Enter the Void

[socketlevel]

I really didn't like it, sadly. i was looking forward too it.  it's "the doom generation" of today. it uses all the same devices and ideas that "irreversible" had in it with way more self indulgence. it's forgetable.

[Gold Trumpet]

I really didn't like it, sadly. i was looking forward too it.  it's "the doom generation" of today. it uses all the same devices and ideas that "irreversible" had in it with way more self indulgence. it's forgetable.

Not a condescending question. Just a curious one, but if you didn't take to Irreversible, what about this one looked appealing? I just want to know if there are some parts to Irreversible or Gaspar Noe you liked.

[cinemanarchist]

They're playing the directors cut at IFC Center this weekend.

http://www.ifccenter.com/films/enter-the-void-original-uncut-version/

And Museum of the Moving Image is playing 2001:

http://www.movingimage.us/visit/calendar/2011/01/15/detail/2001-a-space-odyssey

I'm kinda thinking about going to do a crazy double-feature tomorrow.

70mm screening of Playtime at the museum the same day as 2001. Triple-feature.

[socketlevel]

I really didn't like it, sadly. i was looking forward too it.  it's "the doom generation" of today. it uses all the same devices and ideas that "irreversible" had in it with way more self indulgence. it's forgetable.

Not a condescending question. Just a curious one, but if you didn't take to Irreversible, what about this one looked appealing? I just want to know if there are some parts to Irreversible or Gaspar Noe you liked.

***SPOILS***

None taken. I actually really liked Irreversible, i thought the techniques aided the storytelling. each time the film flashed further back more was revealed, through plot and character.

for example in the first scene you see the rage in the character, and you see him destroy a man because of it. later you see what brought him to that, and even further you see that he had the wrong man.

I was always a step ahead in ETV, there was nothing revealing or interesting any time it flashed further back. we see how both the brother and sister get to Hong Kong and become addicted to drugs/life style yet it's exactly what i expected. in the first scene you even see who set him up, it's only a matter of the specifics; which were actually quite cliched, and nothing new was revealed. it's true this cliche is probably often the case when people go down this dark road, but it's a waste of time because it's pretty much told in the first scene.

the overhead shots in ETV were so mind numbing after the 20th time seeing them, and they exist to only look cool and show that the narrative exists in a small part of the city.

I saw the director's cut at the TIFF bell lightbox in Toronto, and maybe the 20 mins he further cut out is either the majority of the first time the film flashes back or it's all the unnecessary transition shots. even with more removed i still think this story lacks the vision Irreversible had.  it feels like an underdeveloped student film with a very large budget. i only get shock value, Irreversible had this as well but there was more to it after that aesthetic layer was penetrated.

i could go on, but i'll start with that.

[Alexandro]

SPOILS TOO

I also would agree that Irreversible is a "better" film, meaning the pieces fit, the thing "works". But Enter the Void is not interested in that. As I said before, it's irrelevant wether the film "works"or not. The film is not really about the story, certainly is not really about how the main character and his sister got to tokyo, or who set him up. It's not about finding out what happened before or after. Really, being a step ahead in THAT story is useless for the experience. The film ponders basic human questions and goes to a trip inside the guy's head and soul. It's a first person "narrative" so maybe we're talking about a trip inside Noe's head and soul. How does dying feel? What happens right after? What goes through your head? What interests you? Does the circumstances of your life set you up to be a lost soul, to find something else? Paradise, God?

You see, following this guy around during this period of time is not for you to put the pieces together of the banal parts of his life...how he got into drugs, etc...I don't think those moments are there to follow that path...What you start understanding through the before, after and dream scenes are his feelings, the things within his soul that shaped his perceptions (drugs included). The character barely speaks, barely express emotions through the whole film, yet by the end you have an idea of what was happiness for him, what were his deep sorrows, what obsessed him, you understand more and more the painful closeness to his sister, and what scared him of her, and their relationship.

Void follows Irreversible stylistically and goes further with the technical stuff. As for the narrative, its' completely different in purpose. It would be dumb from Noe to just remake Irreversible in such a fashion, this is a film interested in something else. As I said, is more an exploration of unanswered questions than "the story of"...

The way it's shot is technically impeccable, as a cinephile I found myself truly levitating for a while because formally this is a film that tries to reach heights that almost no one dares to. It might be too long, but time is not everything. It is certainly not perfect, but I don't think it could be. It's too personal to achieve even something close to perfection, it carries within the strengths and weaknesses of his creator in such an "in your face" fashion that at moments it feels like a self portrait. So to me there was a lot more going on there than just the "plot".

