movies
BY MOLLY TEMPLETON
Dark Journey
Gaspar Noe’s cinematic endurance test
ENTER THE VOID: Written, fi lmed,
edited and directed by Gaspar Noe. Director of
photography, Benoit Debie. Editors, Marc Boucrot
and Jérôme Pesnel. IFC Films, 2010. 137 minutes.
Not rated. 44411
T
hough far less of a challenge than
his 2002 fi lm Irreversible — the
story of the aftermath of a brutal
rape, told backwards — Gaspar Noe’s
latest, Enter the Void, is still something
of a cinematic endurance test. More than
two hours long and prone to repeating
images and scenes, Enter the Void is a
disconcerting experience, by turns sweet,
creepy, off-putting, trippy and predictable.
But Noe isn’t looking to surprise you
with the fi lm’s fl imsy narrative, which is
essentially spelled out by a character who,
early on, summarizes The Tibetan Book of
the Dead for a friend to whom he’s lent a
copy. What happens after you die? Oscar
(Nathaniel Brown), an American living in
Tokyo and making a living dealing drugs,
is about to fi nd out.
The fi rst half-hour of Enter the Void
rolls out as if Oscar is the camera; we’re
inside his head, complete with distracting
blinks, as he talks to his sister, Linda (Paz
de la Huerta), and indulges in some of his
stash. The psychedelic jellyfi sh he sees
hover in the space between beautiful and
horrifying, cliché and cleverness, but just
as I started to fear that I was in for two
hours of the trippier parts of MTV’s mid-
’90s program Liquid Television, everything
changed.
As in Irreversible, Noe sends his camera
spinning and looping, on long shots that
are as languid as they are uncomfortable;
with it, we dip into the heads of men, fl y
over buildings and swirl down wells of
strangeness that only grow stranger as
the fi lm progresses. Light strobes and
perspectives shift after the camera is freed
from Oscar’s head. Most of the fi lm is a
nonlinear look at Oscar’s past, which rears
up in fi ts and starts, tracing his complex
relationship with Linda, his drug-focused
existence in Tokyo and the choices that
defi ned his life — and had indelible effects
on the lives of those around him. In the
fi lm’s second part, it’s not just the camera
that’s cut loose from Oscar’s immediate
perspective; Oscar himself becomes
detached from his body, viewing his past
and his friends’ present from a dreamlike,
omniscient viewpoint. Maybe Oscar is
helpless, in thrall to his subconscious, or
maybe he’s still making choices: what to
see, where to go, how often to relive the
moments of violence, of indulgence, that
now look like signposts along a dangerous
road.
290 River Rd | 86784 Franklin Blvd | 720 Garfield
541.688.5411 | www.e - adultshop.com
The Very Little Theatre presents
Henrik Ibsen’s searing play about one
man’s lonely struggle against ignorance
and official corruption, adapted to the early
1970s Pacific Northwest using a brilliant
new translation by Christopher Hampton.
“The strongest man in the world
is he who stands most alone”
Directed by James Aday
Jan. 14-16*, 20-23*, 27-29
*Sunday Matinees
Tickets: $15 ($10 for Thursday)
Call 541-344-7751
Box office open 2:00-5:30
Wed.–Sat. 2350 Hilyard St.
