Enter the Void (2009)
Enter the out of body experience.
Presentation:
Time to light one up? A POV film that simulates a psychedelic out of body experience in cinema form. Be warned that Gasper Noe utilizes a ton of sex and nudity, which at times crosses into taboo territory. I found much of it distasteful, but that’s sort of the point, isn’t it? If you can get over being offended by what appears to be real sex scenes, the first half of the film is actually done quite well. It really does feel like a DMT or acid trip, though if this was in slightly higher image quality it would have been a better experience. Tokyo looks grungy with constantly flickering lights and POV blinking (Strong epilepsy warning). The film is grainy with lowlight colored led lighting to complement euphoric moods. There are lots of hovering aerial shots and flashbacks toward the second half, which get redundant after 2 hours. The mediocre performances make it a little hard to care about the story, even though I did kinda like the characters.
Conclusion:
The ultimate stoner movie? This is an ambitious yet expensive indie film with dark themes. The bad trip is all about editing, feel and presentation, and that alone should resonate with a lot of fans. It’s a little long, which would have been more bearable if there were better performances, but it’s expectedly a little hard to find Oscar performances for such explicit scenes. Worth checking out Gasper Noe.
Recommendations
Varsity rowing giving me Whiplash.