My immediate reaction to Enter The Void was a sense of amazement at the technical and narrative mastery with which the story is told, all the while being profoundly repulsed by the disturbing content of the feature.
The last time I felt this way was after seeing Lars Von Trier’s Antichrist, which in comparison to Enter The Void, feels like a Pixar film. Let that sink in.
I’ll start off writing about technique and art direction, touch upon the sound design, and then we’ll make our way into narrative style and theme, to finally sink into highly opinionated concerns and personal reflections on what this film means and what problems it addresses, as well as raises.
Cinematography, Visual Style & Sound Design
Benoit Debie’s cinematographic decisions are, to say the least, an excellent cockpit for the audience to experience the first person narrative of the film. Traditional approaches to cinematography are thrown out the window: nothing is ever in focus, lighting is not usually favorable, and lenses with distortions, such as a fish-eye, are used purposefully and often, amongst other choices. This unconventional camera is the key element that allows the audience to embody the protagonist in the first person, to see through his eyes. The photography is reminiscent of the work in Le scaphandre et le papillon, in which similar choices are made in order to place the audience in the shoes of the protagonist as well.
An art direction characterized by intense, pulsating, neon colors and chaotic environments in Tokyo immerse the audience quickly and effectively in the universe of Enter The Void. Psychedelic abstractions that I can only begin to describe as being a mash-up of neon colors, strobe lights and non-objective imagery, clearly paying homage to the ending sequence of 2001: A Space Odyssey, are a key element in disorienting the viewer just enough so that the events of the film, which border on magical realism, gain verisimilitude throughout the 161 minute run of the film.
The use of sound is also an important element in the process of immersion of the audience into the universe of the film. Another page from 2001: A Space Odyssey’s book, the sound consists of a balanced mix of abstract noise, rave music with a bass pump that often times feels like a heartbeat, actual heartbeats, orgasms, and environment minutiae. These are no less a part of the Enter The Void experience as the visual counterparts.
The filmmaker himself says in an interview with French newspaper Liberation that these techniques had been in place, but he “used them in an obsessive manner.” Indeed the use of the techniques I described before is dense, to say the least, so it truly becomes a powerful and innovative engine to deliver the story. Which brings us to…
Narrative, Editing Style & Theme
An unconventional narrative style is to be expected from Gaspar Noe, particularly after Irreversible. In media res narratives are particularly appealing to me, and while common in the literature world, truly in media res narratives are few and far apart in film. The story involves unfortunate young people making bad decisions that lead to tragedy; the tone feels reminiscent of Darren Aronofsky’s work, particularly that of Requiem For a Dream, which shares the drug culture element. The aforementioned filmmaking techniques, particularly the cinematography, allow the viewer to experience the story from a first person point of view. With the protagonist, we experience the use of hallucinogens, interaction with the environment, other characters, and eventually death and beyond. Many themes are explored, namely death, coping with death, mourning, drug abuse, betrayal, and sexuality.
Much of the editing style sees its origin in 2001: A Space Odyssey as well. Long takes with abstract noise and imagery that seem to drag frustratingly along forever are abundant throughout the film. The story doesn’t justify the 161 minute runtime, but the frustration and despair that Noe wants you as a viewer to feel during those long minutes does. Death, depression, and mourning are painful, filled with long periods of hopelessness. These long, redundant, “obsessive” in the words of the director himself, sequences force the viewer to wallow in the same resigned sadness that the characters are experiencing. 2001: A Space Odyssey had long, redundant sequences as well, that like those in Enter The Void, aren’t justified by story, but rather by having the audience share the loneliness and the transcending of time during space travel. These two films are great examples of editing that goes beyond servicing the story; it’s also crucial in getting the observer in certain emotional states that are ideal to process the story.
Thematically, the film deals with characters that suffer from a traumatic background, and explores the decisions and the worlds that they will delve into. Sexuality, in particular, becomes diluted during the movie. Far from being an intimate, loving, reproductive embrace; sexuality is portrayed as a numbing, loveless, rite that is used to deal with pain and trauma; not unlike drugs are used to become desensitized in order to cope with stress and suffering. The deviation of sexuality in the Enter The Void universe is such, that when one of the protagonists becomes pregnant, the most natural consequence of sexual intercourse, her immediate reaction is to abort her child. Sexuality is warped to such an extent in this world, that when it dares to bear its natural fruit, it is squandered swiftly, and with no remorse.
In the end, the film is about experiencing death both from the side of the dead as well as the side of the living; indeed, The Tibetan Book of the Dead inspired the film. On the side of the living, there is the need to place guilt of the death on someone, even oneself, so regret of past betrayals become an element of theme as well. It could be argued that the gratuitous use of drugs as well as the aforementioned warping of sexuality, besides being means to become anesthetized, are means to subconsciously punish oneself: as if the characters were depriving themselves from a healthy body and sex life because deep down they feel like they don’t deserve such things.
Closing Comments
Enter The Void is meant to shock. The universe of the film is sad and hopeless and it clearly wants you to notice that there is some of that despair in our true life.
I see Enter The Void much in the same way that I saw Requiem For a Dream: a cautionary tale that showcases the dangers of becoming involved in the drug culture, and the painful ripples that deciding to engage in it produces. In that sense, it could be argued that the film has a positive effect in our culture, calling us to reflect on our decisions, the damage that they can cause, and our mortality.
However, I also see Enter The Void as what may be an example of irresponsible use of freedom of speech. In a time when censorship can be disregarded completely if you’re not interested in making money, it can be tempting to see just how far you can push those limits. Shock value is an important element in conveying the message of this film, but as a filmmaker, I’d think long and hard about the ethical implications of willfully putting my audiences through a traumatic experience. You may think that I am exaggerating, but I will share with you now that toward the end of the movie I started outright bawling in the theater, not because I was touched by an emotional moment of the story, but because I realized that I would never be able to un-see the disturbing sequences that I’d seen thus far. I was reminded of a biblical passage: “…if your right eye causes you to sin, tear it out and throw it away…” (Matthew V, 29) while I don’t imagine this should be taken literally, I did feel like I wanted to tear my eyes out toward the end of this movie; not because I felt like I sinned, but rather because they had been the open windows that let such disturbing imagery into my mind.
So I leave you to think about that delicate balance between shock value for the sake of delivering an ideal, and the emotional turmoil that you will put your audience through by experiencing such a film.
Personally, even though I’ve praised the technical and narrative mastery of the piece, I can’t recommend this film to anyone I care about.
You deserve better, go watch Up! or Finding Nemo.
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