The film is about actress Beatrice Dalle trying to make a film about witches starring Charlotte Gainsbourg as she is trying to deal with the chaos in the production while she converses with Gainsbourg about witches. It is a film with a simple premise but there is not much plot as it plays into a production going into total chaos with an ending that is just insane in terms of its visuals. Noe’s script would feature text and quotes from filmmakers Carl Theodor Dreyer, Luis Bunuel, and Rainer Werner Fassbinder as it plays into the idea of film as art and their approach to telling the stories about witchcraft. Noe’s script also plays into Dalle and Gainsbourg’s friendship as it opens with them having a conversation while there are those who want to make sure that Dalle gets ousted from the film as it does play into elements of misogyny from her producer and a cinematographer. Even those acting with Gainsbourg are troubled by the production with Abbey Lee Kershaw feeling exploited by men who want to see her nude while another actor in Karl Glusman tries to get actors to onboard for his own project.
Noe’s direction is stylish where it opens with footage of Dreyer’s 1943 film Day of Wrath as it plays into the idea of witchcraft with text from Dreyer about what film should be as a form of art. It then cuts to a scene where it is shot in split-screen where Dalle and Gainsbourg are having a conversation as it is shot inside a studio set with hand-held cameras following the former as she walks through the sets that included a hand-held camcorder where a young man follows her every move. Notably as it plays into a producer trying to do whatever he can to see her fuck up as it is her own film. While Noe does use some wide shots including for the film’s climax, much of Noe’s direction emphasizes on close-up and medium shots with the hand-held cameras often moving around as tracking shots. Noe also plays to this element of chaos where everything does feel intrusive such as scenes of models including Kershaw getting dressed while they are in the nude as there’s a couple of men outside of the window getting a peep which upsets Kershaw.
The film’s climax relates to a scene that Dalle is trying to create which involves three witches being burned at the stake with Gainsbourg and Kershaw playing the witches. Noe would create this sense of tension that would emerge, and it is where the film’s final 10 minutes would be this moment that is terrifying. Before the film even begins, Noe would post a warning for people with epilepsy relating to what they will see as these final ten minutes are something that people with epilepsy should not watch. What happens is total chaos through flickering colors and images that is intense in its overall presentation. Even as its aftermath has this element of dark humor as it relates to a quote from one of the directors that Noe cites for this film. Overall, Noe crafts a disturbing yet entrancing film about two actresses trying to make a film about witchcraft and witch burnings.
Cinematographer Benoit Debie does brilliant work with the film’s cinematography with its array of lighting and flickering lights as it adds to the film’s visual look including some natural interior setting for the scenes at a fireplace where Dalle and Gainsbourg are conversing. Editor Jerome Pesnel does excellent work with the editing as it has some straightforward cuts to play into the suspense along with some jump-cuts for a few bits. Set decorator Samantha Benne does amazing work with the look of the sets in all its artificiality to create the mood of a film set. Sound editor Ken Yasumoto does superb work with the sound in playing up the atmosphere of the set where voices can be heard from afar as well as some of the overlapping dialogue. Music supervisors Steve Bouyer and Pascal Mayer do terrific work in creating film soundtrack that features a lot of music played on locations including classical and electronic music.
The film’s wonderful ensemble cast include some notable small roles and appearances from Maxime Ruiz as the cinematographer who hates Dalle, Yannick Bono as the producer who is hoping to sabotage Dalle, Mica Arganarz as a stand-in for Gainsbourg, Felix Maritaud as an actor on set, Karl Glusman as himself trying to pitch a project for anyone interested, Clara 3000 as another actress on set, and Abbey Lee Kershaw as herself as someone starring in the film while also dealing with men leering at her when she’s nude. The performances of Beatrice Dalle and Charlotte Gainsbourg as fictional versions of themselves are incredible with Dalle as an actress trying to make her first film as a director as she becomes overwhelmed with people trying to sabotage her as well as get her own ideas for her first directorial film. Gainsbourg is the more reserved of the two as someone trying to get ready for the role while also dealing with the chaos on set as well as her family life outside the set.
