Gaspar Noé’s “Enter the Void,” which was finally released in autumn after lying in distribution limbo since Cannes 2009, is not exactly a film that inspires widespread agreement.
My own 2009 review of the French enfant terrible‘s deranged follow-up to “Irréversible” dismissed it as “fatuous… deploys an arsenal of tricked-out technique and a colossal running time of 163 minutes to make the startling revelations that death is, like, sad, and that drug-dealing is generally not a good idea.”
Kris, by contrast, couldn’t have landed any further from me on this one, going so far as to name the film in his Top 10 of the year. It’s that kind of conversation-piece picture, and we’re grateful for them — and even more grateful now that IFC has announced plans to re-release the film theatrically in the form its maker intended.
The fact is that, while we would likely have ended up disagreeing either way, Kris and I saw slightly different movies: as stated in my running-time jab above, the film that premiered at Cannes, and that I saw months later at the London Film Festival, was a good deal longer than the 137-minute cut that eventually found its way to US and UK theaters. IFC, however, has decided that “Enter the Void” needs to be shown in all (or, at least, most of) its glory before hitting the DVD shelves:
The new cut includes 20 minutes of footage never before seen in American theaters—although it was this longer version that was released theatrically in France , to great acclaim … The French Theatrical ENTER THE VOID will be playing the IFC Center January 14th through January 20th with daily showtimes at 3:10pm and 8:40pm and an additional Friday and Saturday showing at 11:45pm. The film will also be playing an engagement at The Landmark Nuart Theater in Los Angeles on January 21st for a special midnight showing. This will be the last chance to see ENTER THE VOID in theaters before the DVD release on January 26th by MPI Home Video.
Not having seen the shorter cut, I can’t how essential the restored footage — an entire reel following the protagonist’s entry into the spirit world — is, though I always imagined a bit of pruning would be a help rather than a hindrance to Noé’s vision. Let the arguments begin anew.
[Photo: IFC Films]
Comments
16 responses to “‘Enter the Void: Bigger, Longer and Uncut’”
Boy, have I heard some strong words about this one. If I didn’t already have so many films that I still need to see, I’d try to catch this one to see where I land on this debate.
IFC Center, here I come.
As much as I dislike the film, it’s unequivocally a must-see.
I hated Irreversible, and I thought it was borderline pornography, but I must say it affected the way I think about movies. I think about it more than many mediocre and some above-average movies.
I loved Irreversible and did not like Enter the Void. Way too long and awful acting.
Paz and Nate Brown are quite a step down from what Cassel and Bellucci did.
LOVE THIS MOVIE! Best film of the year for me by far. I saw this movie in NY coincidentally the same weekend that Kris started his cinejabber weekend threads with the starting off point about the “m” work, masterpiece, and I mentioned in that thread that I felt like I had just seen a masterpiece. I can tell you know after watching it 2 more times since then (in both the same cut and the extended cut) that I stand by that term for this film. Truly brilliant yet batshit crazizzlezazzle all the way, and that is exactly how I like it. Definitely not for everyone, but I recommend it for the brave and daring who want to see something unlike they’ve ever seen before.
In regards to the differences between the two, I didn’t really think anything stood out in an glaring way that was edited out of the US version (and since I had seen it twice in theaters back in September, that is how I kinda associate it with) but the longer version (that I bought from the Deluxe French DVD) is really just that: a longer version. I love it both ways, but think if you are going to see it for the first time the shorter version might be the way to go, especially if you are not sure about what you are getting yourself into. And seeing it in theaters is incomparably better to seeing at home, but it still holds up really well – especially with a good home set up.
