Enter The Void (Gaspar Noe)

[Peru]

I haven't seen this discussed on here (forgive me if otherwise but search function seems busted).

I saw this last week and it was hands-down one of the most extraordinary cinematic experiences of my life - complete immersion. I could barely walk in a straight line after coming out of the cinema. It's a significant improvement on Irreversible (though no less disturbing in its own way) and although it has its fair share of flaws (consensus is extremely mixed) it absolutely demands to be seen on the biggest screen possible. I was literally open-mouthed for the entire 2.5 hour running time - more or less every single shot was seemingly impossible. The sound design, cinematography and camera work are genuinely among the best I have ever seen. I can see how accusations of an over-lengthy running time have been levelled at it (you certainly feel the film's running time) but these accusations of boredom - well I can only speak for myself but I was never bored, there was always too much to experience.

[thepuffpastryhangman]

The missus said it made her feel sick, literally, and that was just the opening twenty minutes (which I thought captured it well, the bits in the street that is - the closed eyes were a let down). I was pretty much engrossed throughout but did check my watch with 45 minutes remaining.

Tis one to watch at home if you've got a good set up, not on same til April 2011 though it seems. But it makes great use of a cinema too. Depends where you're least likely to be distracted I suppose.

[Glebe]

A friend of mine saw it recently and was also made nauseous by the opening... in any case, he loved it.

[Squink]

I found it to be an extraordinarily varied experience. The scenes where he's tripping at the start aren't much better than a Windows 95 screensaver, and the Tibetan Book of the Dead stuff was too obvious as a touchstone--it's the kind of thing every student in a tie-dye T-shirt has dug out at some point. But there are moments of breathtaking beauty in the visuals. Personally I loved the flushes of yellow that were periodically stretched across the entire screen and set to drones, and the aping of tilt-shift photography techniques were often very effective (although slightly tiresome toward the end). At times is reminded me of the career trajectory of the Flaming Lips, from jaw-dropping excellence and ambition (Zaireeka) to absolutely awful half-finished cod psychedelic nonsense (Christmas on Mars).

I'd echo the fact that you need to see this in a cinema, it's not going to have half the impact on the small screen. That said, here's the demented credits sequence on YouTube:

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

[copylight]

Kermode said it was shit - hence me really wanting to see it now.

[The Boston Crab]

Credits tune is LFO - Freak which I fully imagine Bangalter turned him into. Can't wait to see this.

[falafel]

Kermode said it was shit - hence me really wanting to see it now.

No he didn't

[The Boston Crab]

Credits tune is LFO - Freak which I fully imagine Bangalter turned him onto. Can't wait to see this.

[copylight]

No he didn't

Yes he bloody did! The podcast I heard had him compare it to Eat, Pray Love.

Does he matter that much to you?

ED But he's shy with this - http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/markkermode/2010/09/post_2.html

I really don't like like the man's reviews, only his opinions. Hence me wanting to see this fucking film alright?

[Squink]

Opening credits fed through the yooouuutuuube wringer here. Hit flux mode for extra fun.

[falafel]

Yes he bloody did! The podcast I heard had him compare it to Eat, Pray Love.

Does he matter that much to you?

ED But he's shy with this - http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/markkermode/2010/09/post_2.html

I really don't like like the man's reviews, only his opinions. Hence me wanting to see this fucking film alright?

No. I mean yes, and he did criticise the mawkishness, but it was still his film of the week

Incidentally, I'm going to see this tomorrow  night, really looking forward to it.

[Ality Atwo]

This film delivered every Sarah Stockbridge fantasy I've had since seeing Glam Metal Detectives as a 14 year old.

[Mister Six]

So don't go spoiling any details for me here, but I really want to see Enter the Void in the cinema but am terrified I'll have to go through another Irreversible trauma fest without the ability to pause or fast-forward the flick. How traumatic is it? I've got a pretty strong stomach but I'm not in the mood for another nine-minute rape scene.

[HKmA]

You'll be fine - one or two bits that elicited an uneasiness in me, but nothing close to Irreversible.

[falafel]

All the sex is consensual, I think, but some of the violence isn't. You'll be fine as long as you can stay awake.

Great film, mind.

[wasp_f15ting]

Young Gaspar has been watching Channel 4's Future Sex I think with that last shot..

I think Paz's allure kind of died as showed her muff and nips in Broadwalk Empire in a much sexier way.

This film is probably best watched with Drugs..and Gaspar Noe is a dirty perv.

[mcbpete]

Shamelessly pilfered from my post about this film on another forum but .... I finally managed to get round to seeing this last night and was completely blown away. Yes at times it was a little style over substance and there were a couple of scenes that I felt didn't really add anything, but definitely one of the best films I've seen in years.

I'm surprised that little appears to have been made about the sound direction of the film, it was by far one of the detailed audio compositions I think I have ever heard in a movie. If you lost some of the more dialogue heavy scenes you could easily release just the audio as an incredible dub-techno/ambient/drone mix set. The way that the sound flows from one scene to the other in an even more seamless way than the visuals was just incredible. Even though so much of the film took place in club areas, the way that it had been filtered you really got the sense of being a disconnected observer and rather being a scene of intensity the whole thing took on a subdued passive feel. I also really liked the frequent use of the 'Air On The G String' filtered in different guises in key scenes between Oscar and his sister. So yeah, I really loved and got completely lost in that aspect of the film even more so than the visuals.

Really looking forward to picking this up on ol' Blu Ray (coincidentally released on my birthday) 

[Subtle Mocking]

A lot of people are saying that Kanye West ripped off the opening credits to ETV: http://iluluonline.com/kanye-west-accused-of-ripping-off-gaspar-noe-in-all-of-the-lights-video/

[Ja'moke]

Really looking forward to picking this up on ol' Blu Ray (coincidentally released on my birthday)

Is it getting a Blu-ray release in the UK? All I can find is a DVD release date...

[mcbpete]

Damn, you're right - I saw the DVD and being that it was a modern film I just jumped to the conclusion that 25th was gonna be for the Blu Ray as well .... On an unrelated point, I was surprised to learn that the BBFC didn't cut any of the sexual content of the film, it's pretty darn strong !

[Peru]

There is a French release (out now) with 2 versions of the film on it - the UK version and the longer cut. As the film is in English subtitles are not an issue.

Kanye West's 'homage' to the credits is disgraceful. That's just an outright rip-off.

[mcbpete]

I know, it's pretty darn shocking huh ?! And completely out of place from the first section ....

[Ja'moke]

There is a French release (out now) with 2 versions of the film on it - the UK version and the longer cut. As the film is in English subtitles are not an issue.

You can't remove the subtitles though can you? I don't have a problem with subtitles if I'm watching a foreign langauge film, but I'd rather watch this without writing over the screen.