Lux Aeterna is a remarkable film by Gaspar Noe that features amazing leading performances from Beatrice Dalle and Charlotte Gainsbourg. Along with its simple presentation, gorgeous photography, and sense of chaos as it relates to filmmaking and the idea of witchcraft. It is a film that is not for everyone other than anyone interested in the idea of what goes during a film shoot. Anyone who is epileptic however should not see this for the sake of their own health. In the end, Lux Aeterna is a marvelous film by Gaspar Noe.
Gaspar Noe Films: Carne - I Stand Alone - Irreversible - Enter the Void - Love (2015 film) - Climax - Vortex (2021 film)
Related: Day of Wrath - The Auteurs #48: Gaspar Noe
© thevoid99 2024
Based on the novel Tony and Susan by Austin Wright, Nocturnal Animals is a multi-layered story involving a woman who reads a novel written by her ex-husband as it involves his own life as she also reflects on the life she had with him. Written for the screen and directed by Tom Ford, the film is a neo-noir film where a woman in an unhappy marriage copes with her own past as well as the life she’s in right now. Starring Amy Adams, Jake Gyllenhaal, Michael Shannon, Isla Fisher, Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Andrea Riseborough, Michael Sheen, Armie Hammer, Karl Glusman, Jena Malone, and Laura Linney. Nocturnal Animals is an evocative yet gripping film from Tom Ford.
The film is the story of a woman who is given a manuscript of a novel written by her ex-husband which is about a man and his family who would have a deadly encounter with criminals in West Texas. Through the book, the woman reflects on her brief marriage to her first husband as well as coping with the decisions she’s made in her life including being in an unhappy marriage. Even as she wonders if there are some paralleling images and metaphors in the book she’s reading in relation to her own life. Tom Ford’s screenplay has this unique narrative where it isn’t about a woman reflecting on her life but also dealing with the one she’s in now. It is also about this story of a man who is driving to West Texas going for a holiday with his wife and daughter where an ugly encounter with some locals while on the road.
The narrative would move back and forth with the protagonist Susan Morrow (Amy Adams) reading the manuscript by her ex-husband Edward Sheffield (Jake Gyllenhaal) as well as the story that Sheffield made about a man named Tony Hastings (Jake Gyllenhaal) who is aided by a local detective in Bobby Andes (Michael Shannon) in going after the criminal named Ray Marcus (Aaron Taylor-Johnson). It all play into two people being forced to confront themselves in this story as it draw into a lot of parallels into the choices they make but also the outcome of these decisions. Even as reality and fiction would blur through this manuscript as Susan would see things as well as wonder if it is all true or just fiction. Notably as Susan would also look back into her own life which includes things she didn’t want to face but eventually come true as well as the choices that Tony has to make where Andes give him some revelations about the dark realities of the world and what has to be done.
Ford’s direction definitely bears a lot of style from this grotesque opening sequence of naked obese women during the opening credits which is part of a lavish and decadent gallery that Susan is hosting. It plays into a world of reality and cynicism that Susan is a part of but she seems quite disconnected from that world. With the Susan narrative shot largely in Los Angeles and flashbacks in New York City while the Tony narrative is shot in Texas. Ford creates a film that has this nice balance between the two world yet would maintain paralleling images that showcase the similar struggles Tony and Susan would endure. Ford’s usage of wide and medium shots play into the locations the characters are in as the scenes involving Susan have this sense of detachment as Ford creates careful framing from the world she has become a part of while the flashbacks are much simpler as well as display some foreshadowing into what will happen to her. There is also something is quite offbeat to the world that Susan is in from the friends that she has as well as the people who work with her in the art gallery. It has this sense of artificiality and materialism that is quite overwhelming where Ford would do things that seem to mock reality but it would come to haunt Susan as she becomes engrossed by Edward’s manuscript.
