soundamongothersounds:

Enter The Void

Written and directed by Gaspar Noé

You don’t watch Enter The Void; it happens to you. It happens to you on a level of psychological and visual stimulus that it will haunt you relentlessly like that vivid dream that you can still recall weeks after you’ve woken, shaken and confused by reality. It’s less of a film and more of an experience, and whether I’ve been changed for the better or for the worse by this experience I have yet to determine.

If this movie is anything, it’s a cinematic marvel. Its POV camera effortlessly flies through buildings, interrupts scenes, and twists and turns and warps the field of vision in ways we’ve never seen before. Often in the beginning of this film I wondered to myself how anyone managed to create something like this, a thought I’ve only had once previously while watching 2001: A Space Odyssey (an apt comparison, since the Jupiter and the Infinite chapter is an obvious inspiration here). Strobe lights and pulsing audio reminiscent of clubbing and the flickering of the neon lights of Tokyo contribute to this camerawork to build this film into a state of sensory overload that is probably not unlike heavy drug abuse—an obviously intentional effect.

This movie is shot in the point of view of Oscar, a man who has just been “killed,” and his journey through a Tibetan Buddhist “afterlife.” In short, it’s this surreal meditation on his past life and an observation of his peers’ lives after his death. At times the things he sees and the way he chooses to see them are perverse and graphic, and at other times they are poignant and almost touching. Let’s just say that Oscar’s lifestyle is a gritty and often disgusting one, and Noé leaves nothing to the imagination.

Often scenes, dialogue, and angles are repeated and juxtaposed to stress an equality or contrast between two events of his life. The Zen concepts of an energy that flows through all life seems to be a theme, since occasionally the segues end up being these gradual vortex-like tumbles into a fixed point or object in the frame, similar to how the DMT hallucination is depicted in the scene I’ve included. The film is all one big trip, in that sense: one massive hallucination that bends reality and time together in this sensory melting pot, and the way Oscar navigates through this trip is what gives this film its character. Often we see his subconscious desires and fantasies take shape, and we’re invited to react and comment on them more than think about them.

A large amount of Noé’s camerawork is reminiscent of a diorama of sorts, with Oscar looking down on people as they move through different rooms and spaces like they’re in an exhibit or zoo. From that angle we all look kind of animalistic; we’re just these expendable creatures all living equally empty and meaningless lives. However depressing that sentiment might be, from a big-picture perspective it feels like Noé is trying to tell us that the real beauty of life is what we make of it; the choices we make and the people we touch are wholly more important than what we desperately try to leave behind.

All-in-all, Enter The Void is not a particularly good movie. Its acting can be stale and the movie is so long that at times each second can feel like an eternity. These common (and arguably truthful) complaints, however, are only valid in the perspective of an analytical critic of film, one who is well-trained in what is good and what is bad. To take this film from that perspective would be a gross misunderstanding of Noé’s vision. Enter The Void is intended to grab ahold of you, suck you into its vortex of forced perspective and high stimulus, and not release its grasp (no matter how hard you resist) until the final frame flies by. If you know Gaspar Noé’s other work Irreversible (suitable nomenclature for a film that can be wholly traumatic), you’ll understand that he’s not necessarily interested in making traditional movies. He’s the epitome of avant-garde creativity: lauded by few, unabashedly proud, infamous for controversy, and famous for risk-taking. Many of you who read this will absolutely hate this film, and that’s fine. Like I said, it’s an experience.

If you can, watch it in a theater with a booming sound system and really comfortable seats. If there ever was a movie made to be watched on a big screen, this is it. This film’s achievements as a genuinely unique work of cinema cement it as one of the most significant films to be produced in this modern age. Nothing like it has ever been made and nothing like it will ever be made again.

Lisa did you ever find/watch this?