noe's enter the void

[Cosimo]

http://img266.imageshack.us/img266/5562/69dcf60292cd4615a69297eyx0.gif

bit about sick genius gaspar noe's new film ENTER THE VOID from the man himself




“Making a film is difficult, but making a great film is an almost impossible task.”

This quote from Spielberg is perhaps not completely accurate, but that’s how I remember it. However, some examples of great films do exist, including the film which had such an influence on my existence: 2001, A Space Odyssey. Without professing to be able to create such a masterpiece, trying to make a film that is, at the same time, a large-scale entertainment, suitable for adults and complex in cinematic terms, is one of the most exciting undertakings one could wish to tackle. And if one does not set out with the aim of making a great film, one can be sure that it will not turn out to be one.

Few of the arts can satisfy man’s need to be uplifted as immediately as film. And none (except interactive video games) can yet reproduce the maelstrom of our states of perception and consciousness.
In the past, certain films have tried to adopt the subjective point of view of the main character. enter the void will try to improve upon its predecessors and accompany the hero just as much in his normal state of awareness as in his altered states: the state of alertness, the stream of consciousness, memories, dreams...

The visions described in the script are inspired partly by the accounts of people who have had near-death experiences, who describe a tunnel of light, seeing their lives flashing past them and ‘astral’ visions, and partly by similar hallucinatory experiences obtained by consuming DMT, the molecule which the brain sometimes secretes at the moment of death and which, in small doses, enables us to dream at night.
The film should sometimes scare the audience, make it cry and, as much as possible, hypnotise it.

In recent years, films with labyrinthine structures have proved the audience’s ability to follow storylines in the form of a puzzle, and its desire to move away from linear narration.
But a complex form where the content does not move the spectator in any way would only amount to mathematic virtuosity. Whereas this film is above all a melodrama: the universal melodrama of a young man who, after the brutal death of his parents, promises that he will protect his little sister no matter what and who, sensing that he himself is dying, fights desperately to keep his promise. A film where the life of one person is linked to the love he has for another human being.

The reason for choosing the most modern areas of Tokyo as a setting is to further emphasize the fragility of the brother and sister by propelling them like two small balls in a giant pinball machine made up of black, white and fluorescent colours.

My previous two films, which were far less ambitious, were once described by a critic as being like roller coasters playing with the most reptilian desires and fears of the spectator. enter the void, whose themes and artistic choices will be far more varied and colourful, should, if I succeed, be the Magic Mountain which I, as a spectator, dream of riding on."

Gaspar Noé

[Mr pudding]

Gaspar noe did he do I STAND ALONE???.

[Powerslave]

Never seen any of the guy's movies. Always been curious, but never had enough of a desire to actually actively seek any of them out and watch them. That said, this sounds like a pretty damn cool, if perhaps dangerously ambitious/potentially disastrous undertaking, though I'm not exactly sure how the visions and the labyrinthine plot structure fit into what he describes as the central plot, the melodrama part (which doesn't sound as interesting). I'm thinking he's just saying that he'll be taking this simple plot and employing all this other crazy shit to communicate said plot in the most effective/complex/compelling/complete/whatever way possible. I'm also really tired and sleep-deprived at the moment so I could just be missing something. But anywho, he isn't very clear on that. I'd like to know more. But still, alot of what he's saying has got me very interested: visions and hallucinations, labyrinthine plot structure, "mathematic virtuosity" (whatever that exactly means, it sounds cool and evokes awesome ideas as to what the aforementioned labyrinthine plot structure will entail), varied/colorful artistic choices, crazy Tokyo cinematography, pushing the limits of what a movie can do and be, and so on.

So yeah, I'm not 100% clear on the whole thing, but I'm certainly very intrigued.

[Cosimo]

So yeah, I'm not 100% clear on the whole thing, but I'm certainly very intrigued.

oh yeah i don't have a freakin clue what he is talking about but still it's noe so i'm sure it will be ace

and mr pudding yes he did i stand alone, one of the most uplifting films of all time!!

[Cosimo]

looks amazing. replaces antichrist at number 1 most anticipated at cannes

[Bahs]

havent seen any of his movies either, but i definitely want to check this one out as soon as i can. looks very intriguing

[JCPhoenix]

I am so excited about this movie. This and Antichrist are the two films I'm looking forward to the most from Cannes this year. The stills from this movie are gorgeous.

Early reactions are trickling in (Ebert seems to hate it, indiewire thinks the first half-hour is riveting, and Screendaily thinks it will achieve cult status instantly). I'm waiting for The AVClub's reaction.