The scenes about the journey Tony would take as well as gain some justice with Andes’ help are much more rooted in reality. Notably as it play into a world that is quite unforgiving and eerie as Ford uses a lot of wide shots to capture the West Texas locations. There are also some close-ups as it play into the anguish that Tony would endure as well as some revelations about Andes that to his own need to wanting to do things right. There are moments that are very shocking where Ford would maintain something that is unsettling as it would eventually come into Susan’s world as reality/fiction begin to blur. All of which returns to Susan and the events in her life as well as the pain that she caused for her ex-husband to write this manuscript for her. Overall, Ford creates a visceral and eerie film about a woman questioning her own life by a manuscript written by her ex-husband.
Cinematographer Seamus McGarvey does brilliant work with the film‘s cinematography from the way some of the nighttime scenes in Los Angeles and Texas are presented as well as the usage of artificial light for many of the scenes at the art gallery and such in Susan‘s world along with more grimy yet naturalistic look of the daytime exterior scenes in Texas. Editor Joan Sobel does excellent work with the editing with its usage of jump-cuts along with other stylish cuts including some dazzling slow-motion to play into the horror and suspense that Tony would endure. Production designer Shane Valentino, with set decorator Meg Everist and art director Christopher Brown, does amazing work with the look of the stylish yet cold home that Susan lives in as well as the off-the-wall art gallery and its offbeat artwork to the more dirty and grounded look of the scenes and locations set in Texas. Costume designer Arianne Phillips does fantastic work with the costumes from the stylish dresses that Susan wears as well as the people in Los Angeles she is with as well while the look of the characters in Texas is more casual and grimy.
The makeup work of Malanie J. Romero, with additional work from Nathaniel De’Lineadeus, is terrific not just for the look of a few characters that are in Susan‘s world but also in the bearded look of Tony as well as the look of the character Ray. Visual effects supervisor Martin Goodwin does nice work with some of the minimal visual effects that relate to some of the artificiality in Susan‘s world which includes the look of a character in one scene through some eerie makeup effects. Sound editor Lon Bender and sound designer Kris Fenske do superb work with the sound as it play into some of the moments of suspense that Tony would encounter as well as in some of the eerie moments for Susan in how she sees things along with some sparse moments in the film that are very chilling. The film’s music by Abel Korzeniowski is incredible for its somber orchestral score that feature some heavy string arrangements and themes that add to the drama and suspense.
The casting by Francine Maisler is great as it feature some notable small role and appearances from Zawe Ashton as Susan’s assistant, India Menuez as Susan’s daughter, Kristin Bauer van Straten as a grotesque-looking member of Susan’s art gallery in Samantha Van Helsing, Graham Beckel as an officer investigating what happened to Tony, Robert Arayamo as a young local harassing Tony and his family, and Jena Malone in a very offbeat yet funny performance as Sage Ross who is a fellow executive of Susan’s art gallery who wears these very odd clothes. Michael Sheen and Andrea Riseborough are fantastic in their respective brief appearances as the couple Carlos and Alessia Holt with Sheen wearing some flamboyant clothing and Riseborough sporting some outlandish hairdo as they represent that sense of materialism in Susan’s world. Karl Glusman is superb as Lou as a young local who was part in the dark he encounter he has with Tony and his family as he is quite creepy.
Ellie Bamber and Isla Fisher are wonderful in their respective roles as Tony’s daughter and wife in India and Laura as two women who become frightened by the rowdy locals they meet with Bamber being more abrasive towards them and Fisher being the more concerned of the two. Armie Hammer is terrific as Susan’s husband Hutton as a man that definitely has that look of being good-looking as well as be intentionally-bland as a man that is really neglectful of his wife and what she does. Laura Linney is brilliant as Susan’s mother Anne Sutton as this bourgeois woman of decadence and wealth that Susan tries to rebel as Linney’s one-scene appearance is just fun to watch as someone that doesn’t approve of Edward while having some valid truths about what Susan might have to deal with. Aaron Taylor-Johnson is excellent as Ray Marcus as a rowdy local that Tony and his family would encounter as he is just this wild firecracker of a man that is quite scary as well as be very confrontational.
