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Novo (2002) Plus avec IMDbPro »

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31 utilisateurs sur 35 ont trouvé ce commentaire utile :
How to be in love (or happy) when you constantly lose your memories?, 25 décembre 2002

Auteur : chanrion_d (chanrion_d@club-internet.fr) de Paris

a disconcerting production, full of charm for an art flick that tries to envision the relation between love (and lust) and memories. This is the strength of the film (a universal theme about which there is much to say) and its weakness because the director has not followed his ideas to its logical conclusions. One cannot help thinking that this film could have been really excellent if the narration were less syncopated. The similarities with memento are obvious but the loss of memory here seems to be more an excuse than a "raison d'être" because the love story between Graham and Irène gives rise to numerous interesting themes (the happy-go-lucky Amnesiac opposed to his passionate lover, the naive Amnesiac opposed to people who take advantage of him, the carefree wandering life and the freedom of love when you are free of your memories, etc....) without fully exploiting them.

Nevertheless the charm of the film lies in the way the camera is in love with Graham (the Spanish actor Eduardo Noriega)and thus continually spies on his sensual body with a certain sense of decency. The beautiful Spanish actor is really the epicenter of the film and gives an undisputed sensual color. The French actress Anna Mouglalis is also perfect in her role. Nudity does not aim at being a provocation, sensuality and pleasure seem to be devoid of any guilt (beware because it might put off some viewers) in this film.

to sum up : a smart and sensual attempt to deal with the theme of amnesia with casualness and thoughtlessness

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27 utilisateurs sur 29 ont trouvé ce commentaire utile :
To love you have to have a history, 26 novembre 2005

Auteur : gradyharp de Etats-Unis

Jean Pierre Limosin has taken on a story interlacing memory, love, history, and passion that not only has pertinence in our galloping society of hasty encounters and transient relationships but also pleads a case for people with cognitive dysfunction. Unfortunately the film is marketed as a comedy and while there are some curious incidents that cause a bit of nervous laughter, this viewer sees the work as more of a difficult struggle for those affected by mental malfunctions that affect not only the patient but also those who surround him.

Graham/Pablo (the handsome and gifted Spanish actor Eduardo Noriega - 'Burnt Money', 'Abre los ojos', The Devil's Backbone', etc), though obviously bright and capable, works as a photocopy clerk for a large company, but suffers from memory loss, a deficit that prevents his remembering his wife Isabelle (Paz Vega) and son Antoine (Lény Bueno), his best friend Fred (Eric Caravaca), and his fellow coworkers. It also obscures his memory of flirtations and sexual encounters, including libidinous frequent seductions from his boss Sabine (Nathalie Richard). When a temporary worker Irene (Anna Mougalis) is hired Graham is told to show her the building and they end up on the roof in a passionate embrace - which of course Graham immediately forgets. But daily encounters with Irene gradually become so rich in passion that they somehow begin to register on Graham's tabula rasa mind condition! Graham's means of survival lies in the notebook attached to his wrist in which he keeps a diary of all events to remind him of each day's events. This 'artificial memory/identity' provides information for Irene, for Fred, and for his doctors and each of them has reasons to use this diary to their own ends: Fred while supportive of his friend is actually in love with Isabelle, and Irene finds evidence of Graham's affection for her that suggests to her a method of helping Graham restore his memory - and in doing so, possibly win his permanent allegiance to her.

There are some bumpy portions of this film that create confusion at times, but in retrospect one wonders if this might have been the intention of the director - placing us as viewers into the mindset of short term memory loss to better understand Graham's plight! The cast is uniformly strong and Eduardo Noriega once again proves that he is completely capable of taking on a challenging role and finding the humanity within. Yes, there are some graphic sex scenes but they serve to intensify the flow of the story in view of the condition of Graham to whom every encounter has all the lust of a first encounter with an unknown lover! Recommended. Grady Harp

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8 utilisateurs sur 11 ont trouvé ce commentaire utile :
A good film within a bad film., 26 février 2006

Auteur : peter-mason77 de Royaume-Uni

*** Ce commentaire peut contenir des spoilers ***

A disturbing film, this, climaxing, as it does, with an intensely intimate reunion between a naked man and his young son, but in its confused structure it contains a poetically imagined visual exploration of the innocence of an idealised amnesiac.

The plot follows two threads, the weaker of which is the gradual revelation of Graham/Pablo's condition. Wound through this, though, is a beautiful description of his condition, and his meandering path towards a partial awakening, driven by his affair with Irene.

The affair is the strong thread, while the specifics of the plot are carried by a seemingly tacked on collection of characters: Graham's best friend, who can reveal the cause of his condition in a clunking flashback, his manipulative boss and his comic book mad scientist psychologist: all of whom have an interest in keeping him lost and dependent.

The failure of the film lies in the conflict between the two threads. One is visual, meandering and sublime, while the other is structured like an inept thriller, all expository dialogue and unresolved patterns of symbolism.