All in all, it sounds like a great mindtrip film. Some quotes:

One of the final Official selections, Gasper Noe's "Enter the Void," is a nearly unendurable in-depth investigation of a very shallow idea. - Roger Ebert

Just when you think you’ve seen everything on a movie screen over the course of ten plus days at the Cannes Film Festival, another film comes along to shake things up. At more than 160 minutes, Gaspar Noe’s latest, “Enter The Void,” is first and foremost an endurance test. Stirring boos and bravos this afternoon in Cannes, it also ranks up there, in terms of ambition and provocation, with Lars Von Trier’s “Antichrist.” - indiewire

The characters are all fairly uninteresting and some are indeed loathsome, but that is not the point. The film defies cinema convention in every way. It is almost like an adult video game with no rules, or an art installation which evolves into something immersive and sensory. One thing is certain. Spiked with all the tricks, sound effects and technological invention at Noe’s disposal, Enter The Void is a trip. - Screendaily

[Katsumoto]

oh man, can't wait... loved his two previous films.

[Lazy Boy]

Mike D'Angelo seems nonplussed, and he was a huge fan of Irreversible. What I can get, before he writes more on it for A.V. Club, is based on this Twitter message:

Enter [...three hours later...] the Void ('09 Noé): 57. Formally amazing (especially the slide-show flashback sequence), but really stoopid.

I loved Irreversible, and have been eagerly waiting for Noe's next "trip."

[Reigh Kaufman]

I would watch Noe's Christmas dinner snaps on an 8mm projector for umpteen hours in a submarine with no drink and only recirculated farts or cigarillo or a stale pack of Camels smoke to breathe.

I'm all the way in for this one.

[Powerslave]

This is one of the 2 or 3 movies I've been most excited about at Cannes this year, since first learning of it on this very thread. The mixed early word is about what I expected, but everything I'm hearing (for the most part) just makes me want to see it more.

Noe's previous films are right now at the top of my list of movies to see.

[Monotreme]

I'm really curious because I read that the visual style of this film is entirely unique and quite riveting, which is a rarity these days when it seems like everyone has done everything possible with film already. That said, critics calling it an "endurance test", and Cannes critics no less... can't be a good thing. Still, I'm definitely quite curious, as Irreversible seemed to have a similar effect on me - disturbing and frustrating and disquieting, and yet you just can't look away...

[viceus]

Finally, SOMETHING is revealed...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tPxgi-PiNFE&NR=1

That's pretty, isn't it?

[cristane]

Have seen this one at Sitges & completely blew me away. Not that I was expecting otherwise. It's the ultimate mindfuck of a story. Really disturbing, extremely violent and explicit, beautifully shot and perfectly directed.

However, I doubt this will be released in theaters without some heavy editing. They have to cut a lot to tone it down to a R rating.

[echo_bravo]

Was this film ever online at one point? I could of sworn I saw it on one of those online movie sites but I passed up checking it out.

Really want to see this.

[SAI]

I saw this at the London Film Festival this year. For the record I can't say I LIKED Irreversible, but it was a mightily impressive film, but sadly I pretty well hated Enter the Void.

Full review here (http://24framez.blogspot.com/2009/10/24fps-at-lff-day-1.html)

[Psychocandy]

I saw this at the London Film Festival this year. For the record I can't say I LIKED Irreversible, but it was a mightily impressive film, but sadly I pretty well hated Enter the Void.

Full review here (http://24framez.blogspot.com/2009/10/24fps-at-lff-day-1.html)

While I hold your opinion in the highest regard...I think i'll give this a go anyway. I hold Irreversible in very high regard. It wasn't, as has been said, an enjoyable experience. But it was an experience. Which is more than can be said for about 90% of what passes for movies these days.

[JCPhoenix]

I saw this at the Toronto Film Fest in September and as people who have seen my display pic from the past few months can gather, I had the opposite reaction to SAI.

I fully expect this to be more divisive than Irreversible and to garner many more negative reviews (though the reviews coming out of Sundance are definitely looking up versus the previous negative Cannes reviews and the nonexistent media reaction in Toronto). Calling it a soulless exercise in style isn't altogether inaccurate - and trust me, that will be a major charge levelled against this film - but my fucking God, the style is everything in this film.

I treat it like a stunning avant-garde exercise and a piece of art for the sake of art rather than a piece of narrative storytelling. Maybe I've just put up with a lot of alternative films in film class that would all be considered pointless and intolerably boring in the mainstream scheme of things but Enter the Void blew me the fuck away.

I think the first hour is pretty flawless. On a technical level, this movie is top-notch in every aspect, from the flawless special effects work to the awesome sound design (as with Irreversible, courtesy of a member of Daft Punk...this year is gonna be gold for the group with Enter the Void and Tron Legacy coming) to the stunning camerawork.