Michael Shannon is amazing as the detective Bobby Andes as a man who had seen a lot of things as he believes what Tony had been through and suspects Ray while also revealing a lot that he has to deal with in his pursuit of true justice in a world that is becoming more complicated. Jake Gyllenhaal is remarkable in a dual performance as Edward Sheffield and Tony Hastings where Gyllenhaal portrays this kind and idealistic man in the former that wants to be a writer but becomes frustrated with Susan’s criticisms. In the latter, Gyllenhaal brings someone that looks anguished and frightened as well as be consumed with guilt as a man desperate to find some justice for what happened to his family. Finally, there’s Amy Adams in a phenomenal performance as Susan Morrow as an arts gallery owner that is dealing with an unhappy marriage and the decisions she’s made in her life as she becomes enamored with a manuscript her ex-husband wrote where she copes with her past and wonders why she can’t sleep nor be happy with the life she’s in.
Nocturnal Animals is a spectacular film from Tom Ford that features great performances from Amy Adams, Jake Gyllenhaal, Michael Shannon, Aaron Taylor-Johnson, and Laura Linney. Along with eerie visuals, an amazing supporting cast, chilling sound work, and majestic music. It is this haunting yet intoxicating neo-noir thriller that plays into a woman coping with her past through the actions of a manuscript about the dark aspects of humanity from her ex-husband. In the end, Nocturnal Animals is a tremendous film from Tom Ford.
A Single Man
© thevoid99 2016
Directed by Nicolas Winding Refn and screenplay by Refn, Mary Laws, and Polly Stenham from a story by Refn, The Neon Demon is the story of a young and aspiring model who travels to Los Angeles where she is part of a modeling agency only to raise the ire of other models over her youth and beauty. The film is a study in the world of glamour and what will women will do to maintain their beauty and fight those to earn a coveted spot. Starring Elle Fanning, Jena Malone, Karl Glusman, Abbey Lee Kershaw, Bella Heathcote, Desmond Harrington, Christina Hendricks, and Keanu Reeves. The Neon Demon is an eerie yet evocative film from Nicolas Winding Refn.
The film follows the life of a young and aspiring model whose key to success is her beauty where she is signed to a modeling agency despite being underage where she finds herself having to compete with older models who despise her. It’s a film with a simple plot yet it doesn’t play by any rules in terms of conventional narrative as it’s more about what this young girl is encountering as well as the people she meets. The film’s screenplay by Nicolas Winding Refn, Mary Laws, and Polly Stenham doesn’t just explore the dark and demanding aspects about the modeling world in terms of its cynicism but also how this young girl with a pure sense of beauty and innocence threaten those who doesn’t just need work but also try to maintain their own beauty as they’re getting older. For the character Jessie (Elle Fanning), she is someone who came from a small town in Georgia as she meets a young photographer who takes some photos and somehow managed to get connections with the biggest and best people in the business.
Jessie is someone that is truly the embodiment of innocence as she is someone that lives alone in a seedy motel in Los Angeles run by a strange and mysterious man in Hank (Keanu Reeves). When the makeup artist Ruby (Jena Malone) takes notice of her, she becomes this guardian of sorts for Jessie as she would introduce her to a couple of models in Sarah (Abbey Lee Kershaw) and Gigi (Bella Heathcote) who are both still beautiful but are struggling to get work as they see Jessie with disdain. Aside from Ruby, the only other person that Jessie meets who treats her kindly is a young photographer named Dean (Karl Glusman) whose photos would give Jessie the connections in the world of modeling. Still, Jessie encounters things that are odd as it play into her innocent persona which would descend as the story develops. Especially as her descent would lead her to dark places as well as the people she meets who have an agenda towards her.