Nevertheless, I enjoyed Novo. It keeps flirting with the abyss of taboo and shying away into something beautiful, as in the quarry, with the double bassist and the two women, when a setup for a scene of cheap pornography becomes a segment of peace and rejuvenation. I still don't get the tooth, though.

Odd, clunky and a narrative failure, but with an almost redeeming beauty.

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4 utilisateurs sur 5 ont trouvé ce commentaire utile :
a good movie, 7 décembre 2006

Auteur : pdlhall de Etats-Unis

*** Ce commentaire peut contenir des spoilers ***

what happened to the explicit oral sex scene? there must be two versions of this film out on DVD! the "r" rated version must be in theaters in the states perhaps there is an unrated version out on the U.S. market i saw a copy of the original and it goes beyond graphic, it's explicit, though it fits and blends with the storyline so well that it fit's and works without causing gasp and giggles. it makes me wonder that if once again our rating system should be reviewed? movies like this could impact and change the puritanical views of Hollywood and those who censor movies "made in the USA". the European standard of love making scenes are mature and accepted by the general public. i personally think it's time we ( Hollywood ) make and produce films with tasteful yet explicit love scenes that fit and blend into the movie so it appears natural!

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7 utilisateurs sur 11 ont trouvé ce commentaire utile :
Sexy, arty, neither lightweight nor heavy, 29 mars 2007

Auteur : Chris Docker (eyeforfilm) de Scotland, Royaume-Uni

I found this film enjoyably lightweight, like the sensation of discovering romance, a flirtation with potentially philosophical overtones that are serious enough to be enchanting but without being distracting.

Graham has short term memory loss (groan! Is this a rip-off of Memento?) . . . but wait a minute, see if the style attracts you before we look at the substance.

Fast-cutting shots (with almost a nod to À Bout de Soufflé) catch us effortlessly into the world that Graham and everyone around him has learnt to manage (He has a job doing photocopies in a large office). This is a world of romance and flirtation, but the women in his life are aware of his illness. Acknowledged influences include Japanese photography and Japanese bondage. The occasionally disjointed editing serves as a reminder of his mental state.

I invite you to go back in time, to think of your first date with someone who later became very special (or who might have been). Think of that moment, if you will, before that first kiss. Isn't there that point on a date where you both know it's going to happen? You can almost sense what it will be like. You can imagine that first brush of the lips, their breath against your skin, before passion locks your two souls together! Their mouth approaches yours, tentatively. Can you almost feel the moment stretch out in time?

A celebrated Japanese photographer, on the DVD featurette, explains how he uses objects to invade space and maintain continuity, extending intimacy beyond the instant of a still photograph. For Graham, that moment lasts a lifetime. He has to write notes to remind himself who he is in love with. His lover has the advantage that she knows his secrets, knows what turns him on, but can also delight in witnessing his newness, when each time is the first time. It's like a Groundhog Day in reverse, forever the thrill of the new.

In the story, complications set in when Graham 'sleeps with other people'. He maintains his childlike innocence and tries to be a decent, moral chap (made harder by being dashingly good looking). The people around him are faced with losing their own 'innocence' and the ingenuous beauty that goes with that. It is their personalities, rather than his, that face the fall from Eden. The whole story is told with a realistic, inquisitive, and sometimes kinky sexuality. Nudity is used to create a sense of wonder instead of the titters so common in a British movie or the embarrassment in an American one. With superb acting throughout, we can't help but admire how wonderfully at ease the French are with their bodies.

Novo does not have the impressiveness of Memento. Memento thought of the idea first. Novo is not a taut thriller. But it takes the device of short-term memory loss and uses it, even if it is with limited success, to say something that is greater than the sum of its parts.

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2 utilisateurs sur 4 ont trouvé ce commentaire utile :
A mind is a terrible thing to lose, 26 mai 2006

Auteur : jotix100 de New York

*** Ce commentaire peut contenir des spoilers ***

Jean-Pierre Limosin shows he has an eye for the style he is trying to capture in "Novo". Not having seen anything directed by him before, we were sold in watching it because of the cast that was put together for the film. The movie was co-written by Mr. Limosin and Chris Honore, who has written a few interesting screen plays for the French cinema. The crisp cinematography of Julien Hirsch and the editing of Cristina Otero give the picture a glossy finish.

The film is told in a non linear fashion. That will be probably disorient a lot of viewers since the creators don't bother to make clear what afflicts Graham, although it's apparent he is suffering from some form of amnesia. The explicitness of what Mr. Limosin has put in the film is another distracting element that is obviously done for the age group it targets.

Eduardo Noriega makes the best he can with his Graham. Anna Mouglalis bares her soul and all for us to appreciate the beauty of her body. Nathalie Richard has good moments as Sabina. On the other hand, interesting talents such as Julie Gayet, Eric Caravaca and most notably, the gorgeous Paz Vega, are ignored because they are given nothing to play with.