Still, even proponents of the film might find the second half more tedious to sit through - I admit his commitment to the experiment leads to a ton of transitions which can get boring to watch. I know there were a lot of walkouts and they probably happened around the one and a half to two hour mark. The hotel sex might be a little long but it does fit into the lurid world of the film. The "climax" of the film is priceless and one of those images that made my jaw drop, half wanting to laugh at Noe's balls (and cheeky humor) for showing us that, and half just a little shellshocked.

But that dedication to the cause and rules of his world gives the film an uncompromising structure that is unlike anything else you've ever seen on screen. And the film as a whole has such a grand slam of an impact for me, that the details diminish in importance. I walked out, shaken not so much by ideas (though there are thematic elements you can pluck out) but by the film as a visceral experience.

It's something to drift through, kind of like a waking dream (or nightmare). It has its own atmosphere that I personally found haunting and certain moments (like a memory of a car crash) grab you so directly that you can almost feel the impact. I even found the film poignant at times though make no mistake - story is not a central part of this film. As I am mightily fascinated with lucid dreams, memories, death, and afterlife, this movie hit all my sweet spots. It's a valid argument that Enter the Void is empty and soulless in the ways that narrative filmmaking shouldn't be, but I don't really think the rules of narrative filmmaking apply to this film. It's a piece of art and the point isn't necessarily a narrative one - it's about a creation of a tone, a feeling, a state of mind. I've always been intrigued by lucid dreams and this movie feels like the closest thing to creating that state of being in a film.

I was worried going in because I had heard mixed things about the acting, but I thought it all fit into the movie. It's mostly very casually acted but in a way that fits the level of realism Noe is trying to go for I think. It's not brilliant work but neither did the acting ever jump out and bother me either. It services the film.

Irreversible (10/10) is probably a more important film and one that has a narrative poignancy to it that Enter the Void might lack. But Enter the Void is the one I will go back to time and time again for rewatches. As an experience, it is unparalleled (fuck Avatar). We saw it on one of the biggest screens in Toronto and it just sucked us in. In fact, all four of us who saw it were almost tempted to pick up tickets to the next screening of it just to rewatch it and it made all four of our top 3 lists of the fest (and we saw 15-33 films each). I've been DYING for a rewatch every day since I've seen it. And I know he had some slight changes for the Sundance cut (a little trimming would be nice but I will take Enter the Void any way I can get it) which I hope will make it even better.

If possible, see it in the best theatre you can find. It is a movie to see on the big screen, not on the small. IFC has picked it up so I'm not sure how many theatres it will play in (but the upside of this is that IFC and Criterion have a kind of deal going on so I'm really hoping for an Enter the Void Criterion blu-ray).

This film will likely be panned by most critics but I have no doubt it will find a following as a cult film. I should add that I consider it the trippiest film I have ever seen (you could get high off this film) and personally, it would have made my top 10 of the last decade if it were released in 2009.

Oh and the Japanese trailer which is kind of randomly put together is out. Good for seeing a peek of some more footage though don't expect the tone of the movie to be this abrupt and jarring:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o9B941MaqAs

[JumpSpider]

I'm so torn on seeing this. I was really impressed by Irreversible but absolutely hated I Stand Alone. The fact that Void is supposed to be almost three hours long makes it seem like it could be really good or really terrible.

[viceus]

At long last there's an actual (French) theatrical trailer for Void.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oRNpSKsBKw8&feature=player_embedded

Also, a sneak peek into the Love Hotel...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NxOYnnbTp8Y&feature=related

...and a strip tease

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LNzvPKtrSRU&feature=channel

Excellent.

I'd sooner chew off one of my arms than wait any longer to see this film. It's all getting a bit ridiculous now.

[Cosimo]

this film makes me want to go smoke crack in tokyo. even though bad things happen for me he glamorizes drugs in his films

[someguy]

the opening credits already get me hyped up about this

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tPxgi-PiNFE

and here's a (possibly spoiler-filled!) montage of vfx shots from the movie that was posted as a promo reel for the special effects company

http://www.buf.com/visual_effects.php?display=movie&id=882

[Reigh Kaufman]

I've gone from excited to anxious to angry waiting on this fucking film.

I check every day to see if it is coming anywhere near me.

Nice link, someguy!

[Monotreme]

the opening credits already get me hyped up about this

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tPxgi-PiNFE

Holy. Fucking. SHIT. That might be one of the single greatest opening credit sequences I have EVER seen. Wow. Insane!