Directors MORE DIRECTORS CHECKLIST SERIES - Volume #367 - Le Cinema du GASPAR NOE (1 Viewer)

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Volume #367- Gaspar Noe

Enter the Void (2009)
Destricted (2006) (segment "We Fuck Alone")
Irréversible (2002)
I Stand Alone (1998)
Sodomites (1998)
Une expérience d'hypnose télévisuelle (1995) (TV)
Carne (1991)

[COLOR= #ff0000]Enter the Void [/COLOR](2009) :star::star::star::star: (Own the Blu)
Destricted (2006) (segment "We Fuck Alone") :star::star::star: (Own the DVD)
Irréversible (2002) :star::star::star::star::star: (Own both DVDs)
I Stand Alone (1998) :star::star::star::star::star: (Own the DVD)
Sodomites (1998)
Une expérience d'hypnose télévisuelle (1995) (TV)
Carne (1991)
Seen 4
Own 4
Gaspar Noe is the 40th director in this series that I've seen/met in person.

1. I Stand Alone - B+
2. Enter the Void - B
3. Irreversible - D

I don't believe I've ever disagreed with you as much as the above statement, Brook.

Chronological order would render the entire film completely pointless and we'd end up with Death Wish Part 10...in which case it would be nothing but an exploitive shock value programmer.

The Brown Bunny and Requiem for a Dream are not exploitive shock programmers. In these cases we learn about the characters lives and come to care about them, then we are hit with something terrible that colors our perceptions about them, causing us to feel more or less sympathy, pain, anger, sadness, etc.

With Irreversible, the shock comes first (or rather after a barely watchable moving camera showcase where a couple of dunderheads get thumped in what at the time is a series of disconnected images.), anywho we don't know who these people are or the motivations for their behavior. We see the result and over the course of the film, are then told why we should care rather than allowing us to come to that conclusion ourselves over time.

It made the ending feel very cheap to me. Once I got to know the characters of Irreversible, I found them interesting; at least the Monica Balducci character. But because Noe has already shot his violence and shock wad in the opening moments of the film, he has to try to come up with something more shocking for the conclusion, because of course, even in a movie "told in reverse" it wouldn't do for the intro to outshine the finale. So we get the final revelation - the "I've already made the audience sit through beatings and an extended rape scene, how can I top that?" moment.

Ranks and ratings on a scale of * to *****:
1: Irréversible (2002) *****
2: I Stand Alone (1998) ****
Seen 2
Own 2

Irréversible ***
I Stand Alone ***1/2

Looks like we watched a different movie, Brook.
You mention Requiem for a Dream and The Brown Bunny (haven't seen Bunny yet) as examples of setting up sympathetic characters only to see bad things happen to them which color our perceptions about them.
Well that's fine...but that's not what Irreversible is about.
Irreversible is not about the bad things that happen and how people deal with them (and how we relate to them), it's about the cause of those bad things (stupid decisions, selfishness, jumping to the wrong conclusion, etc.)
The film is told in reverse to empathize the cause, not the effect of the character's actions, it is not a copycat, gimmicky effect for simple shock value without narrative purpose...it's the perfect device to illustrate the theme of the film (Time Destroys Everything).
We see the destruction first, then we see what was destroyed and being in reverse, the focus is on how those characters brought hell upon themselves, not in the actual hell itself.
Irreversible are the seemingly simple and spontaneous decisions that each of the characters make.
Marcus's immature and boorish behaviour at the party that upsets his girfriend Alex.
Alex's decision to turn down a ride home and going into a dark deserted subway station alone while wearing too-revealing clothing.
Marcus and Alex's friend Pierre picking up a fire extinguisher and pulverizing the head of an innocent man who they wrongly assumed was the rapist.
Time Destroys Everything indeed!
As for the "I've already shot my violence and shock wad and made the audience sit through beatings and an extended rape scene, how can I top that?" moment"...sorry, but I saw a quiet, reflective and very sad moment that further reinforced the film's theme in that not only do your actions affect yourself, but they affect others, in this case an unborn child.
And to make matters even worse, the film visually implies that this isn't just any child, it's the David Bowman/Starchild come back to Earth.
That's how I saw it anyway!
A brilliant and (yes) beautiful film that's rich in cinematic technique and style and offering a refreshing new perspective on a tired old formula.
Not sure what scene you are referring to here?

Irréversible (2002) - 8/10
Sodomites (1998) - 5/10
I Stand Alone (1998) - 9/10
Carne (1991) - 7/10
Powerful stuff.

I Stand Alone ***1/2 out of ****

UPDATED:
Destricted (2006) (segment "We Fuck Alone") :star: :star: :star: (Own the DVD)
Seen 3
Own 3

added Carne (1991) - 7/10

added Sodomites (1998) - 5/10

UPDATED:
[COLOR= #ff0000]Enter the Void [/COLOR](2009) :star: :star: :star: :star:
Seen 4
Own 3

Updated:

Enter the Void - B

Ratings out of :star: :star: :star: :star:

[SIZE= 14px]GASPAR NOE (1963 - )[/SIZE]

Enter the Void (2009)
Destricted (2006) (segment "We Fuck Alone")
Irréversible (2002) :star: :star: :star:
I Stand Alone (1998)
Sodomites (1998)
Une expérience d'hypnose télévisuelle (1995)
Carne (1991)

ALL RATINGS OUT OF :star::star::star::star::star: (FIVE) STARS
Enter the Void (2009) :star::star::half:
Destricted (2006) (segment "We Fuck Alone")
Irréversible (2002) :star::star::star::half:
I Stand Alone (1998)
Sodomites (1998)
Une expérience d'hypnose télévisuelle (1995) (TV)
Carne (1991)

double post

Updated:
I Stand Alone - B+