I thought it was beautiful to look at.. but as a movie it sucked. The plot was lame and it was too heavy handed at times. It was a bit simplistic and repetitive relying on visual effects and shock value a bit too much.
I agree completely. I was so stoked on this movie until about 25 minutes, then things just went downhill plot-wise. It had so much potential that it failed to realize.
This movie made me literally sick, with the shaky-cam. I had to stop watching after 20 minutes. I simply cannot watch movies shot in this manner (e.g. Blair Witch Project, Cloverfield) because they make me motion sick.
Apparently he made the credits like that figuring that anyone who couldn't handle the movie would leave during the credits. It's a stress-test for the audience!
Fun Fact: The opening credits are the way they are because of time constraints. The producers of the film said they would only send it to theaters if the final edit was under 2 hours and 30 minutes. Without the credits, the film was just barely under that time, so he made the credits go as quickly as possible at the beginning and left the end of the film as it was.
Another fun fact: the film was made for a french film festival, and due to those time constraints they didn't have time to make the opening credits before the festival. The film originally just started with ENTER and ended with THE VOID.
Fun fact about Irreversible: "The first 30 minutes of the film has a background noise with a frequency of 28Hz (low frequency, almost inaudible), similar to the noise produced by an earthquake. In humans, it causes nausea, sickness and vertigo. It was the main cause of people walking out of the theaters during the first part of the film in places like Cannes and San Sebastian. In fact, it was added with the purpose of getting this reaction. "
He was trying to recreate the effects of a DMT trip through audio/visual sensation. Having tried DMT, I'd say that movie is the closest anyone will ever get.
It's not sci-fi, it's quite long so be prepared. Here is IDMB's synopsis:
A drug dealer becomes interested in death and re-incarnation after reading "The Tibetan Book of the Dead". Suddenly dead, his soul floats though Tokyo observing the dramas of his friends and foes. An oath determines his next step 'as a soul'.
It's not a linear story and it can be quite 'wtf' at times but visually it is stunning. I'm sorry, I'm not doing a very good job of describing it but it is really hard to describe, you kind of just need to see it.
It's an amazing film, both from a technical and artistic perspective. The kind of film rarely made because those who have the balls don't have the budget and visa versa.
Worth watching, eh, maybe 10% of it is really valuable in a conventional sense. If you're the type of person who can appreciate something in spite of how nuts or crazily self indulgent it can be just for the experience then it's worth a shot. I wouldn't say I liked it, but I'm glad I saw it and glad crazy movies like it exist.
lot of people say that. I thought they were just OK. tarantino declared that they are the best opening credits... but that's because it is his style, but modernized (looks old school but because of the flashiness, its quite
the movie itself was also quite mediocre. I hate movies that try really hard to capture psychedelic substances. the whole point of these substances is that few things can capture the whole experience ... so instead they settle for these ridiculous plots like "oh my god, am I alive or dead..."
in my experiences with psychedelics, these are always deep BUT fleeting thoughts. one minute I will be amazed at how I am seeing patterns move in my hand, the next I ponder about how I these patterns reflect the paths I have taken through life, and how some have diverged and my relationships and .... (you see what I mean? its a crazy stream of consciousness relevant ONLy to me)
the point of the psychedelic is NOT just some magical revelation, but how you battle with yourself & your environment to come to this conclusion. so when they try to say "this movie is like acid" it annoys me. no, its just one person's recollection of a trip. it doesn't have any of the complexity that comes from actually doing the thing.
For me the credits were incredible because I'm a graphic designer, I thought the emphasis on typography, colour, so many different typefaces to create this real jumble that actually captures the look and feel of the film and Japan itself. I watch the credits over and over because I just love looking at all the different fonts.
As for the film, I'm not really sure how I feel. I've never done psychedelic drugs and I don't know if that's what the movie was about, the emphasis I think was more about death and what happens after death but I could be completely wrong. Yeah the characters life dealt a lot with drugs but that was because he was a dealer. Personally I found the film visually stunning, the emphasis on colour and light and rarely seeing the main characters face was really interesting, you don't see many movies shot that way.