More info at TheVLT.com
Visit us on Facebook at facebook.com/TheVLT
20 JANUARY 6, 2011
EUGENE WEEKLY
Though for long stretches it’s as
dreamy and absorbing as it can get — and
I can only imagine it’s all the more so in
a dark, distraction-free theater — Enter
the Void isn’t without Noe’s penchant for
jarring, peculiar and surreal imagery and
perspectives. As Oscar’s long, strange
journey goes on, it darkens and tangles;
a horrifying accident in the siblings’
childhood recurs without warning, a
blaring surprise every time, and a young
woman’s pregnancy test results bring a
very different (and somewhat too arty)
result than they did in Irreversible. When
Oscar starts seeing the doors of light his
SEASON OF THE WITCH PG13
11:50, 2:20, 4:50, 7:20, 9:50
GULLIVER’S TRAVELS PG
12:05, 2:25, 4:45, 7:05, 9:25
LITTLE FOCKERS PG13
12:25*EXCEPT SAT 1/8, 1:40, 2:55, 4:10,
5:25, 6:40, 7:55, 9:10, 10:25
TRON LEGACY 3D PG
SPECIAL EVENT PRICING: $3.00
UPCHARGE ALL TICKETS
1:00, 4:00, 7:00, 10:00
TRON LEGACY PG
11:30, 2:30, 5:30, 6:05, 8:30, 9:00
YOGI BEAR 3D PG
SPECIAL EVENT PRICING: $3.00
UPCHARGE ALL TICKETS
12:05, 2:25, 4:45, 7:05, 9:25
YOGI BEAR PG
1:15, 3:35
CHRONICLES OF NARNIA:
VOYAGE OF THE DAWN 3D PG
SPECIAL EVENT PRICING: $3.00
UPCHARGE ALL TICKETS
11:50, 2:35, 5:20, 8:05
CHRONICLES OF NARNIA:
VOYAGE OF THE DAWN PG
12:45, 3:30, 6:15, 9:00
THE METROPOLITAN OPERA:
LA FANCIULLA DEL WEST NR
ONLY ON SAT 1/8 AT 10 AM
MORNING GLORY PG13
12:05, 2:35, 5:05, 7:35, 10:15
THE SOCIAL NETWORK PG13
12:45, 3:50, 7:30, 10:20
JACKASS (2010) R
1:05, 3:25, 5:45, 8:10, 10:25
JACKASS (2010) 3D R
SPECIAL EVENT PRICING: $2.00
UPCHARGE ALL TICKETS
7:25, 9:45
LIFE AS WE KNOW IT PG13
12:55, 4:20, 7:10, 9:50
SECRETARIAT PG
12:40, 4:00, 7:05, 9:55
RED PG13
12:25, 3:00, 5:30, 8:00, 10:30
ALPHA AND OMEGA PG
1:50, 6:30
LA PHILHARMONIC LIVE:
DUDAMEL CONDUCTS
BEETHOVEN NR
ONLY ON SUN 1/9 AT 2 PM
HOOD TO COAST EVENT NR
ONLY ON TUES 1/11 AT 8:30 PM
THE FIGHTER R
11:35, 2:20, 5:05, 7:50, 10:30
HOW DO YOU KNOW PG13
11:40*EXCEPT SAT 1/8 & SUN 1/9, 5:10,
10:30*EXCEPT TUES 1/11
THE TOURIST PG13
2:30*EXCEPT SUN 1/9, 7:55*EXCEPT
TUES 1/11
TANGLED PG
11:30, 2:00, 4:30, 7:00, 9:20
HARRY POTTER AND THE
DEATHLY HALLOWS PART 1 PG13
12:40, 3:55, 7:10, 10:25
Cinéarts
THE KING’S SPEECH R
1:45, 4:30, 7:15, 10:05
TRUE GRIT DIGITAL PG13
11:35, 2:15, 4:55, 7:35, 10:15
BLACK SWAN R
12:00, 2:35, 5:00, 7:30, 10:00
DESPICABLE ME PG
12:30, 2:45, 5:00, 7:15, 9:30
DESPICABLE ME 3D PG
SPECIAL EVENT PRICING: $2.00
UPCHARGE ALL TICKETS
12:35, 2:50, 5:10
EASY A PG13
12:10, 2:25, 4:50, 7:20, 9:40
INCEPTION PG13
12:20, 3:40, 7:00, 10:10
LEGEND OF THE GUARDIANS:
THE OWLS OF GA’HOOLE PG
4:10, 9:00
LEGEND OF THE GUARDIANS:
THE OWLS OF GA’HOOLE 3D PG
SPECIAL EVENT PRICING: $2.00
UPCHARGE ALL TICKETS
12:00, 2:30, 4:55, 7:40, 10:00
friend described to him hours before, they
look nothing like you’d expect, and Noe
has one more camera trick up his sleeve
— one that tips the scales on his long
fi nal sequence. Enter the Void’s ideas fl oat
through the fi lm as weightlessly as Oscar’s
spirit; there’s a shred of devotion, of
childhood trauma, of the way connections
defi ne us and shape our choices, but in the
end, it all feels like a twisty odyssey of
cause and effect. You pick this path, you
reap these results — until you’re brave,
or stupid, or lucky enough to leave it all
behind.
ew
Enter the Void opens Friday, Jan. 7, at the Bijou.
