Dhruv Sharma
‘Love’, as many would say, is appalling from its opening scene itself. Without any prior warnings or build-ups, the movie begins with a very graphic sex scene where its two main characters, Gaspar and Electra, can be seen “pleasuring one another.” At its very onset, the film establishes that it’s not only unwatchable with your family but even watching it with anyone at all could be unsettling, to say the least. The film’s opening scene has now taken the internet by storm and several tik-tok users have also recorded their own hilarious reactions to it. It’s understandable why this scene, in particular, is being hyped so much. But, in case, you couldn’t past it, here’s what it means in context with the film’s overarching plot.
Love Opening Scene, Explained
The explicit opening scene is presented more like the main character Murphy’s dream. The ones who managed to get past it scene will very well know how right after, Murphy wakes up in bed next to his wife Omi and curses his miserable life. Although the movie portrays the opening sequence as a dream, it actually serves as a flashback of Murphy’s past that he is not able to forget. The scene contrasts his present where he feels stuck with a woman he absolutely despises.
As unsettling as this scene may seem, it prepares you for what lies ahead in the movie. The film’s narrative structure has been designed in such a way that it keeps going back and forth between Murphy’s past and present. In his past, he spends some of the best days of his life with the girl from the opening scene, Electra—the girl he truly loved. While in the present, Electra is just a memory he keeps dreaming about. The opening scene, in some ways, is entire movie’s simplistic storyline in a nutshell. Throughout the film, Murphy, while being physically grounded to the bitter reality of his present, keeps drifting back to his intimate relationship with Electra. And out of all the great memories he has had with her, he mostly recalls the moments of true bliss that he felt when he first made love with her.
Later on in the film, this scene even comes in tandem with its bittersweet ending. Murphy again keeps recalling his past and his emotionally and sexually charged relationship with Electra. But soon, when the reality of things hits him—when he realizes that Electra and her pleasant memories are way behind him—he completely breaks down. So, if you can, try going beyond the movie’s shallow yet significant opening scene as you’ll probably be able to get a lot more out of it than just guilty pleasure. To know more about the film’s ending, you can also refer to our explainer of the same.
This isn’t the first time the movie’s scenes have generated so much buzz. Even when ‘Love’ first premiered at Cannes in 2015, it received a mixed bag of reviews. While some called its sexual explicitness authentic, others thrashed it for being extremely sordid. When the director of ‘Love’, Gaspar Noé, was asked about the reasons behind the film’s depiction of boundary-pushing sex scenes, he simply claimed that sexual passion depicted in most movies usually lacks a sense of genuineness. After being inspired by the portrayal of love in ‘Blue is the Warmest Color‘ he decided to something similar in his movie. But clearly, as one can tell from the opening scene itself, the director goes above and beyond what most people would expect from an erotic drama. So, in case, you’re planning to watch it, be prepared from the very beginning.
Read More: Love Sex Scenes, Ranked
