Love (2015 film)

Love is a 2015 erotic drama art film[5] written and directed by Gaspar Noé.[6] The film marked Noé's fourth directorial venture after a gap of five years. It had its premiere at the 2015 Cannes Film Festival and was released in 3D. The film is notable for its unsimulated sex scenes.

Love
Theatrical release poster
Directed byGaspar Noé
Produced byVincent Maraval
Written byGaspar Noé
Starring
Music by
CinematographyBenoît Debie
Edited by
  • Gaspar Noé
  • Denis Bedlow
Production
company
  • Les Cinémas De La Zone[1]
  • Rectangle Productions
  • Wild Bunch
  • RT Pictures
Distributed byWild Bunch
Release date
  • 20 May 2015 (2015-05-20) (Cannes)
  • 15 July 2015 (2015-07-15) (France)
Running time
135 minutes[2][3]
Country
  • France
  • Belgium
LanguageEnglish[2]
Budget€2.55 million[1]
($2.9 million)
Box office$860,896[4]

Plot

Murphy is an American cinema school student, living in Paris. He had a French girlfriend, called Electra, whom he dated for two years. One day, Murphy and Electra met and had a no-strings-attached threesome with another woman, a young blonde Danish teenager named Omi, as a way to add some excitement to their love life. But later, Murphy had sex with Omi behind Electra's back, as a result of which Omi became pregnant (the condom broke and she is against abortion). This unplanned pregnancy ended the relationship between Murphy and Electra, and it forced Murphy to live with Omi.

On a rainy 1 January morning, Electra's mother, Nora, phones Murphy at the small Paris apartment where he lives with Omi and their 18-month-old son, Gaspar. Nora asks Murphy if he has heard from Electra. Nora has not heard from her for three months; given Electra's suicidal tendencies, Nora is quite worried about her. For the rest of this day, Murphy recalls his relationship with Electra in a series of fragmented, nonlinear flashbacks. Those flashbacks depict their first meeting in Paris; their quick hookup; and their lives over the next two years, which are filled with drug abuse, rough sex and tender moments. Electra's whereabouts and ultimate fate are left unresolved.

Cast
  • Karl Glusman as Murphy
  • Aomi Muyock as Electra
  • Klara Kristin as Omi
  • Ugo Fox as Gaspar (the baby)
  • Juan Saavedra as Julio
  • Gaspar Noé as Noé
  • Isabelle Nicou as Nora
  • Vincent Maraval as Castel
  • Deborah Revy as Paula
  • Stella Rocha as Mama
  • Xamira Zuloaga as Lucile
  • Benoît Debie as Yuyo
  • Omaima S. as Victoire

Production

Love is the screen debut of the film's two main actresses, Muyock and Kristin.[7] Noé met them in a club. He found Karl Glusman for the role of Murphy through a mutual friend.[8] The budget of the film was approximately €2.6 million.[1] Principal photography took place in Paris.[6] Noé has said that the film's screenplay was seven pages long.[9]

In a pre-release interview with Marfa Journal, Noé implied that the film would have an explicitly sexual feel. He asserted that it would "give guys a hard-on and make girls cry".[10]

The film is notable for its unsimulated sex scenes.[9][11][12] According to NPR, "roughly half of Gaspar Noe's Love consists of raw, unsimulated sex acts – presented in 3D, no less".[13] In most cases, the sex scenes were also not choreographed.[14]

Release

The week before its debut at the 2015 Cannes Film Festival, the film's U.S. distribution rights were acquired by Alchemy.[15][16] It was selected to be screened in the Vanguard section of the 2015 Toronto International Film Festival.[17] The film also screened in The International Film Festival of Kerala, held in Thiruvananthapuram.[18]

The film was refused a license to be screened in Russia.[19]

Reception

On Rotten Tomatoes the film holds an approval rating of 40% with an average rating of 5/10, based from 93 reviews. The website's critics consensus states: "Love sees writer-director Gaspar Noé delivering some of his warmest and most personal work; unfortunately, it's also among his most undeveloped and least compelling."[20] On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 51 out of 100, based on 27 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews".[21]

References
  1. Lemercier, Fabien (27 April 2015). "Enfant terrible Gaspar Noé is back with Love". Cineuropa. Retrieved 4 May 2018.
  2. "Love [2D] (18)". British Board of Film Classification. 10 September 2015. Retrieved 11 September 2015.
  3. "Gaspar Noé's LOVE: first official cast & crew list". Le temps detruit tout. 9 May 2015. Archived from the original on 10 May 2015. Retrieved 9 May 2015.
  4. "Love (2015) - International Box Office Results". Box Office Mojo. Internet Movie Database. Retrieved 29 November 2015.
  5. Neuman, Jules (6 November 2015). "Review: Noe's "Love" Has Sex, 3D, and Little Else". The Movie Blog. Retrieved 22 February 2018. Love, Gaspar Noe’s sexy sex filled art house adventure
  6. Pete Hammond (21 May 2015). "Gaspar Noe's 3D Porn Movie 'Love' Lands In Cannes: "This Could Never Have Been Made In America"". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved 22 May 2015.
  7. Webb, Beth (20 May 2015). "Revealed: the 3D sex odyssey set to scandalise Cannes". Retrieved 29 May 2015.
  8. Keijser, Marjolein. ""Love" Press Conference, Movie Review (Cannes)". GrungeCake. Retrieved 30 May 2015.
  9. "Cannes: Is Love the Most Sexually Explicit Film of the Year?". Vulture.
  10. Jagernauth, Kevin. "Gaspar Noe's 3D 'Love' And More Added To Cannes Film Festival Lineup". The Playlist. Retrieved 16 February 2016.
  11. "Director Gaspar Noé explains why real sex scenes were filmed for Love movie". www.irishexaminer.com. 9 December 2015.
  12. Seymour, Tom (21 November 2015). "Gaspar Noé's Love: 'We're not doing anything perverse'" – via www.theguardian.com.
  13. "Graphic Doesn't Mean Interesting, Particularly In 'Love'". NPR.org.
  14. Smith, Nigel. "Cannes: Gaspar Noé on Shooting Sex in 'Love' and Why He Loves His Bad Reviews". Indiewire. Retrieved 29 May 2015.
  15. "Complement to the Official Selection". Cannes Film Festival. 23 April 2015. Archived from the original on 5 May 2015. Retrieved 23 April 2015.
  16. Smith, Nigel M (17 May 2015). "Cannes: Gaspar Noe's 3D Sex Odyssey 'LOVE' Goes to Alchemy". Indiewire. Retrieved 17 May 2015.
  17. "Toronto Film Festival Adds 60+ Titles". IndieWire. Archived from the original on 11 August 2015. Retrieved 11 August 2015.
  18. "Love". Manoramaonline.com.
  19. Tokmasheva, Maria (30 January 2018). "Final cut: Movies that have been banned in Russia". www.rbth.com. Retrieved 8 December 2019.
  20. "Love (2015)". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved 16 January 2021.
  21. "Love reviews". Metacritic. Retrieved 2 November 2015.
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