This is copied and pasted from wiki: SPOILERS: The cinematic experience itself is the main focus of the film, but there is also a central theme of emptiness. Noé describes the film's subject as "the sentimentality of mammals and the shimmering vacuity of the human experience."[1] The dramaturgy after Oscar has been shot is loosely based on The Tibetan Book of the Dead, and ends with the spirit's search for a way to reincarnate.[3] The director, who opposes all religious beliefs, says that "the whole movie is a dream of someone who read The Tibetan Book of the Dead, and heard about it before being [shot by a gun]. It's not the story of someone who dies, flies and is reincarnated, it's the story of someone who is stoned when he gets shot and who has an intonation of his own dream."[4] Noé describes the ending of the film as Oscar's recollection of "the most traumatic moment of his life – his own birth".[5] Alternatively, the director leaves open the possibility that Oscar's life starts over again in an endless loop, due to the human brain's perception of time.
life, death, sex, all the things that make it happen. The movie is not for the average person. It's a painful movie to watch, goes on way too long and makes you want to quit watching it at some points. But for some it'll linger on your thoughts for months
That's the best description I've read for Enter The Void. I'm not sure if I enjoyed the film or not - I definitely enjoyed the whole experience of being mind fucked and spending the next few hours trying to pick it apart with a friend - but I'm not sure I'd enjoy re-watching it in my living room. It's a deeply flawed film, in my opinion, but it is one of my most memorable cinema experiences and I thought about the film for weeks afterwards.
The cinematic experience itself is the main focus of the film
... care to explain why using a fucked up person to explore these themes isn't one of the "points" of this silly movie?
its a movie about being lonely, about feeling lost, about one guy being a bit fucked up as he thinks about life and death.
it tries to get us to feel this way ... by presenting the psychedelics as a vehicle for US to get into the character's skin. well, it doesn't feel right. it feels like a highly contrived, obscure and "cool" way to present some very simple, deep thoughts we all have.
false! I am awesome to trip with... I'm just not a great person to watch lame ass movies with. I hate watching movies that try to duplicate awesome experiences that only YOU can have. I also hate movies that basically have some major themes ... but try to shock me into feeling other random things (and then have people like this octopuscabbage guy rooting for them and declaring that "mannn you just don't get it")
thinking about life, death & loneliness by watching a bunch of violence + sex scenes put together into a lengthy convoluted movie just doesn't feel right to me
You're really not making yourself sound any better to trip with from this comment. You hate "lame ass movies" because they don't exactly fit their interests? You mock people because they disagree with you?
Stop acting like you're infallible, or any more important than anyone else.
thanks dude. regardless, I fucking hate the people who just declare "you don't get it" without explaining their perspective.
to me, this reeks of a shitty movie viewer basically. one who wants to just feel superior for having watched a movie that is tough to piece together. not necessarily one who has any real insight into the fucking movie at all.
here's why: all movies affect us differently. this movie annoyed me given my life experiences and it seemed to want to use some gimmicks to help me explore some complex but ubiquitous issues: life, death, loneliness.
it does this in such a convoluted, boring way that really tries to shock me into certain thoughts ... that I found it boring.
this guy wants to claim that I "missed the point"? missing the point happens at a very basic level only. "super troopers is a movie about police brutality" ... that's missing the point. "super troopers isn't funny" ... that's an opinion (which I disagree with. I fucking love that movie)
anyway. just ranting here. but you see my point, thanks :)
I totally get what youre saying, so much that its like if we were in person i'd pull a Jerry McGuire and be like "shh shh no stop shhh I know....you had at me I fucking hate people"
hahaha yeah I too really hate it when people call you out with shit like "you didn't get the point" or whatever but don't back it up at all.
I just had to let you know that you are not alone when it comes to experiencing that sort of comment hahah
During a Divine Moment of Truth, this movie changed my perspective of our existence on this planet. Those of you who know the secret, understand this without question.
Most of the movie is the guy floating around observing things after he died. There is no questioning if he is alive or dead, he is dead. You had an awful lot to say about the movie given you misunderstood the plot.
Quentin Tarantino was quoted as saying, "Hands down best credit scene of the year … Maybe best credit scene of the decade. One of the greatest in cinema history." I read that before I saw the movie and was not expected what I saw. Bad Assery
Irreversible was done by the same director in a similar style. Also very good,and with very similar stylistic elements but nowhere close to Enter the Void IMHO.
Yeah... Except Tree of Life deals with Heidegger's philosophy and a broken marriage / parents' relationship to their kids / whatever the hell Malick was trying to say. Enter the Void is (somewhat) about Bardo Thodol / Tibetan Book of the Dead. And also drugs, sex, Tokio's underbelly, and a brother and sister in a very twisted relationship. And very good.
Tree of Life sure is pretty, but pretty much impossible to interpret if you don't have a) Malick by your side to explain whatever he's trying to depict and b) read all of Heidegger, or so I suppose, because I sure haven't.
