Sundance Review: ENTER THE VOID

Sometimes there are casual movies you watch, leave, go home, and probably forget, forever stored away in your head somewhere you will never access again.  These films are relatively easy to get through.  Other times, there are films like ENTER THE VOID, the return to feature film making from IRREVERSIBLE director Gaspar Noe.  His films are harsh, hypnotic, and just about as visually and narratively challenging as you are likely to see.  ENTER THE VOID is no exception, and it may even be considered more of a “marathon” viewing than IRREVERSIBLE.  To say ENTER THE VOID is daring is putting the feeling of having seen the film into a single word.  This neither can nor should it be the case.  It has to be seen to be believed, and whether you enjoy the film or not, there is no denying the level of appreciation that should be given to it.

Using a rather complex format to tell a simple story, ENTER THE VOID centers on a young brother and sister, played by Nathaniel Brown and Paz de la Huerta, respectively living in the flashy and high-octane confines of Tokyo.  The sister, Linda, is a stripper.  The brother, Oscar, is a low level drug dealer.  They care for one another and have long since made a bond that they would never abandon one another.  So, when Oscar is shot dead in a botched drug deal, his spirit continues on, observing the consequences of his actions on others, and jumping around in time looking backwards and forwards at the events leading to and from this central event.

Noe is not a film maker who is satisfied with simply aiming his camera and shooting the scenes.  His camera is forever moving, looping the point of view (of which, for the most part, is through Oscar’s eyes) in and out of the bright lights and dank alleyways of both Tokyo and Oscar’s conscious thoughts.  It is all cut together masterfully to appear as a single, continuous shot, and it is some of the most inventive and noteworthy usage of camera movement I have ever seen.  It has been nearly eight years since IRREVERSIBLE, and I would be very curious to find how much of this time was spent crafting and pulling off the shots used here.

At a staggering 156 minutes (at least, this was the cut I saw), the film is a visual marathon, one that is not for everyone. From the hyperactive and overpowering opening credits (which drew deserved applause from the audience) to the 20-minute orgy scene near the conclusion, the style at work here seems to be working against the crowd rather than for it. Challenging seems like such a light word when used in context with this film.  ENTER THE VOID fights its audience, dares them to sit and take in every bit of its visual brilliance, of which the film has in abundance.  Even listening to the actors batting mumbled lines of dialog back and forth, more often than not wholly unnaturally, does not take you out of the film enough as to not appreciate Noe’s style.  The only element of the film that may do that is Noe’s decision to pound the ideals of the film deep into the viewer’s head.  Oscar’s soul is on a journey, and we take this journey with him every step of the way.  The film is every bit of that two and a half hours plus.  In fact, it even feels longer.  This is completely unnecessary, and even the decision to split the film into five segments (no chapters are announced, but that describes what happens here better than any other word) does nothing to help the time along.

Gaspar Noe makes no bones that his films are not for everyone.  He doesn’t want just anyone to watch his films, only those who can appreciate the audacious nature with which he paints his pictures.  Words simply cannot describe the visual boldness at play with ENTER THE VOID.  Unfortunately, not everyone will see it to understand this, and even a large number of those who do choose to see it won’t be able to make it to the end.  It is a hearty meal of a film, an epic adventure of style and substance.  Noe is back, and if it takes hiatuses like this to hone such daring film making, there is no one who should stand in his way.  I cannot think of anyone working with such bold conviction.  Even now, having digested ENTER THE VOID a bit, I cannot completely say I enjoyed it.  That does not stop me from saying it is nothing short of a masterpiece.

Overall Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars