Being a big fan of Gaspar Noe's work I went into Enter the Void with a checklist in my mind of what to expect from him. His films have certain elements that make them work, he uses a distinct style, hardcore sex, unflinching acts of violence, and to bring it all together with some sort of philosophical statement. These things are the quintessential elements of what make I Stand Alone and Irreversible so compelling. However, for me, Enter the Void contain all of these elements but they did not work to create a compelling whole.
Perhaps this style does not work due to the fact that Gaspar Noe is wrapped up in his own ego and has forgotten about what made his previous two films so compelling. Irreversible and I Stand Alone feature accessible central characters, Gaspar manages to manipulate the audience into liking these despicable people by giving them human qualities and making them believable with fantastic performances. Here, the Oscar's (the films central character) face is hardly shown and does not seem to convey any sort of emotion, he is usually quite wooden and conveys everything with a bland tone. As an audience we never get a sense of a character and thus made me care less and less about the film as it went on and on.
Everyone that Oscar encounters (from Alex to Bruno) feel like they are hollow video game characters who are just there to serve the plot and don't have any sort of humanity. Their performances remove any tension. Lets take the scene before Alex and Oscar go to visit Bruno about buying drugs, Alex tell Oscar about how dangerous Bruno is. That he would drug you and use you for his own sexual satisfaction. You believe this Bruno to be a ruthless man, however, when we arrive at his flat, the scene's atmosphere is calm and rather dry. Bruno doesn't feel like a threat, he never raises his voice or threatens anyone's life (not that he needs to). But we never get this unhinged feeling like we do in Gaspar's other films. I thought the scene would have had more tension if Bruno was played correctly. As Enter the Void goes on and on it becomes tedious and Gaspar seems to to indulging in himself too much, with the constant use of the spinning camera flying over people and the lurid sex. The first 60-90 minutes or so were as compelling as it could get if I got over the bland acting and enjoyed it as Gaspar Noe showing this story and not the characters.
Enter the Void is made by someone who knows how to show a totally unique vision in the world where there is nothing but bland action films and I believe that is a strength to the film. Gaspar noes how to create visually striking films which compensate for the poor acting and allow for his style to arrest the audience and cause them to go into state of awe at the images on screen, I know there were points where was compelled periodically due to the way Gaspar had manipulated the camera- work and art direction. The film also explores worthy existential themes of what happens after we die and that were constantly live and a loop where there is no greater place than earth. It works to a point and then after a while I felt where I knew it was going through the contrived use of the Tibetan Book of the Dead,it seemed to serve as an explanation for what was going on in the film, ruined it's audacity and therefore more predictable.
Enter the Void is a polarizing film that tries to examine the afterlife and for the most part fails due to poor creation of characters and lack of depth within it's ideas.
Perhaps this style does not work due to the fact that Gaspar Noe is wrapped up in his own ego and has forgotten about what made his previous two films so compelling. Irreversible and I Stand Alone feature accessible central characters, Gaspar manages to manipulate the audience into liking these despicable people by giving them human qualities and making them believable with fantastic performances. Here, the Oscar's (the films central character) face is hardly shown and does not seem to convey any sort of emotion, he is usually quite wooden and conveys everything with a bland tone. As an audience we never get a sense of a character and thus made me care less and less about the film as it went on and on.
Everyone that Oscar encounters (from Alex to Bruno) feel like they are hollow video game characters who are just there to serve the plot and don't have any sort of humanity. Their performances remove any tension. Lets take the scene before Alex and Oscar go to visit Bruno about buying drugs, Alex tell Oscar about how dangerous Bruno is. That he would drug you and use you for his own sexual satisfaction. You believe this Bruno to be a ruthless man, however, when we arrive at his flat, the scene's atmosphere is calm and rather dry. Bruno doesn't feel like a threat, he never raises his voice or threatens anyone's life (not that he needs to). But we never get this unhinged feeling like we do in Gaspar's other films. I thought the scene would have had more tension if Bruno was played correctly. As Enter the Void goes on and on it becomes tedious and Gaspar seems to to indulging in himself too much, with the constant use of the spinning camera flying over people and the lurid sex. The first 60-90 minutes or so were as compelling as it could get if I got over the bland acting and enjoyed it as Gaspar Noe showing this story and not the characters.
Enter the Void is made by someone who knows how to show a totally unique vision in the world where there is nothing but bland action films and I believe that is a strength to the film. Gaspar noes how to create visually striking films which compensate for the poor acting and allow for his style to arrest the audience and cause them to go into state of awe at the images on screen, I know there were points where was compelled periodically due to the way Gaspar had manipulated the camera- work and art direction. The film also explores worthy existential themes of what happens after we die and that were constantly live and a loop where there is no greater place than earth. It works to a point and then after a while I felt where I knew it was going through the contrived use of the Tibetan Book of the Dead,it seemed to serve as an explanation for what was going on in the film, ruined it's audacity and therefore more predictable.
Enter the Void is a polarizing film that tries to examine the afterlife and for the most part fails due to poor creation of characters and lack of depth within it's ideas.