IndustriousAngel Review of Enter the Void

Enter the Void (2009)

A truly mesmerising experience

[8/10 · 12 October 2018]

Enter the Void doesn't tell much of a story (the plot could have been squeezed in 10 minutes), but it offers an experience like few other films ... this is for people who find Aronofsky maybe a little bland and Cronenberg too silly; it's also a great date movie if your date happens to be a nihilistic buddhist junkie. The whole "plot" gets foreshadowed in the first minutes where Oscar's friend Alex tells him about what happens to the soul after death, according to the Tibetan Book of the Dead. So, no big surprises that after Oscar's premature demise, we follow exactly those steps - but that doesn't take away any enjoyment; the scenes Oscar witnesses, the memories of his and his sister Linda's crual and/or tender past - it all makes for a truly mesmerizing piece of art. It's not only the images (quite revolutionary and visceral in themselves), it's the rhythm, the music (fantastic selection, with Bach's glassharped Air breaking the ice), the human brutality and the little spots of tenderness. And just when I was thinking the one thing the film couldn't offer me were any surprises, and Elton John would sing 'Circle of Life' (the scene with the pregnancy test), I looked at the watch and, what?! - there's an hour more?! I was hooked for good ... This is not an actor's movie, very little in the way of dialogue or development, and most scenes are filmed from above anyway, but the cast do their job and I was positively surprised by Paz de la Huerta whose Linda radiates a heartrending vulnerabilty I wouldn't usually associate with this actress.

There's not a single joke in this movie and very few sceens anyone would find funny ... so, as mentioned, as a date movie it really depends on your date - but if he/she likes 'Enter the Void', well - you're lucky, that's obviously a person worth knowing!