"Novo" as another commentator has put it, has a soft-porn feeling that might have been all well and good according what Mr. Limosin conceived it to look like. Other viewers should be warned that the sex one sees is the kind of "in your face" variety and it might offend.

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3 utilisateurs sur 8 ont trouvé ce commentaire utile :
what you see is what you get, 19 mai 2008
Auteur : ruiresende84 (ruiresende84@gmail.com) de Porto, Portugal

I think this is messy and out of focus. It tries to be too many things, and it fails to successfully achieve any of those.

This wanted to be love story told through a different angle. It wanted to play with memory as a creator of reality, or something able to define a certain reality. It wanted to establish ambiguity over motivations and over who is controlling, who is bending the reality of what we see. It wanted to use sex, and sexually moved characters (above all females) as a cinematic glue to all this I can think of various films for each of the "wannabe" i mentioned that manage to be more successful in their objectives than this one. I don't know one film that does well in mixing all this. And if i come to find one, i don't think it will be made by the authors of this one. At least not for what i saw here.

'Memento' played with the notions and the effects of short term memory, and memory loss much deeper. Here, we find the memory losses as the device to allow our character to become who his puppeteers want him to be. It is what it takes for him to be a puppet, to be unstable, to cast some doubt on who he is, what he wants. Noriega played the equivalent role in 'Abre los ojos', which was much more effective. I think for this purposes, 'Clean Slate' was a much better exploration of this!... Here we have links establish to monitoring our amnesic, the martial arts, the photos sessions, the block notes. But none of that is really used. The ending comes to unfold as a common romantic situation of gathering and decision on which woman the protagonist will elect (which you know who it is miles away from the ending).

So it ends as the love story the film also wanted to be. The 'woman who loves the man accepting him for what he is' plot. It's ordinary, but it is given a new clothing, in order to look new. But if you stop and think, there's absolutely nothing worth mentioning about this story. If you want renewed fresh ways to join a love environment and the creation of alternative realities, try Medem. In 'Los amantes...', in 'Lucia y el sexo', in 'La ardilla roja'. He can do that. By coincidence (or not), here we even have Medem's Lucia (Paz Vega) as the wife of the sick protagonist who, in his moments of memory recovery comes to speak Spanish...

Than we have the attempts to play with the forces controlling what we see. We know almost always as much as the main character. And practically every character (except the boy and the woman who loves the protagonist) have ambiguous intentions (apart from the fact that we take our time to understand where everybody fits, that's a good thing). We are given successions of facts we can't judge correctly. But than we come to understand that the film is moving nowhere, and what we see is what we get. No twist, no revelation, what it seems to be happening is really happening. It's not that we have to be deceived, but there should be some intention behind the idea of casting ambiguity in every corner of the stone. See 'Oldboy', if you want master work working these concepts.

My opinion: 2/5 this is messy, but it has some interesting concepts, if you start imagining where this could go.

http://www.7eyes.wordpress.com

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2 utilisateurs sur 11 ont trouvé ce commentaire utile :
No-Go Novo, 10 juillet 2005

Auteur : writers_reign

*** Ce commentaire peut contenir des spoilers ***

It's difficult to decide who or what is the target audience for this film. Jean-Pierre Limousin presumably had the chance to explore the problems of amnesia on a serious level and opted instead to use it as an excuse to make a soft-porn movie. Having seen, loved, admired and respected Se Souvenir des belles choses which explores memory loss - albeit as the result of Alzheimer's - in a profound and heartbreaking way, not least in the luminous performance of Isabelle Carre I find that Novo is an insult to Se Souvenirs. I have no problem with soft porn per se - and even if I had I'd virtually have to give up going to movies so prevalent is it today - but I do have a problem with writers/directors who attempt to respectablise it by cloaking it as here in the guise of medical research. The sad thing is that fine actresses like Julie Gayet - so wonderful in Clara et Moi - and Anna Mouglalis - who seems to have hit into a double play after last week's Le Deluge and now this - are wasting their time on dross like this.

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13 utilisateurs sur 39 ont trouvé ce commentaire utile :
A film to be missed despite the talent, 28 septembre 2004
Auteur : (JasonT413@aol.com) de Barcelona

I just rented and viewed this film a couple of days ago and.... I WANT MY MONEY BACK!!!! I am sorry but this film is just a waste of.... film, you know? I am a big Eduardo Noriega fan but he just wasted his time going over the border to France to star in this pretentious film, and I love French films! This is an arty film without arty actually applying to any facets of the film in a positive sense, that is. An attractive female lead is wasted as well despite some interesting shots of her pubic hair. Anyway, do not waste your time with this film. There are a number of nude scenes that include both leads that are un-erotic. An the beautiful young Spanish actress Paz Vega is totally wasted as is Eric Caravaca in a supportive role. Next!!!

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