lasers, resting gently on the 2D movie screen. I put the glasses back on, and the lasers went back to clouding my line of sight. How profound.

Because Love is a film that will always be best known for sex, I will conclude my analysis by describing two such scenes. One love scene is scored to Funkadelic’s 10 minute opus, “Maggot Brain,” and it is one of the sexiest sequences ever shot. It’s likely to get anyone shifting in their seat. It’s also stunning in its beauty, which adds to its power. Another scene is scored to Brian Eno’s masterful “Always Returning,” and that’s the one that sent me over. Tears slowly formed in my eyes not because the scene was sexy, but because it was so goddamn cinematic. Getting emotional while watching a perfectly pleasurable love scene… that’s never happened to me in a movie before. And now I’m left wondering if it ever will again. A+


20 comments:

  1. I really need to know when it's coming to Atlanta because I want to fucking see this. I fucking love Gaspar Noe and I know he is polarizing but he's a filmmaker that's got the balls to make something daring and not give a fuck whether you like it or not.

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    1. I cannot WAIT to hear what you think about this one. I liked it (a lot) more than most everyone, but I think you'll really appreciate it. I actually think it's coming out on Blu-Ray soon. But man, the 3D in this thing is astounding.

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  2. Wow, I'm shocked at the perfect score! I've heard such mixed things about this one (though to be fair, what Noe film hasn't received such a reaction) but it's nice to hear that this is as good as I was hoping. I guess my biggest concern is still the acting which most people I know who've seen it say is quite bad (though perhaps that's more down to the script). I'm kind of let down that this isn't playing anywhere near me so I won't get to see it in 3D.

    I have to ask though, how was the 3D cum-shot?

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    1. Well, like I said, the acting is very natural. The conversations are similar to conversations you have in real life with real people, which is the opposite of most all movie conversations. We like "acting" because it's pretty and perfect and articulate. It's... cinematic, right? But reality and cinematic are never the same, so when a movie has natural performances, the tendency is for most people to call those performances stilted. Soderbergh gets natural work out of his actors (Sasha Grey, Cody Horn, Debbie Doebereiner, Gina Carano, etc). But me, I just love when actors talk how real people talk.

      "The shot" is exactly what you think it's going to be. Pretty hilarious, the audience I was with burst into applause. Noe wants it to be funny.

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  3. Perfect score? Damn, I think this is the most positive review of Love I've read so far. I've only seen Enter the Void, which I loved, and I'm honestly a bit scared of watching Irreversible. However, I'll keep your praises for Love in mind and hopefully I'll be able to watch it soon. Wonderful review!

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    1. Thanks Aditya! I assumed I would like Love, but I didn't know I would absolutely fucking adore it. It really tapped into me. I thought it was perfect.

      Irreversible is a rough ride. But one that I think is very valuable.

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  4. The more I reflect on Irreversible, the more I adore what it did. I am sadly not old enough to go and see Love- and this review really makes me resent that :D Sounds incredible. I have the remainder of Noe's work fixed in my cross-hairs as I speak, as long as I can survive those opening titles :/

    Also: saw Wild Strawberries again yesterday. The fact that Bergman wrote it before he was even 40 astounds me.

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    1. I love hearing that. It's great to find people who see the worth in Irreversible. And those credits in I Stand Alone actually appear with 10 minutes left in the movie, not at the beginning. Still, they are a rough 10 minutes.

      Isn't that crazy about Bergman? Man was a genius.

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    2. aha I was referring to Enter The Void's crazy credits. I'm a little apprehensive to discover what lurks behind that 30 second warning in I Stand Alone, though :/

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    3. Ohhhh gotcha. I love those credits. Such a perfect way to begin that film.

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  5. Wow, great review. I've only seen Enter the Void from Noe, but I liked it. I'll never watch Irreversible, I know I can't do it. Though I did through I Stand Alone in my Netflix queue.

    This sounds intriguing, and I kind of got The Dreamers vibes from that picture you used of the three lying next to each other. I will have to keep an eye out for this.

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    1. Thanks! There's definitely a Dreamers vibe to Love. They'd make a great double feature.

      Totally understand about Irreversible. I have told certain friends that they should actively avoid that film. It simply wouldn't be for them, for a number of reasons.

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  6. Enter the Void impressed me and was like nothing I had ever seen before. Glad you had a great experience with the director's latest! As I type, I'm youtubing songs by Brian Eno and Funkadelic you mentioned

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    1. It's such a trip, that film. Like whoa. Hope you dig those tracks! "Maggot Brain" is incredible.

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  7. I'm so excited for this. Its playing at only ONE cinema in my city but I'm gonna make the trek. 3D Gaspar Noé love epic. I can't miss this.

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    1. Yessss, pleasssse go see it. And come back and let me know what you think!

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  8. I just managed to see the 2nd to last showing of this last night. Unfortunately it wasn't in 3D, but it still blew me away. I've seen both Enter the Void and Irreversible, but this is my first time seeing a Gaspar Noe film in a theater.

    I love the cinematography (especially the lighting) and the soundtrack. All the acting felt so candid and intimate. I'll always wonder what this film would have been like with Monica Belluci and Vincent Cassel.

    Regardless I'm glad I caught this. This review reminded me to look up local showings.

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    1. Oh man, this comment made me so happy. I'm so, so pleased that this review could motivate you to see the film. And, more importantly, I'm SO happy you appreciated it. The Bellucci/Cassel castin would've been such an inspired movie, but I do like the fact that there are unknowns here. Still, thanks so much for the comment.

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  9. Irreversible and Enter the Void are works of a visionary director, but I just couldn't go along with Noe on this one. It's too indulgent, and never fully engaged me. Perhaps I should give it another look. Glad you loved it though, man. It's always interesting to see where people fall on a film like this.

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    1. That's definitely fair enough. Hey man, I'm just glad you gave it a chance. So many people were so quick to write this one off without actually seeing it.

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