Warning: This review is of a very R18 film and contains sexual references
If you've always wanted to see 3D footage of ejaculation, this is the movie for you.
Gaspar Noe, one of the most astonishing filmmakers of our time, is back on NZIFF screens with perhaps the most sexually explicit film ever shown at the festival - and his weakest film yet.
Love is certainly pornographic but it is not pornography, though the shallow script and poor acting don't help its lofty artistic aspirations. It's a very simplistic romantic drama that doesn't work very well, but it sure is pretty.
Noe, who edits as well as directs, makes a great duo with cinematographer Benoît Debie yet again. The highly stylised visual delights these two create are always something to behold and that's certainly the case in Love; from meticulous framing to incredible lighting to evocative editing, this is a great-looking film.
Complementing the sexy imagery is an awesome, diverse soundtrack that features Salem, Pink Floyd, Funkadelic, Bach, Satie, Goblin, Death in Vegas and even John Carpenter.
The story, told in a fragmented back-and-forth way, follows an American in Paris named Murphy, a tortured Lothario caught up in a doomed love triangle of his own making.
Murphy is a cretin, the sort that thinks nothing of cheating on his girlfriend multiple times with several women, before becoming furious and devastated when she dares to act in a similar way. His two main girlfriend/victims are both too good for him, their inane sweet-talking and arguing generally a bore.
They never prattle on for too long though, as explicit sex scenes punctuate Love every few minutes or so. Murphy and the gang go at it whenever they get half a chance.
There's a lot of bad acting, but it's worst where it matters most: with the lead. Karl Glusman does Murphy's tired, expressionless thing well, but whenever he has to emote, seams start to show. When he pretends to be distraught and throw a tantrum, those seams burst. This is particularly cringe-inducing thanks to Noe's unforgiving, long takes.
Noe inserts himself into Love in more way than one, as well, along with his usual references to other films and even a few to his own previous works.
"I'm a dick. A dick has only one purpose - to f**k. And I f**ked it all up," whinges Murphy at one point, a great example of the film's scripting and a summary of the plot. There's really not a lot going on.
Yes, there is explicit sex filmed beautifully and in 3D, but that's about it. There are no well-expressed themes, no engaging characters, no interesting story.
What hurts the most is that there's no groundbreaking filmmaking going on. Noe's Irreversible and Enter the Void both used an amazing array of practical and digital techniques to create unbelievable, unique works of art, and could be argued as pushing film forward as a medium.
Love doesn't come close. The marvelous photography and super-cool stylisation can only carry it so far, which falls short of saving it from being a mildly entertaining letdown.
Two stars.
Love is playing in 3D at the 2015 New Zealand Film Festival.
