Murphy is an American living in Paris who enters a highly sexually and emotionally charged relationship with the unstable Electra. Unaware of the seismic effect it will have on their relationship, they invite their pretty neighbor into their bed.
- Released: 2015-07-06
- Runtime: 134 minutes
- Genre: Drama, Romance
- Stars: Karl Glusman, Aomi Muyock, Klara Kristin, Ugo Fox, Juan Saavedra, Gaspar Noé, Isabelle Nicou, Benoît Debie, Vincent Maraval, Déborah Révy, Xamira Zuloaga, Stella Rocha, Omaima S., Nikita Bellucci, Angell Summers, Ian Scott, Anna Polina, Kelly Pix
- Director: Gaspar Noé
Comments
- jboothmillard - 4 February 2024
Love
I had heard about this experimental film and seen the poster enough times to recognise it, I found out it was released in 3D, but I was most intrigued about its graphic material, I thought it sounded interesting, so I ignored some negative reviews from critics, written and directed by Gaspar Noé (Irreversible, Climax). Basically, American film student Murphy (Karl Glusman) is living in Paris, France, sharing a small apartment with Danish partner Omi (Klara Kristin) and their eighteen-month-old son, Gaspar (Ugo Fox). In January, on a rainy morning, Murphy receives a call from Nora (Isabelle Nicou), the mother of his ex-girlfriend Electra (Aomi Muyock), if he knows where her daughter is. She has not heard from Electra in three months and is worried, because her daughter has been depressed and tried to commit suicide in the past. For the rest of the day, Murphy has fragmented, nonlinear flashbacks of his relationship with Electra. Murphy and Electra first met at the Parc des Buttes Chaumont and walk together, they quickly hook up and have sex together. They spend the next two years together, which is filled with tender moments, rough sex, and drug taking. One of these sexual experiences is seen at the very beginning with Electra masturbating Murphy, and him doing the same to her until he ejaculates. One night, Electra talks about her fantasies, including wanting to have sex with a woman to add some excitement to their love life. Soon, they meet their new young adolescent neighbour, Omi (Klara Kristin). Sometime later, they invite her to a meal together in a restaurant to get to know each other. During their conversation, Omi talks about being pro-life, believing that abortion is wrong and that if she became pregnant, she would keep the child. After dancing together in a club, Murphy, Electra and Omi are lying on a bed together smoking, and soon they are kissing and making love with each other. They continue to have several no-strings-attached threesomes. However, Murphy continued his sexual relationship with Omi behind Electra's back. Murphy becomes distant towards Electra, who is becoming reckless with drug abuse. At one point, during a party, Murphy takes another woman into the bathroom and engages in intercourse with her. Electra witnessed this cheating, and she walks out, and they have an aggressive argument in a taxi. Later, Murphy and Omi are having sex, but his condom breaks. This eventually resulted in an unplanned pregnancy and Omi refused to terminate it. Murphy is forced to admit the truth to Electra, this ultimately ended their relationship. Murphy tried numerous times to apologise to Electra, to win her back and convince her that he loves her, but she refuses to listen and shuts him out. In the present day, Murphy and Omi are raising their child together. But their relationship is unpassionate, he is quietly hateful towards her, and he still thinks about his time with Electra. But he cannot abandon the life he has now, while the fate and whereabouts of Electra are left unresolved at the end of the film. Also starring Juan Saavedra as Julio, Gaspar Noé (as Aron Pages) as Noe, Benoît Debie as Yuyo, Vincent Maraval as Castel, and Déborah Révy as Paula. The three leading performers are all non-professional amateurs with most scenes improvised, but they are not awful, the direction is stylistic enough but a little underwhelming, and the story is racy but average. Obviously, what makes this film notable is its graphic scenes of unsimulated sex, from masturbation to penetration and experimental, including the threesome and an encounter with a transgender woman (with a penis). It shocked audiences with its highly sexual content, including the opening scene (with reactions of viewers trending on social media). This is probably something that can be enjoyed in private, it could be seen as pornographic, it is in your face with good use of colour and its racy stuff gets your attention, but it is below average overall, an alright erotic romantic drama. Okay! - bjarias - 27 August 2022
... fails to deliver in either category
... there can be films with valid interesting stories that have actual real sex as part of the storline-plot... that's not this movie 'Love'... here there's lots of actual sex taking place between the lead actors... yet there's an obvious lack of emotional involvement between them... they just have sex
... what's really interesting is that two-third's of 60K IMDb users rating this production so far give it six-stars or more... possibly in their minds giving a high rating for how it fairs compared with other films that are actually-porn with little or no acting besides... few porn films are ever 129 minutes in length as this one is... unfortunately it doesn't satisfy in either category... mainstream or-as pornography. - ladyofheavenlover - 28 December 2021
3
The characters are tiresome and unappealing. The plot is virtually nonexistent. Yes, there is a bit of decent cinematography, but even that is pretentious and "artsy." It takes away the simple presentation of the story (such as it is), and when these flashy scenes show up, they are just such obvious eye candy. Don't bother. - phenriquessilva - 18 June 2021
Youth's emotional ruin
First, it's necessary to keep in mind that the film is (kinda of) inspired by the director himself (Noé) and his circle of friends in the cinematographic environment. The purpose of the film is to portray the troubled love and sexual relationships of millenials - which, at first, it's inferred that it'll be something deep.
However, the film ends up juggling to reach a neither great nor terrible level. The timeline can be confusing, but it's far from being the film's downside, it just adds up to a whole host of problems.
There's A LOT of (explicit) sex, wich in a moderate way would not be a problem, however the scenes are VERY long, around two minutes each (in a two hours long movie). It gets tiring - but the (minimum) ideia of what role sex plays in this generation of young people is there.
The female characters are hypersexualized, occupying a prominent position in the scene. Men in the background. The problem is not the prominence itself, but the way it is meant to be perceived. However, I expected this when I read a statement by Noé in which he said "with a short (film) you are allowed to do whatever you want. It's like if you have a girlfriend and she tells you that you can do whatever you want. That's very exciting."
The film makes positive points by portraying heterosexual relationships in a generation considered "cool" and "advanced" in social terms, showing how it's done, the sequence and escalation of emotional and psychological abuse. How the "nice" guy is actually a big idiot.
The film certainly lacked depth, several insinuations were made, but they remained to be developed. One of the insinuations, which would certainly mark positively allied to the love narrative of this youth, is about the internal battles of each one. The film introduces a little bit about the problems that both Murphy and Electra face within themselves, but it doesn't develop. Personally, I think it would have been extremely interesting and fruitful to develop Electra's innermost pains - when she says she's not proud of all her past... that hits different.
Much is complained about the performance of Muyock and Glusman - pertinent. It's not the usual dramatic acting, it's like we're having privileged access to a troubled relationship - it's kind of a "natural" acting (?). However, this "dry" acting seems to have been the director's intention - and I also wonder about the limits placed by the script. However, personally, the acting didn't even arouse negative feelings in me, the tense moments I think are well done. Something about Aomi Muyock's acting is captivating - what makes her character, Electra, captivating. There are times when something about her hits us, such as her facial expressions, her small smile, the look, the way she speaks, even when she's silent - considering the internal battle she seems to be fighting.
A good movie with good intentions that fails to carry them out becoming tiring - also lighting, photography, techniques and camera work are good.
