LOVE

The new work by boundary-pushing French filmmaker Gaspar Noé has been eagerly awaited for several years. Murky news that gradually made its way to the public promised much: the well-known violator of traditional form and content was shooting a movie about love. The record was soon set straight, however, about this outlandish claim. Love, yes, but expressed through sex – highly explicit and all in 3D. The poster, released a few months prior to the shoot and showcasing three close-up tongues connected by a fluid of debatable provenance, ricocheted around social media, and curiosity reached a fever pitch. The movie, about a man who recalls the most passionate relationship of his life over the course of a single day, premiered at Cannes. But its three-dimensional journey into nooks and crannies where polite company fears to tread is more than just a titillating spectacle; it’s also a love story with nostalgia-soaked overtones. Noé’s onscreen onslaught may slap the viewer to attention, but moviegoers will have to assess its impact on their own sense of modesty all alone.