*yikes so many spelling errors above, I just couldn’t control my excitement LOL. Obviously I usually tried to re-read what I have typed at least twice before hitting submit but I got a little carried away there and sent it out without proofreading first. o_O
wow….I am just gonna quit while I am ahead b/c I can’t stop typing poorly tonight. Will come back later to see what else other people have to say about this film…
Ugh so those of us in LA have to go to a midnight showing of a 3 hour movie? And yet, I *will* go…
The more I think about it, the longer it gestates in my mind, the more I come to appreciate it and admire it. So much so that it has risen rung by rung in my estimation to the point where I would quite easily declare it to be the best film of 2010.
This is one of the most audacious, if not the most audacious, films in recent memory. The writing may be nothing to write home about but the structure of first person narrative is as ambitious as anything conceived by other out-there auteurs, it is almost novelistic in its approach.
And the heady visuals, financed for a mere 16 million dollars, put to shame all the 100 million dollar Hollywood blockbusters. We watch with curiosity and awe as the camera, the soul of the shot kid, floats over Tokyo, roaming hither and thither as if getting used to the fact of being dead, checking up on people he is most interested in, all the while exploring the flood of memories from this most distant of vantage points, the afterlife. An entire narrative is conceived out of the floating of this soul, a new kind of narrative which not only eliminates the need for in-film editing, but also achieves a kind of poignancy in the distance between the protagonists, who are physically close but separated by the infinite distance of death.
I think Paz De La Huerta gave a very good and moving performance.
I agree with both Guy and Kris. I saw what must’ve been the 137 minute cut (far too long already, if you ask me) and hated it. But it’s such a singular, ambitiously realized vision that I have to respect it. Echoing what James D. said, I’d rather watch a movie like this than an above-average movie that leaves no lasting impression.
I was not impressed with Enter the Void. The very interesting visuals can only go so far when they’re tethered to such banal material and poor performances from Paz De La Huerta and Nate Brown. There’s an inspired segment where we jump through Oscar’s past in a close, third person perspective. But, like every scene in the film, it drags on far too long.
I saw the uncut version and the extra reel really doesn’t add anything nearly as interesting or provocative as you’d find in the normal cut (other than another chance to enter the first-person perspective).
Which version / length will be on the DVD release? I have it in my Netflix queue, which says it will be available on 1/25.
For me, Enter the Void is proof that visionary mise-en-scene alone does not make a great film. And really, the mise-en-scene here is almost the exact same exercise as Irreversible (spiralling overhead shots of stretchers being loaded into ambulances, for instance.) The difference is in the performances. Paz is no Monica and the back of that guy’s head is certainly no match for Vincent. Furthermore, I think Noé demonstrates a tin-ear for the nuances of English language dialogue, particularly from his child actors in the flashbacks.
It seems to me that often an auteur’s self-conscious “masterpiece”, that one film that he dreams about making from an early age (as I gather is the case for Noé with Enter the Void) ends up being less interesting and compelling than the “lesser” work created along the way.
In Irreversible we catch glimpses of Noé’s dream film; he transplanted them for fear of never getting the chance to make his “masterpiece”.
But those fragments of brilliant vision are energized by a certain freedom born of a less self-conscious attempt at greatness.
As for Noé’s obligatory transgressions, I think the most memorable and deeply disturbing scene in a Noé film is actually the death of the old woman in the hospice in I Stand Alone. That scene–the morbid voyeurism of watching her take her last breath– hit me at a level that Enter the Void’s check list of depravity never came close to.
Been kicking myself for not catching the film in theatres when I had the chance, like Red Cliff last year, but it played realy well on screener in my otherwise relatively modest home theatre setup, and I was glad for pee breaks, even though the film doesn’t exactly lend itself to such. But I definitely echo Kris’ thoughts on the film, even if I prefer films like Inception from a storytelling angle. But this is truly visionary filmmaking on every level. Can’t wait for the blu-ray, hope it includes the full 3 hours version.
Could not stand this film, I was so bored by it… and I agree with Georg above (poor performances from Paz De La Huerta and Nate Brown – but I ALWAYS thing Paz performs poorly in everything I have seen her in). No way I could sit through a longer version of it.