When Gaspar Noé masturbated in Club Rectum to prove he wasn’t homophobic: “They were laughing”
Gaspar Noé is widely known as one of the titular provocateurs of the film industry, with a bold and extreme style that explores everything from sex, love and violence, but often in a way that is hard to stomach. Whether it be his confrontational and extremely disturbing 2002 work Irreversible, the edgy dance sequences in Climax or the controversial unsimulated sex scene in Love, the director has a surefire ability to provoke audiences into conversation and debate, sparking discussions on not only the themes explored in his movies but also the ethics of filmmaking.
His cinematic palette can be defined by bright neon colours, bold editing choices and an overall grungy feeling, shining a light on dark subcultures and social issues that exist all around us. However, while his style might be immersive and revolutionary to many, directors who work against the grain aren’t always met with praise, with many audiences criticising his work and even condemning it, with one project in particular nearly ending his career after a disastrous screening at the Cannes Film Festival, leading the director to do one bizarre thing in an attempt to rescue his reputation.
Irreversible is quite rightly one of the most controversial additions to Noé’s filmography, causing uproar after its early screenings, with people walking out of the cinema and spitting at the director. This reaction is honestly very understandable, with one particular scene that is incredibly distressing and difficult to watch, and when seeing it being projected on the big screen, it is easy to imagine why people would be so disgusted and feel unable to escape it.
The film follows a day in the life of a woman in Paris, tracking the events that lead to one life-changing event that destroys her life and the all-consuming misogyny that allowed this to happen. It is one of those movies that many cinephiles feel extremely conflicted over – while it certainly portrays its message, it does so in such an extreme way that many feel as though its power is negated by the controversy of its methodology.
As a result, Noé was one of the most hated directors at Cannes after its premiere, with many critics ripping into him and labelling him as a homophobe and misogynist. There is a scene that takes place in a seedy underground club called ‘Club Rectum’, which is said to be a metaphor for hell. However, many people were offended by Noé’s portrayal of gay men, with the director allegedly showing an early cut of the film to fellow auteur Dario Argento before its release and being warned that it would not be received well by the gay community.
Noé explained his response to this, saying, “So I had an idea, and we went back to the club and I added a small image of me masturbating as part of the club. It was stupid, but still everybody noticed that I was a part of the club, so I could not be homophobic while being excited while in the club. My camera assistant and assistant director, it was just me and them two, you find yourselves in such weird situations when you’re having your collaborators watching you masturbating and you have to pretend it’s not a problem. And they were laughing.”
While it’s certainly a questionable method of absolving your own guilt, it remains one of the most bizarre things the director has done and another testament to his strange brand of filmmaking.
