Enter the Void (2010)

Very disappointing...

So much average

One of the most extraordinary films you will see this year. Take that as you want.

By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.

Enter the Void is a deadly movie and you clearly need to be in the right frame to even enjoy it- not that there is anything to enjoy in this metaphysical output by Gasper Noe. The cinematography and lighting is stunning and Tokyo looks, well just like Tokyo. It's a bit overlong but quite provocative. I am still undecided as the film left me visibly shaken because of its extreme content. You should see this film and make your own judgement. Visually stunning and effortlessly flowing Enter the Void is more of an experience than just a movie.

Never before had I walked out of a movie theatre. But this movie proved to be such an enormous amount of pretentious negative BS that I decided to stop being polite and respectful. This flick didn't deserve that. Not my attention, nor my time. Not my money too, but alas, too late. I was told that the movie cost 24 million to make and grossed only 1 million. So justice is already there.The plot is made up of pseudo-spiritual drivel. Thin as the ice on a lake after one night of frost. And it's all explained in one the first scenes of the movie. So as an audience member you must sit through more than two and a half hours of grueling and totally predictable clichés, watching this tiny plot unravel as was predicted by one of the characters. How deep it all is!That's my main problem with this particular piece of sick "art": the suggestion of deepness. Deep thoughts, rich symbolism, intangibility and mystery, rawness and confrontation, life and death. Plus an overwhelming array of startling and bewildering images (and sound effects).What is actually offered instead, when you look past the charade, is a so very often depicted world of drug users and whores, living on the edge in some metropolis somewhere in the world. Superficial and bent on shocking the audience. Nothing deep about that. It's like Hollywood with sour popcorn. Simply distasteful. And nothing new.The moment I chose to walk away from all that was when I saw child actors (really young) obviously being abused to serve the director's sick purpose. Now THAT I couldn't and wouldn't take anymore.I can't believe that anyone with a keen eye is willing to swallow such utter nonsense which isn't even worthy of the moniker "film". It's rather an abuse of that medium, I find. May the director soon be cured of his mental ills so he won't bother movie-goers much longer. That would be my advice (maybe Lars "von" Trier can join him, another troubled man of the same kind, in my mind).Enter The Void, it's quite an apt title. Devoid of real meaning, only smoke and mirrors, very cheap. No, I didn't enter. I left. Goodbye.

Enter the Void is a flawed, but deeply disturbing and powerful film that will almost certainly stay with you for a very long time. Through the use of superb camera-work, an unnerving ambient score and a powerhouse performance Paz De La Heurta, director Gaspar Noé sucks us into a very dark place. Of course, it is impossible to talk about the film without mentioning its fantastic first person opening sequence, chronicling the last half hour of protagonist Oscar's life. We see him take a strange hallucinogenic drug, before leaving his house and going to meet his friend, all the while being presented with a disjointed, and at times highly existential inner monologue. This scene is, for lack of a better word, astonishing, and more than sets the tone for the surreal nightmare to come. From then on, the camera, perhaps a representation of the protagonist's spirit, moves freely through space and time, never confined to one place, almost as though it were some kind of omniscient being. We are also presented with psychedelic, almost headache inducing strobe lights set against an oppressive red colour palette, which, perhaps in an inferior film, would be no more than a gimmick to masquerade artistic prowess. In this, however, the lighting serves to highlight the despair and misery the characters are living through, as we, like the protagonist watch in horror, unable to save them from their inevitably unpleasant fate. The performances are, in general, pretty good. Nathaniel Brown is convincing as Oscar, playing somebody who, while devoted to his sister's well-being, gives very little regard to the lives of others. The only performance that I would call bad comes from Cyril Roy, playing his friend, who, intentionally or otherwise, comes across as detached from the situation around him, and unable to speak without sounding slurred. The standout, however, comes from the aforementioned Paz De La Heurta, playing Oscar's damaged sister Linda, the emotional anchor of the film. She portrays someone who, though innocent at first, becomes increasingly aware, and disturbed, at the nightmarish situation she's in, and increasingly desperate for some sort of escape. All this is done with a raw emotional intensity that you simply would not see in a more mainstream film. This film is, of course, far from perfect. Its biggest flaw lies in its borderline excessive run-time, which could have been reduced drastically had Noé removed a few unnecessary scenes, or, alternatively, cut a few short. Around halfway through, we are shown a shortened version of the opening scene again, only without the first person perspective. This could have been shortened quite easily, by showing only the most crucial moments, before moving on. Towards the end, Noé starts recycling and re-purposing the same type of shot, finishing, quite disappointingly, with a visually stunning, though overlong sequence that detracts from the emotional climax of the film. Despite an overstretched run-time and occasional moments of weakness, Enter the Void is essential viewing for anyone interested in surreal, unsettling cinema. Obligatory rating: 8.5/10

This film was a most unexpected experience for me. One night after everyone else had gone to bed I sat pondering the meaning of life the universe and everything. Sometimes this can get quite intense, as occasionally I do this on acid. Yes it's an unusual practice for a "professional", but still. I decided to watch a film and started digging through my unwatched films, I found Enter the Void. I didn't know I had it, where it came from or anything about it. I just put it on.The intro credits had my eye's watering and holding onto the couch, already it was starting to mess with my mind. I was then fired into a dark world with a 1st person view of this tragic and violent story. The glorious visuals and shocking dark nature the film kept me mesmerised, whilst much of me wanted to scream and run away for large parts of the film.The DMT scene totally messed with me and projected 3D imagery into the room. It was absolutely amazing. It really is like it has been designed for people who are taking hallucinogens. I still had no idea at this stage the horror that was to follow.The plot although sinister and as macabre as can be remains within the bounds of reality. If it was a "fantasy" type picture it would have been more easily assimilated when I watched it. But no, everything that happens could indeed happen. It is a true horror picture even though it is using a strange mode to convey the story. Towards the end of the film I had to take breaks and walk away for some minutes. The content is deeply unsettling. It made me feel genuinely uneasy and wishing for it to end, whilst raptly watching every moment of it. This is not a film for the young of heart or those with delicate sensibilities. It is brutal and emotionally disturbing and covers many topics that are rarely seen in film in such an honestly vulgar portrayal.I watched it again some weeks after the first time to try to get some contrast against my state of mind during the first viewing. To be honest it was much better on LSD. I don't know if it was just that I knew what was going to happen the second time I viewed it or that I honestly didn't feel like putting myself through it again.I would definitely recommend this film for buffs and more darkly eccentric people. It has amazing visual effects, a highly unusual format and a little told story that will leave you thinking about it for some days afterwards.