IFFI Goa 2015, Festival Diary, XI: PornograIFFI

Highly erotic content is not unusual at IFFI, or, for that matter, any international film festival. But pornography? That’s not so common. Many years ago, there was a film based on the life of a porn-star, with several close-ups of her inspecting the sexual organs of the men she was to choose from, based on the appearance of their manhood, who would be paired with her in the scenes to be shot. More recently, we had Lars von Trier’s marathon Nymphomaniac screened at MFF (MAMI). This year, at IFFI, A Bigger Splash had a lot of nudity and sex, blended with an engaging plot. Eisenstein in Guanajuato had an even bigger splash of homosexual eroticism. Neither came close to…Read on.

A few days into IFFI Goa 2015, a well-meaning member of the Selection Jury came-up to me and whispered in my ear, “Don’t miss Love, and How to Make a Porn Film.” Neither film had been scheduled till then. A couple of days later, Love was found on the schedule, in 3D, slotted at the huge Kala Academy, which has the biggest screen at IFFI. And I was in audience, waiting for love to be redefined.

They have named it Love (NOT to be confused with Love, the 2011 science fiction drama). Love, not sex. That is where the confusion begins. It is in 3D. Love in 3D? No, SEX in 3D. Unsimulated sex in 3D. Pornography in 3D. Pure pornography? Almost, if you subtract the ‘philosophy’, ‘emotions’, sarcasm and insider references to films like 2001: A Space Odyssey. The producers had fought a long, hard battle with French authorities, who wanted to give it an above 18 only rating, and won, which means it got a 16+ rating. To their credit, they tell you that Love is about to start and remind the management that they must provide 3D glasses to the audience, to view Love, even as a huge close-up of a penis penetrates the auditorium, and comes in your face. More on the film, a French production, written, directed and co-edited by Argentinean-French director Gaspar Noé (Irreversible, 2002).

Murphy is an American living in Paris who calls himself an aspiring film-maker, and enters a highly sexually and emotionally charged relationship with the unstable Electra. Unaware of the effect it will have on their relationship, they first befriend and then invite their pretty neighbour into their bed, for threesomes.

Many years ago, real-life couple Monica Bellucci and Vincent Cassel had agreed to star in the project, then called Danger, and Noé set about writing the script. When they finally read the script, they felt uncomfortable, sharing their sex life with the world, and also specifically a threesome with a transsexual. So the project was scrapped, and Noé, instead, made Irreversible (2002), which had a lot of violence and plentiful full frontal nudity from both stars, but did not feature real sex.

Gaspar Noé said that he did not direct the actors having sex, or choreograph them, but just put them in their positions (camera position, not copulating ones) and then said, "Okay, looks good, start the scene.” Actor Karl Glusman about was very uncomfortable at first. Each camera takes three technicians and a lot of the nude scenes we shoot two cameras at once, so that's a minimum of six people focusing on private parts. Glusman was an already a small time actor when filming began. Actresses Aomi Muyock and Klara Kristin were not--Gaspar Noé found them accidentally, while out partying. Glusman said that to start in such a way made him nervous, but he nevertheless went ahead with it and enjoyed the overall filming experience. The very first that he shot for the film on his first day of filming was a close-up of his penis. “It was very hard to prepare, when you don't know what you're going to shoot and you don't have any dialogue to memorize. I may be the first full frontal in 3D, not in porn but in a feature film with a world-wide theatrical release. If so, I feel like Neil Armstrong (sic)."

Gaspar Noé was born in 1963 in Buenos Aires, Argentina and graduated from the Louis Lumière National College. He's the son of the famous Argentine painter, Luis Felipe Noé. One must admire his great catholicity of taste, since his favourite films include 2001: A Space Odyssey, Blue is Warmest Colour and 4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days (2007), Avatar and Gravity. But one cannot admire his position on love. Two packed shows in a 1000+ hall do not mean there was much merit in the effort. Rating: **

Now for one that did not come.

The same source told me about another sexy film, titles something like How to Make a Porn Film, based on part-time Filipino/Filipina porn actors, who take to the profession to tide over monetary needs. No such film was listed at all, even in the second half of the festival. I asked one of the core staff whatever happened to the film. He said, “Not every film selected by the jury lands up in Goa. There are many other formalities to be completed. This one did not meet those requirements.”