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Novo (2002)
"Novo" film critic
Jean-Pierre Limosin, director of "Novo", has directed other titles such as "Faux Fuyants", "Gardien de la nuit", "L'autre nuit", "Carmen", "Young Yakuza", and "Tokyo Eyes" which was shown at the 1998 Cannes Film Festival. He is known most for his dramas and his documentaries.
"Novo" is one of his very erotic dramas. To me, there is too much sex and not enough plot. There is so much sex that after watching it when I was asked what it was about, my only response was "sex." I would like this film better if the sex were more implied instead of being explicit, and if there were more dialogue between the characters.
Despite all of the sex, this movie does explore some interest ideas. One of these is the healing power of love. Throughout the film, the main character Graham can only remember things for a few minutes. But after meeting his lover Irene, his memory span starts growing. He still cannot remember his wife, but that is because his wife never truly loved him. We know this because she starts cheating on Graham with his best friend after Graham loses his memory. We know that Irene's love is real, though, because she sticks with Graham despite his memory problems.
Another idea in the movie is actually explicitly stated by the character Irene. At the end of the movie, she says, "Love is about forgetting time, yet remembering it can end at any time." This is most evidenced in Graham. Once he meets Irene and falls in love with her, he shows his love by trying desperately to remember her name and writing notes in his journal about the time they spend together. If something were to happen to his notes or if he lost contact with her, he could completely forget her and their love would be over.
To me, this movie is definitely a French movie because of two things. The first and most obvious thing is how open this movie is about showing sex and naked bodies on screen without holding back. This reflects that in the French culture, people are much more open about their bodies and who sees them. In America, for the most part people are more private about their sexuality and nakedness. The second thing that makes this a French movie for me is how infrequently the characters are at work. In American movies, the characters are constantly at work, more so than at home. This reflects that French truly are at work less than Americans and that they have more vacation time than Americans. That is something I wish America would adopt.