Children as young as 12 should be able to watch Gaspar Noé’s 3D pornographic romance, the director has said in Cannes.
The provocative film-maker behind rape revenge drama Irréversible and first-person Tokyo headtrip Enter the Void told journalists there was “nothing nasty” about his new film, which contains scenes of vaginal penetration, mutual masturbation and an ejaculation that – thanks to 3D technology – arcs out of the screen towards the audience.
“I think it’ll be banned for those under 16,” said Noé. “If I was part of the committee I would set the age limit at 16 or 12 maybe.
“As soon as you say pornographic people get scared, but the film talks about people being in love from a sexual stance. To represent sex it’s hard not to film the genitalia.”
Love tells the story of the disintegration of the relationship between Murphy (Karl Glusman), an American ex-pat in Paris, and his artist girlfriend Electra (Aomi Muyock) after they decide to bring a third person, Omi (Klara Kristin), into their bed.
Noé, who said he spent 20 hours a day shooting the film, was reluctant to reveal which parts of the sex were real and which had been staged. In a central scene the actors engage in three-way sex. Before the act Murphy asks Omi how old she is. “I’m 17 … soon”, she says. “I fucking love Europe,” says Murphy.
“This movie could never have been done in America,” said Noé. “It’s easier to show scenes of sensuality in European cinema. The people are more open-minded. Americans, when it comes to film distribution, can be very square.”
Love has secured a US distributor in the form of Alchemy, an indie outfit who has promised to “do everything we can to protect this masterful film”. The major US cinema chains often shy away from movies given a Restricted or R rating by the Motion Picture Association of America. Love could be released unrated, as Alchemy is not a MPAA signatory, but it’s still likely the company will struggle to get Love into cinemas capable of screening 3D without significant cuts.
“For the time being the film has been sold in 75% of countries,” said producer Vincent Maravel. “In the US the distributor will release the 3D version in at least 25 cinemas”.
He also suggested the film-makers would look at a programme of online distribution, to avoid “anachronistic censorship”.
Glusman, who plays the male lead, said the first day of shooting was nerve-wracking.
“Gaspar had decided to start with a close up of my genitals,” said the Bronx-born actor. “I was in the bathroom [before the scene] thinking I should run to the airport and go back to the States.”
Glusman said he quickly got used to “a minimum of six people staring at your private parts”, while Noé joked that he had invited Glusman’s mother to the premiere, but she had been unable to attend. “My mother was not a virgin when I met her,” said Glusman. “She’s very proud.”
Kristin, who Noé cast after he met her in a nightclub, said that her role in the film represented a sea change from how she used to feel about nudity.
“When I was young I had a lot of complexes showing my body,” she said. “I was scared to show it to my mum. Then it was like ‘What the fuck? Why?’ We’re all human. It’s natural.”
Noé denied that film was transgressive, saying his film showed the audience nothing they hadn’t seen before.
“If you search the internet for ‘Love’ 50% of the images you find will be [sexually] explicit,” he said. “I was making a film about love. It wasn’t about Swiss banks or Scientology. Why not show what that means?”
