In October last year I sat in a cinema at the London Film Festival for approximately two hours and forty minutes watching Gaspar Noe’s follow up to Irreversible, Enter The Void, and in that time I felt exhilarated, bored, nauseous, repulsed, shocked, scared and amused. The film ended and Gaspar Noe walked out for a Q&A and proceeded to explain that he wanted to make a kind of death trip movie and something that you’d never seen before. Despite some minor criticisms I had of the film, I can’t deny that he succeeded in this. Enter The Void is an incredible film, not always a good film, but consistently incredible.
Inspired by the 1947 MGM film Lady in the Lake, 2001: A Space Odyssey and an intense mushroom trip he experienced, Noe has blended these influences with his own fearless filmmaking style and the result is Enter The Void.
The Plot synopsis from IFC Films (who have picked the film up for a US release) is as follows
Loosely inspired by the TIBETAN BOOK OF THE DEAD, ENTER THE VOID centers on Oscar and his sister Linda, recent arrivals in Tokyo. Oscar is a small time drug dealer, and Linda works as a nightclub stripper. One night, Oscar is caught up in a police bust and shot. As he lies dying, his spirit, faithful to the promise he made his sister – that he would never abandon her – refuses to abandon the world of the living. His spirit wanders through the city, his visions growing evermore distorted, evermore nightmarish. Past, present and future merge in a hallucinatory maelstrom.
Although I am sure Enter The Void will not receive a particularly wide release, it still has no UK release date, I urge you to check the film out in a cinema if you get the chance when it’s released. The film benefits greatly from being seen at the cinema and it is a really unique experience.
Check out the Japanese trailer below which is definitely NSFW.
Also embedded below the trailer are the fantastic opening titles for the film, which recently won the Special Jury Award for Excellence in Title Design at SXSW.
Both videos feature music from the score by Thomas Bangalter. Bangalter is one half of Daft Punk, who are also scoring Disney’s upcoming Tron Legacy