[IchLiebeTisch]

I really hated this movie.
I was completely immersed in the first hour, but then I started to become disconnected from the film and the characters. I didn't really give a shit about Paz de la Huerta and stopped caring about about the story in general. At that point the film switched from an interesting story about a brother watching over his sister after death and turned to a gimmicky mess of a movie. Especially when there were the parts where the camera would fly into lights, flash for a couple of minutes and then exit. It got really gimmicky when the camera flew around the room like "ohh am I gonna go into the light YES I AM". I was a really big fan of Irreversible, but I walked out of this one with a sour taste. Extremely disappointing.

[socketlevel]

***FURTHER SPOILS***

I'm not looking for him to remake irreversible, and i agree with all your points as to what a movie shouldn't have to be. however in this case, the film does go back in time, and it is trying to do the things i say. there is an element inherent in the story that depicts the who-did-this or see-how-it's-connected.

on one side I'm saying those devices didn't work, on the other you're debating why they don't need to be there. i agree, they don't need to be there, but he put them there. if this was a disjointed piece of non-narrative fiction and i was stating the problems i listed above I'd agree with your argument. but there is a structure that adheres to plot (at least for the first 2/3 of the film) and that plot fails by my standard.

the film also slightly fails in the standards you mention.  repetition and the idea that you cut excess out of a film is pretty much universally seen as serving the artform (while attempts and successes at not following this principle do exist). in the case of abstract expression, or layered expression, why can't the same sentiment be used while criticizing things other than the denouement? while the film does do all the things you mention, it does it... and then does it.... and then does it... without further insight or gratification to feel that the theme/emotion/atmosphere/etc is progressing or evolving.

also on a side note, i get the feeling that the film is trying to shock more than express anything in some moments. even despite the subject matter i got a sense of isn't-this-cool from the film maker rather than theme/emotion/atmosphere/etc service.

[Alexandro]

SPOILS FOR THE UNSPOILED

I don't know for sure. That plot logic doesn't seem to apply to me here. This seems to be where we part ways. Really, I wasn't even thinking about any story while watching the film. There was no mystery to be solved. No tangible objeictive t be achieved. This guy was on his own. The interesting thing was the sensation, the experience of the moments after dying. This particular interpretation, which shouldn't be like any other. So it was like an abstract character study, and as I said, a self portrait. Where through broad paint strokes you got the "feel" what is going on.

about cutting the film or the lenght of it. it's too son to say for me. I know it felt kind of long. I know also that sometimes 2001 feels eternal. So that's no way to judge a film like this in my experience. However, I did't find it repetitious. Just long, but no redundant.

[Stefen]

This is available to stream instantly on Netflix as of today.

I blind bought the blu-ray and it hasn't even shipped yet  Calls to the distributor said it's running late and should be shipping any day now. They already charged me!

[The Perineum Falcon]

This is available to stream instantly on Netflix as of today.

Best news! Thanks for the heads up, Stef; never thought I'd see it within a reasonable amount of time.

[socketlevel]

fair enough alexandro, though i did see the director's original cut, i guess there is a 20 min or so shorter version coming out which might have solved some of what i mentioned.

[Reinhold]

http://www.ifccenter.com/films/enter-the-void/

the director will be at tomorrow night's screening of the director's cut at the IFC center here in NY.

[Gold Trumpet]

If I had to checkpoint Gaspar Noe's career right now, I would call this film a masterpiece. A total fulfillment of talent which started to blossom in Irreversible. I had hopes and expectations he would film stories which veered away from linear storytelling and themes, but I wasn't expecting this much of a development by him. Consider me stunned and sounding like a 16 year old in the best way.

Of course, I'll try to write a few articles on the film from different vantage points. My critical belly was definitely tickled, but for the next 24 hours, I just want to live off the fumes of experiencing this film.

[Stefen]

My BD still hasn't come!

Half the people who have seen it call it a masterpiece and the other half call it terrible. There hasn't been such a polarizing film as this one in a long time.

[polkablues]

I too finally just saw this, and it is the masterpiece that half the people say it is. Perhaps the most effortlessly virtuousic film since 8 1/2. I hope to have more to say later, but I'm still in post-coital afterglow from watching it, and anything more that I say at this time would just be the hyperbolic ravings of an instantly-converted fanboy.