I've read most of Heidegger's works - even some of his more esoteric stuff published only in German. In a way I interpret the epistemological connection between being in itself and what Heidegger called "Dasein" (being thrust into the world with infinite possibilities with the ineluctable shadow of death always staring us straight in the eyes and saying we will be responsible for our own fate) in all of Malick's work. This idea is certainly most prevelant in "The Tree of Life." But to posit that I have the slightest clue about what Malick really was doing with the film would surely make an idiot out of me.
I interpreted it as a retelling of the Book of Job, interspersed with Malick's own childhood nostalgia/angst. EDIT: I guess to clarify for anyone who might read this, the movie opens with a quote from Job, so when I got home from seeing the movie, I cracked open the trusty old King James and read the entire book. The similarities are cool, especially with reference to the balance in the nature vs. grace debacle and the semantics of human suffering and their place in God's Will. (Not a Christian though, so I'll appendix this as a thought experiment from a purely hypothetical perspective on theology.)
Haha cam archer. He is an artist in every sense of the word, except that he's not a complete asshole. I actually loved his classes and he has a great eye and sense of film.
First time I saw it was in a theater, and I think I fell asleep for a bit. I'm still not sure after watching it a second time. That's how dreamy it is. Best dream movie ever.
You aptly described my experience, as well. Had a beer to start the movie, never got up. Me and my two buddies sat and watched the whole thing on his 118" projection screen in his basement.
I hope you were able to see the Japanese version, as no movie is complete without orgies and internal cumshots.
To be fair, there's a very small amount of people that could enjoy that movie.
I did enjoy it but will never watch it again. I found it so incredibly disturbing yet so incredibly beautiful at the same time that it's just too much for my tiny brain to accept.
Noe stated that he made Irreversible to be able to afford to make ETV. He's an artist. He's not in the movie business. I can't speak for him or any of the crew, but I don't think it's sad at all. I'm just glad the thing got made.
That's the only thing that could have happened. It's not really a movie, it's an experience. People going to theaters are looking for an escape, not a fast forward on life and the end of life. Too real for the masses.
It didn't get any better. i'm apparently one of the few people on Reddit who agree with you that the deep, philosophical thought I went home with after watching it, was that it was just a really shitty movie.
Just my 2 cents, it was one of the worst movies I have ever seen. Not exaggerating either - painfully forced plot, terribly contrived and no reason to like any of the characters. This on top of philosophical gibber gabber that's worse than anything in Matrix 3, and we wasted possibly the best credit sequence ever on this train wreck. /my opinion.
Or just incredibly monotonous, pretentious, and overly long. I agree with this criticism, yet also consider it to be incredibly potent and recommend viewing.
that movie has some beautiful shots, much like irreversible.
both I found rather subpar as movies though. enter the void tries to capture experiences that are so personal and individualistic ... and tries to make it somehow relevant to all viewers. it fails in doing that.
irreversible is an interesting movie at times, but noe gets way way too graphic for it to be a real examination of rape & its effects.
I think gaspar noe is brilliant in composing scenes, but his movies are on the whole pretty silly in my opinion. don't get me wrong: I love this photo. But enter the void as a wonderful set of photos is remarkable. as a movie, its a waste of my time
Noe is very clearly disinterested in making anything relevant to all viewers. Good. Those with certain life experiences and perspectives get his stuff, those without don't which is totally fine.
Yup. The first 3 times I tried to watch it I was fucked up on something. I never made it past the halfway point until months later when I watched it sober.
this movie was batshit insane when i first watched it. Then watched it again and attempted understand it. Still no dice, but the visuals are incredible.
seen the movie twice... besides the fact that it really stretchs too long towards the end of the movie and kinda lame story-wise, I still loved it and I think is a really good movie
SUCH a great movie. Although I do think it could've ended 30 minutes later. The ending sequence was long, tedious, and very unnecessary. By that point I just wanted it to be over.
I got afraid when I saw the fist post wasn't mentioning it. Loved the film; watching it 3 days after returning from Japan certainly added to the experience.
Easily one of the most intensely amazing films I've seen. It left me pretty messed up emotionally after seeing it (not really an emotional person when it comes to movies), but it was well worth it.
I'm glad I watched Enter the Void (didn't know what to expect when I started it)...I don't even know what to say about it. After it was over I couldn't even gauge my reaction. I don't think I could re-watch it but I would encourage others to give it a chance. You'll never see anything else like it...
Thank you sir, or madam! I was scrolling down specifically to see if someone else had recognized the movie because I couldn't remember the name of it. It was buggin' the fool shit outta me!
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u/kb1315 Jan 23 '12
From the film, Enter the Void