Enter the Void (2009)

Written by Gaspar Noé & Lucile Hadzihalilovic
Directed by Gaspar Noé

The 2001 of drug movies. Gaspar Noe has made a career out of making films that are different than any you've seen before. So when he decides to make a trippy film about the seedy, drug infested underbelly of Tokyo, you know you're getting into some wild shit.

Oscar (Nathaniel Brown) and his sister Linda (Paz De La Huerta) have been living without their parents since they died in a horrific car accident with the kids in the back seat. From an idea spawned by their parents, Oscar decides to move to Tokyo, where he has become connected in the underground drug trade. Once he's made enough money, he brings his sister Linda to live with him.

Quickly enough, Oscar drags his sister into his underground lifestyle, getting her work as a stripper. When his drug dealing career goes down the toilet (literally) he is forced to live up to the pact he and Linda made as kids: to never leave the other one alone.

And so begins the biggest visual trip you'll ever take at the movies. One of my favorite parts of the film are the moments when Oscar smokes DMT and just trips, the use of abstract CGI is something we haven't seen much of, I suppose because not a whole lot of abstract artists work in CGI, but here Noe creates The Void.

Keep in mind the entire film is based on the structures of the Tibetan Book of the Dead, which says you will wander, without control, between your living relatives, able to see, hear, and feel them, without being able to touch, communicate, or alter their lives.

Throw a banging techno song on there and unhook the camera from any mount you'll recognize and so begins Oscar's trip into the void. This is a supremely visual film, and of course Noe is know for his interesting camera work, but here, he takes it to the next level. The mixture of real images, CGI, cranes, handheld, sets, locations, and transitions in between create a world unlike anything we've ever seen on film before. And I believe that is Mr. Noe's point. He works the camera like a hummingbird fluttering around, never sure exactly where it will end or why, but enjoying the look the entire way.

Without Noe's visuals, this would be an overindulgent, hour long snoozefest. But with them, every moment is something to pay steadfast attention to, every turn and movement a wonder. Noe has broken our minds open, and now he's playing around with minatures in our heads. On set, too.

Garishly lit, Noe makes Tokyo feel like Bangkok, slimy, dirty, but home to the people that want those feelings. Drugs in Tokyo might seem common to outsiders, but in country, drugs are a huge deal in Japan, with foreigners receiving even bigger fines than nationals. What would normally be a 6 month possession fine for a Japanese person can turn into an 18 month prison stay followed by deportation for a foreigner. So the entire film takes place in an underground of an underground, which adds to the already hidden feel of the film.

I would have to say the acting was the weakest part of the film as a whole, but in reality, it's like saying the baseball in The Sandlot is inaccurate, in the end it's nearly irrelevant. The real star of the show here is the plot, and the execution of that plot. Sure, it's aided in part by the acting, but like 2001, there's a bigger theme, and as long as that gets accomplished, Noe isn't worried with plot details, although they are there.

Never will you see another film quite like this, a metaphor with a drug trip standing as the meaning of life. Like 2001, there is no clear end, no clear beginning, the narrative structure is broken because it doesn't matter, as long as you learn the information that Noe intends for you to receive.

In the end, this film is all about design. Noe's films are unlike any other in that they make you feel, but not through plot, acting, or story. He makes you feel with visuals, subsonic sounds, and abstract CGI like no one has ever used before. Like a painting, Enter the Void stands as something to be looked at, admired, and taken for what it's worth, not judged against other films, because really, that's an unfair comparison. Visually, its only peer is 2001: A Space Odyssey, but other than that, this is not a film, it's an experience. Enter the void, indeed, come see what may be there for you.

9.8/10