Cannes - Director Gaspar Noe
rejected the idea on Thursday
that his ultra-graphic 3D sex film
"Love" was controversial at the
Cannes Film Festival, saying it
was ridiculous to ignore a subject
that "everyone loves".
"I have friends who love money,
some who love coke, some who
love cinema, but the common
point is that everyone loves
having sex," the Paris-based
director said at a press
conference.





"So why is it so poorly
represented in cinema? It's to do
with commercial and legal
pressures," he added.
Noe's latest film was the hot
ticket on the French Riviera, with
hundreds trying to squeeze their
way into the midnight screening
on Wednesday night.
"Love" leaves nothing to the
imagination as it tells the story of
a young couple's tempestuous
love affair, featuring over a
dozen extremely graphic
unsimulated sex scenes,
including close-up ejaculations,
swingers' clubs, a party and
a transvestite prostitute.
Asked why he felt the need to
show such explicit scenes, the
Argentine-born Noe said, "I was
making a film about love, not
about Swiss banks or
Scientology."
Lead actor Karl Gusman, a
newcomer from the United
States, said there were certainly
doubts when he started work on
the film.
"On the first day of shooting,
Gaspar decided to start us off
with a close-up of my genitals,"
Gusman said.
"I was in the bathroom
beforehand, looking in the mirror
thinking I should escape to the
airport... and that this was the
end of a very short career.
"But pretty soon, it felt normal."
Asked how his parents had
reacted, Gusman said: "My
mother was not a virgin when I
met her. She's very proud,
especially because the film is
playing in such a prestigious
festival."
'Like bad sex'
The story follows a young
American man in Paris, Murphy,
looking back on his lost love,
Electra (Aomi Muyock), and their
time together.
3D has been used for hardcore
pornography before but this is
thought to be the first time it has
been used for sex scenes in an
arthouse film.
"It's a toy I hadn't used before,"
said Noe, adding that he liked the
irony of using 3D and English-
speaking actors to give the film a
Hollywood feel.
Although the producers secured a
deal last week to distribute
"Love" in the US, Noe said he
expected trouble from censors.
"It's easier to show scenes of
sensuality in European cinema
because people are more open-
minded. The Americans, when it
comes to a film's distribution,
can be very square," he said.
Noe is no stranger to
controversy. In 2002, a screening
of his film "Irreversible" at
Cannes led to several
ambulances being called for
audience members who could
not cope with its in-your-face
rape scene.
Some of the audience gave a
standing ovation at the end of
the screening on Thursday
morning, but many critics
seemed unconvinced by Noe's
"blood, sperm and tears" vision.
"Like bad sex, (it) seems to go on
forever with no climax or ending
in sight," tweeted Sophie
Kaufman, of Little White Lies
movie magazine.
BBC film critic Jason Solomons
said it "was definitely not a porn
film the dialogue's not up to that
level".
Variety gave a more nuanced
critique, saying "you've gotta
hand it to Noe for leaving no
taboo unturned, and for putting
so much of himself into a film
that's bound to leave titillation
seekers resenting its creator
during the long stretches of
wallowing introspection between
climaxes."
Cannes festival director Thierry
Fremaux jumped to Noe's
defence at an earlier press
conference, saying "the last thing
to do at Cannes is read the
critics".
"Gaspar Noe has made a film that
some love and some hate.
Literature and painting visit the
question of the representation of
the body, of sex, of physical love,
but very few filmmakers have
done so in 120 years of the
history

WK