Enter The Void

Controversial filmmaker Gaspar Noé (Irreversible) is back with a mind-bending journey that transcends life and death as he follows the exploits of a young American drug dealer living in Japan.

TIFF: Enter the Void has been described as a psychedelic melodrama by director Gaspar Noé, which effectively sums up this provocative yet contemplative exploration of life, death and sexuality. Though shifting gears slightly from his previous cinematic assaults, Noé is undeniably taking creative risks as extreme as any he's taken before. This is an avant-garde journey into the mind of his protagonist, a young low-level drug dealer named Oscar (Nathaniel Brown).

Oscar and his sister lived apart for years in foster homes, but he finally raises enough money to reconnect with Linda (Paz de la Huerta) in Tokyo. Their emotional reunion sours as he continues to sell drugs and Linda becomes a stripper. Brother and sister are torn apart yet again when Oscar is caught in a police raid and shot, left to die on the grimy floor of a nightclub bathroom. And here the story truly begins….

Oscar's junkie muse Alex (Cyril Roy) gives him The Tibetan Book of the Dead, which Noé uses as a template for Oscar's spiritual journey. When Oscar is alive, the camera is literally inside his head, registering his blinks and drug hallucinations. His childhood memories unfold with the camera hovering behind him in a voyeuristic manner, forcing the audience to peek over his shoulder in order to see what's happening. Following his death, Oscar becomes an omniscient observer, floating above the action, tumbling around the characters and racing with a disorienting bird's-eye view across a neon-soaked Tokyo cityscape by night.

To enhance the Möbius strip-like cyclical nature of the narrative, Noé utilizes rhythmic shooting techniques, stroboscopic visuals, complex soundscapes and ambitious computer effects, creating a truly hypnotic atmosphere. Psychedelic drug trips push the Kubrick-esque 2001 experience into the methamphetamine-soaked twenty-first century, with layered sequences of unfolding and expanding brilliantly coloured spirals, fractals and delicate tendrils. In Noé's world, explicit sex and intense violence are intertwined with abstract montages of colour and light.

Noé continues to use cinema as a tool to challenge and aggravate. Experimenting with new technology that seamlessly enhances his visual style, he delivers a boundary-pushing experience that is sure to be talked about for years to come.

--Colin Geddes

Gaspar Noé was born in Buenos Aires and studied cinema at L'École Nationale Supérieure Louis-Lumière. His short film Carne (91) and his first feature, Seul contre tous (98), both received Critics' Week awards at the Cannes Film Festival. His second feature, Irréversible (02)screened at the Festival. Enter the Void (09) is his latest film.
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Larry Richman: The International Premiere of Enter the Void brought out fans of director Gaspar Noé, whose film Irreversible created a significant following. At two and a half hours long, this film is definitely not for everyone. But I knew that going in and got exactly what I'd hoped for and more. It's trippy, dreamy, and mesmerizing and left me shaking my head in wonder many times. Startling and risky performances punctuate the dazzling visuals. The biggest surprise for me: Enter the Void has much more of a narrative than I was expecting. I was prepared for a cinematic acid trip, which I got, but there is an actual storyline which threads through the experimental camerawork and effects which are at the heart of the film. I highly recommend this movie but with qualifications, though. There is a great deal of drug use and some explicit sex but the film is compelling.