Enter the Void (2010)

If the ambition is to provide two hours of instantly forgettable, popcorn-munching escapism, it succeeds.

I enjoyed watching this film and would recommend other to give it a try , (as I am) but this movie, although enjoyable to watch due to the better than average acting fails to add anything new to its storyline that is all too familiar to these types of movies.

Blistering performances.

An old-fashioned movie made with new-fashioned finesse.

I hate to give a NOE movie any less then an 8 rating. Especially a movie like this, that is so unique. But boy was it way to long to enjoy. The excitement and fascination just got kinda choked out of me while watching. Which is a shame. because there is a masterpiece in there. And on that note a shout out to "short" art-house films like "Daft Punk's Electroma" and "The Tracy Fragments".

I enjoyed it, VERY much. The colors and the camera-work are mesmerizing, feels like everything is real although everything feels to be surreal. It was really a mind-blower, but in a slow, calm and gorgeous way. The length of the movie gives justice, every second is either beautiful or interesting. I HAD to light some cigarettes twice during the movie, but not because it is boring, but because you just feel like you MUST light some cigarettes. It is all about the atmosphere this movie has. It is a bit art film, but that's only a good thing. I recommend it to everyone who want to watch something out of the ordinary, watch something messy yet well-understandable, and just want to chill out a bit, perhaps.

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

Holy F*cking Sh*t Balls...Not really a review. More like gushing fan mail. I don't have enough superlatives to describe how visceral and real this is(on one hand) and completely out there on another(hand). How ever trippy it is, what really moved me was how REAL some things felt.It was awesome to see Tokyo 'behind the scenes', all messed up, pimpy and dirty as hell. It's a breath of fresh air to see a major city for what it is(actually);a cesspool of too many people occupying the same piece of land. Hollywood always likes to employ the 'best of tourism pics' when it shoots something on location-this film, shows you the mould growing on everything.The high rise drug dens and neon sex clubs and the way they are portrayed make you feel as if you are about to catch a venereal disease on your eye balls.The long trip scenes and uncomfortable flights over the city(and inside it-LOL) almost make you wonder if the afterlife exists and if Gaspar Noe was somehow privy to it-it almost made me believe in a god.What I enjoyed most is how the gritty, real elements of the film flow into this drug fuelled, afterlife fantasia and the effect it had on me. The first time I watched this film I had a full blown panic attack, imagining what my own death would be like and the experience stayed with me weeks after. I love a film that gets under your skin and changes you(they are so rare).Noe has the courage to show life without the trappings of the romantic age:the world, for the most part, is not a pretty place and more often than not there is some f*cked up sh*t going on somewhere. Even when I watched his more recent film 'Love' I got the same impression:THIS is real life.As such it wont make you feel good or comfortable or happy but even so, one can't help feeling that this film is nothing short of a pure affirmation of life.Whatever your tastes, if you haven't seen this or one of his other films, you just don't have a conception of what cinema could be in the modern age.Well worth it's extended run time.