Refn’s direction is definitely stylish not just in the compositions that he creates but also in this world that is quite surreal in its overly-stylized setting. Shot on location in Los Angeles where it is a character in the film as this world of glamour and beauty that is entrancing but also has this air of darkness as it is set in the highly-competitive world of modeling. Refn’s usage of the wide shots would play into that world of glamour as well as capture some of the chaotic events of the modeling world with the usage of tracking and dolly shots while he would also use medium shots for scenes involving multiple characters in a conversation. Refn’s framing and how he puts his actors into a composition are key such as the scene in the bathroom between Jessie, Ruby, Gigi, and Sarah where Refn as Jessie at the edge of the frame to emphasize how much of an outsider she is. There are also these weird moments in the film that add to the surrealism that Jessie encounters such as a cougar in her motel room, the things she dreams or sees on the runway during a show, and some of the offbeat behavior of the people in the modeling world including Gigi and Sarah.
Refn would also create some ambiguity into the characters that Jessie meets such as Ruby and Hank. The latter of which is very creepy as he’s only in a few scenes yet is someone that is quite unsettling for how he presents himself and the things he says as it is something Dean would be shocked by. Then there’s Ruby as she is kind of this maternal figure of sorts in the film for Jessie but she too is offbeat. Notably for what Refn reveals in the other job that she has as it’s also even more unsettling to great extremes as it reveals how far Jessie has descended into the world she’s in. The film’s climax is definitely eerie and definitely plays into something that is very violent as it play into the horrifying cynicism of the modeling world as a key character states some harsh truths on beauty. Overall, Refn creates a rapturous yet scary film about a young model’s arrival into a very dark and brutal world.
Cinematographer Natasha Braier does brilliant work with the film‘s very colorful and evocative cinematography with its usage of many colored lights and mood including neon lights as it help play into the high-octane modeling world for many of the interiors as well as the exterior scenes at night while going for something natural and beautiful in other exterior scenes in the day and night. Editor Matthew Newman does excellent work with the editing as it is stylized with some rhythmic cuts while maintaining some moments that are straightforward including a few montages. Production designer Elliott Hostetter, with set decorator Adam Wills and art director Austin Gorg, does fantastic work with the look of the studio sets as well as the seedy motel that Jessie lives and the home that Ruby is house-sitting at. Costume designer Erin Benach does amazing work with the costumes to play into the high-octane world of fashion with all of its designs including in the casual clothes the women wear.
Special makeup effects work by Ruth Haney, Kristy Horiuchi, and Dean Jones, with hair stylist Enoch H. Williams IV, do superb work with the makeup from the macabre look of Jessie‘s first shoot as well as some of the things she and the other models had to look as well as in the hairstyles. Visual effects supervisors Peter Hjorth, Sunit Parekh, and Tonni Zinck do terrific work with the visual effects as it only play to a few scenes such as a few things that Jessie sees as it relates to the surreal elements of the film. Sound designers Anne Jensen and Eddie Simonsen do incredible work with the sound as it has these unique textures and mixes as it play into the suspense and horror as well as some of the surreal elements as it is a highlight of the film. The film’s music by Cliff Martinez is phenomenal for its eerie yet haunting electronic score with the layers of synthesizers and ambient textures as the soundtrack would also feature some cuts by other electronic acts as well as pop singer Sia.
The casting by Nicole Daniels and Courtney Sheinin is wonderful as it feature some notable small roles and appearances from Jamie Clayton as a casting director for a shoot, Charles Baker as Hanks’ assistant Mikey, Houda Shretah as Sarno’s assistant and Alessandro Nivola in a small yet terrific role as the fashion designer Robert Sarno who has some very biting and cynical ideas about the world of fashion and what beauty really is. Desmond Harrington is superb as the photographer Jack McCarther as this professional who is creepy but also has an eye for talent while Christina Hendricks is fantastic as the modeling agent Roberta Hoffman who sees the beauty in Jessie as well as give her some advice about how to forge ahead in the world of modeling. Karl Glusman is brilliant as Dean as a young photographer who takes photos of Jessie for her first photo shoot as he is one of the few kind characters in the film that becomes taken aback by the cynicism and narcissism of the fashion industry.
Keanu Reeves is excellent as the motel manager Hank as this very creepy and lecherous individual who seems to be more concerned with money than one’s well-being as he gives this great monologue of sorts of the kind of business that he does. Abbey Lee Kershaw is amazing as Sarah as model who is quite bitchy as she is desperate to get back in the game and get work as she has a real disdain towards Jessie because of what Jessie is able to get. Bella Heathcote is remarkable as Gigi as another model who is the nicer of the two as she is someone obsessed with trying to look good as she would also do a lot of plastic surgery as it play into the harsh reality of beauty at all costs.
Jena Malone is incredible as Ruby as a makeup artist who is this strange yet offbeat maternal figure of sorts for Jessie as she is someone who had seen a lot but also carries a very dark secret. Malone’s performance is also quite complex where she is very kind and warm to Ruby but there are elements that are quite scary as she does things that are very extreme as it is very chilling performance. Finally, there’s Elle Fanning in a spectacular performance as Jessie as this young 16-year old girl who knows the only thing she has in the world is her beauty as she starts off as this embodiment of innocence as her naivete is key to that performance. By the second half as she encounters these surreal elements, Fanning does become a big darker but also anguished as someone who sees that she is growing up too fast as well as thinking maybe there is a real cost to natural beauty as it is a career-defining performance for Fanning.
The Neon Demon is a tremendous film from Nicolas Winding Refn that features phenomenal performances from Elle Fanning and Jena Malone. Along with a great ensemble cast, gorgeous visuals, an eerie music soundtrack, and gripping themes on beauty. It’s a film that showcases the world of modeling at its most cutthroat as well as going into great lengths into what women will do to remain beautiful in a very dark world. In the end, The Neon Demon is a magnificent film from Nicolas Winding Refn.
Nicolas Winding Refn Films: Pusher - Bleeder - Fear X - Pusher II - Pusher 3 - Bronson - Valhalla Rising - Drive - Only God Forgives - The Auteurs #12: Nicolas Winding Refn
© thevoid99 2016
Written and directed by Gaspar Noe, Love is the story of a film student who copes with the fallout of an affair he had with another woman as well as the dissolution of a relationship he holds dear to his heart. The film is a raw exploration into the idea of love told in a fascinating style that blurs the line into the realm of pornography and art. Starring Karl Glusman, Klara Kristin, Deborah Revy, Isabelle Nicouf, and Aomi Muyock. Love is a provocative yet exhilarating film from Gaspar Noe.
The film plays into a young man who reflects on his life with a young woman he loved dearly while coping with the affair that ended their relationship as he has a child with that woman whom he’s become not fond of. It’s a film with a simple premise where this young film student named Murphy (Karl Glusman) doesn’t just deal with the life he has as a parent and husband but also the life he had before where he receives word that his former girlfriend Electra (Aomi Muyock) has disappeared. For Murphy, he doesn’t look into the life he had with Electra but also why it fell apart through a series of events.
Gaspar Noe’s script has a very offbeat narrative where its first act is about Murphy dealing with the news about Electra where he looks back at the events of their break-up but also how a simple menage-a-trois with a young woman named Omi (Klara Kristin) would be the catalyst for the end. The second act plays into life with Electra through the good and bad times while the third act would play into reasons into their dissolution but also how they met. The narrative is largely told from Murphy‘s perspective that features a lot of voice-over narration where he deals with his actions.
Noe’s direction is quite stylish in terms of the world he creates as it is shot on location in Paris. Yet, it is also restrained in terms of the compositions he creates where it doesn’t just involve some tracking shots and some long takes. Noe’s approach to framing in terms of the medium and wide shots not only play into how much Murphy and Electra love each other but also the intensity of their love. With the usage of the steadicam to follow the characters or to capture places they go to, Noe makes it very evident that these people who are in love and were willing to display that. Even as they would dabble in drugs and all sorts of things where they would also find ways to test their commitments such as attending an orgy or do other things. It is as if Noe wanted to create these places out of a sense of temptation where Murphy and Electra are willing to push themselves to see how it can fall apart.