Adv. Tix on Sale THE GREEN HORNET
Adv. Tix on Sale THE DILEMMA
COUNTRY STRONG (PG-13)
Fri. - Sun.(155) 435 725 1005
SEASON OF THE WITCH (PG-13)
Fri. - Sun.(1200 230) 500 730 1000
THE KING'S SPEECH (R) - ID REQ'D
Fri. - Sun.(1140 255) 630 935
GULLIVER'S TRAVELS IN REALD 3D - EVENT
PRICING (PG) ★
Fri. - Sun.(1155 210) 430 700 920
TRUE GRIT (PG-13)
Fri. - Sun.(1135 1205 220) 415 505 715 745 950 1020
LITTLE FOCKERS (PG-13) Fri. - Sun.(1215 245) 515 755 1025
THE FIGHTER (R) - ID REQ'D
Fri.420 PM 1010 PM
Sat.(1235 PM) 705 PM
Sun.420 PM 705 PM
OC: THE FIGHTER (R) - ID REQ'D
Fri.(1235 PM) 705 PM
Sat.420 PM 1010 PM
Sun.(1235 PM) 1010 PM
HOW DO YOU KNOW (PG-13)
Fri. - Sun.640 PM 930 PM
YOGI BEAR IN REALD 3D - EVENT PRICING (PG) ★
Fri. - Sun.(1240 300) 510 730 955
TRON: LEGACY (PG)
Fri. - Sun.(1145 AM 235 PM)
TRON: LEGACY IN REALD 3D - EVENT PRICING (PG) ★
Fri. - Sun.(1245) 410 710 1015
THE TOURIST (PG-13)
Fri. - Sun.(1225) 400 645 925
CHRONICLES NARNIA: VOYAGE IN REALD 3D -EVENT
PRICE (PG) ★
Fri. - Sun.(1220) 440 735 1030
TANGLED (PG)
Fri. - Sun.(1150 225) 450 720 940
HARRY POTTER AND THE DEATHLY HALLOWS 1 (PG-13)
Fri. - Sun.(1130 250) 635 945
Adv. Tix on Sale THE GREEN HORNET
SEASON OF THE WITCH (PG-13)
Fri. - Sun.(210) 440 730 1010
TRUE GRIT (PG-13)
Fri. - Sun.(130) 410 700 950
LITTLE FOCKERS (PG-13)
Fri. - Sun.(200) 430 720 1000
GULLIVER'S TRAVELS (PG)
Fri. - Sun.(150) 450 705 930
TRON: LEGACY IN REALD 3D - EVENT PRICING (PG) ★
Fri. - Sun.(100) 400 650 940
CHRONICLES NARNIA: VOYAGE IN REALD 3D -EVENT
PRICE (PG) ★
Fri. - Sun.(110 350) 640 920
TANGLED (PG)
Fri. - Sun.(140 PM) 710 PM
YOGI BEAR (PG)
Fri. - Sun.420 PM 945 PM
GULLIVER'S TRAVELS IN REALD 3D - EVENT
PRICING (PG) ★
Fri.(345 PM) 640 PM 845 PM
Sat. - Sun.(130 345) 640 845
THE TOURIST (PG-13)
Fri.410 PM 710 PM 935 PM
Sat. - Sun.(115) 410 710 935
BLACK SWAN - DP (R) - ID REQ'DFri.400 PM 700 PM 930 PM
Sat. - Sun.(100) 400 700 930
HARRY POTTER AND THE DEATHLY HALLOWS 1 (PG-13)
Fri.(350 PM) 650 PM 955 PM
Sat. - Sun.(1245 350) 650 955
Times For 01/07 - 01/09 © 2011
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