If you cut out all the sex scenes in Gaspar Noe's Love, what's left is a wistful, some might say sappy story about heartbreak, made with impressive cinematic elan but somewhat shallow emotional depth, for all its tragic posturing. Like Noe's previous effort, Irreversible, it tells its story out of chronological order, but if a hypothetical editor were to shuffle the scenes around, you could easily get a straight-up boy-meets-girl, boy-loses-girl, boy-pairs-up-with-a-second-girl-he-doesn't much-love-and-feels-sad-about-losing-the-first-girl narrative arc.

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A precious but sadly one-note vanity project, "Love" plays more like the prelude to a movie Noé may still want to figure out. The formidable directorial force on display with both "Enter the Void" and "Irreversible" remains visibly intact with this minor work. At the same time, it comes up short of making the case for an even a better version of its approach. Murphy expresses a desire to replicate "sentimental sexuality onscreen," a feat already accomplished in more ambitious projects ranging from John Cameron Mitchell's "Shortbus" to Catherine Breillat's "Anatomy of Hell," both of which explore the prospects of intercourse to communicate real ideas. Noé clearly wants to chart his own path, but as his movie chronicles that desire rather than realizing it, Noé mainly succeeds at broadcasting his intentions. That's an achievement in its own right, if not enough to make for a good movie. The most outrageous special effect in "Love" is its director.

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Ratrat said:

Title made out of semen. How original!

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made with impressive cinematic elan but somewhat shallow emotional depth, for all its tragic posturing

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Krev said:

So kind of like Enter the Void.

Noe films are all style, so still excited to see this in a cinema.

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Krev said:

So kind of like Enter the Void.

Noe films are all style, so still excited to see this in a cinema.

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Vomiaouaf said:

Irreversible was a great movie behind the facade, though.

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Krev said:

So kind of like Enter the Void.

Noe films are all style, so still excited to see this in a cinema.

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Gobias said:

Does it have the same inside the vagina camera tech as Enter the Void?

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Kikujiro said:

Nah, I Stand Alone has all the substance you need.

I can see why people think Noé is all about style, but his style always suits the theme of the movies.
It's not simply style for style's sake.

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SalsaShark said:

if you're not at work, you should look for the other posters

lol

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