Then there’s the film’s sexual content where it makes not qualms that it’s going for realism where the actors do have realistic sex in the film as the film opens with Murphy and Electra each giving themselves hand jobs until one of them cums. Noe obviously makes it aware that he’s blurring the lines into what is pornography and what is art. On the surface, the idea that a film like this that features oral sex, anal sex, orgies, penetration, and ejaculation would bear the hallmarks of what is pornography. Yet, since the film is a love story. The sex displays not just the intensity of Murphy and Electra’s love for each other but also in how sex can be destructive as it relates to what Murphy would do in a simple sexual act with Omi. Noe’s approach to close-ups and how he would frame Murphy behind his head to display his own faults as a man showcase someone who would cope with the mistakes he makes. Especially as it is showcases the concept of love in its simplicity and complexities as well as how crucial sex is in the world of love. Overall, Noe creates a very visceral yet dazzling film about love at its most primal.
Cinematographer Benoit Debie does incredible work with the film‘s cinematography with its array of colored lights and moods to play into the world of the clubs and some of the places the characters go to as well as some naturalistic lighting for some of the scenes as the photography is one of the film‘s highlights. Editors Gaspar Noe and Denis Bedlow do excellent work with the editing with its stylish approach to jump-cuts and blinking cuts as it play into the sense of memory and the reflective approach to the narrative. Production designer Samantha Benne and art director Virginie Verdeaux do amazing work with the set design from the look of the clubs and some of the places Murphy and Electra go to as well as the apartment Murphy lives in as it features nods to a couple of films by Noe.
Visual effects supervisor Pierre Buffin do terrific work with some of the film‘s minimal visual effects that includes some of the moments captured on 3D that would involve some of the film‘s explicit moments. Sound editor Ken Yasumoto does brilliant work with the sound for its many sound textures in the mixing and creating an atmosphere in some of the scenes set in clubs and such along with the intimate moments in the film. Music supervisor Pascal Meyer does a fantastic job with the film‘s music as he creates a very diverse collection of music that features contributions from Pink Floyd, Funkadelic, Thomas Bangalter of Daft Punk, Death in Vegas, Coil, Brian Eno, John Frusciante, Salem, Glenn Gould, John Carpenter, Goblin, and Sebastian along with classical music pieces from Johann Sebastian Bach and Erik Satie.
The film’s superb cast includes some notable appearances from Juan Saavedra as Murphy and Electra’s drug dealer friend Julio, Isabelle Nicouf as Electra’s mother Nora, Ugo Fox as Murphy’s son Gaspar, Deborah Revy as an actress named Paula that Murphy meets at a party, and Gaspar Noe as an art gallery owner Electra used to be with. Klara Kristin is wonderful as Murphy’s wife Omi as the woman he would impregnate as she starts off as this young student that Murphy and Electra have an interest with only to become a woman that is unhappy married to Murphy. Aomi Muyock is radiant as Electra as this young art student who falls for Murphy while being someone that’s been in and out of love with men as she ponders if Murphy can be faithful while questioning her own commitment. Finally, there’s Karl Glusman in a remarkable performance as Murphy as this film student who is in love with Electra as he tries to hold on to her only to find ways to fuck it up as he later deals with the consequences of his own actions and copes with the life he has now.
Love is a phenomenal film from Gaspar Noe. Featuring a fantastic cast, gorgeous visuals, a mesmerizing premise, and a rapturous soundtrack. It’s a film that’s not afraid to be very visceral into the raw and primal nature that is love in many of its complexities. Especially as it isn’t afraid to be very explicit in its sexual content without the need to tease or sugarcoat it. In the end, Love is a spectacular film from Gaspar Noe.
Gaspar Noe Films: Carne - I Stand Alone - Irreversible - Enter the Void - Climax (2018 film) - Lux Aeterna - Vortex (2021 film) - The Auteurs #48: Gaspar Noe
© thevoid99 2015
