I think this is what they mean with intertextuality. Then again, literature was never my strong point.
Alias
Monday, February 28
Sunday, February 27
Review: Enter the Void
Through the eyes of Oscar, we look at an airplane flying over Tokyo. Our sister stands next to us. We propose doing drugs. She tells us that we're becoming a junkie and leaves angrily. After she's gone, we quickly light up. We experience the most wondrous things. While we're still tripping, Victor calls us and asks if we have any stuff. When we arrive at the bar where we arranged to meet, Victor seems distressed. The reason for this becomes quickly clear: policemen burst down the door and we flee into the toilet, where we quickly flush our drugs. And then we get shot.
Enter The Void, which is inspired (amongst other things) by the Tibetian Book of the Dead, is filmed entirely in first-person perspective. But because the protagonist gets shot within 15 minutes, most of the film is seen through the eyes of his disembodied ghost floating over Tokyo, while he has flashbacks to his youth and watches the aftermath of his death unfolds.
This is the point where the review tells you what the movie tries to achieve, and whether it succeeded (to quote Roger Ebert). I'm not entirely sure if the principal goal of the movie is to explore the themes of death, sex and reincarnation or to just give us the cinematic trip of a lifetime, but it definitely succeeds at the latter. From a purely technical point of view, this is a masterpiece of cinematic immersion. Because of the perspective and the unique visuals (best described as a stroboscope on acid) it's almost impossible to look away from.
But this movie isn't meant as a technical exercise. This is an injection of pure, unfiltered experience right to the brain. Most films show you a situation different from our own. Enter the Void has us experience a plain of existence different from our own. It's a long movie, and one of the most hypnotic pieces of cinema I've ever seen. Since you watch everything from the perspective of one of the characters, it's impossible to take a step back and reflect on what's happened. You're just dragged through the biggest trip since 2001: a Space Odyssey. The only difference being that that movie is Sesame Street compared to this.
Gaspar Noe, the director of this movie, isn't exactly known for his delicate subject matters, and Enter the Void is no different from that. We witness, nay experience murder, vulgar sex, drug abuse, abortion and some rather disquieting incestuous undertones. I've seen enough movies to not be squeamish anymore, but this movie shocked me to my very core and left me an empty shell of a person. It took me almost an hour of numbly walking around to get myself back together.
The strange thing is that I'd still very much recommend you go see Enter the Void. I don't expect you to like it; in fact, it'd be rather disturbing if you did. Even the most hardcore cinemagoers won't be able to "handle" this film, so you'd best just give yourself over to it. Nietzsche told us that the abyss would stare back if we would stare too long. Enter the Void proves that "too long" is a lot shorter then you'd expect.
Alias
The Mars Volta helped me with the getting back. If The Mars Volta is the average of real life and something else, you can probably imagine that the "something else" has to be quite fucked up.
Enter The Void, which is inspired (amongst other things) by the Tibetian Book of the Dead, is filmed entirely in first-person perspective. But because the protagonist gets shot within 15 minutes, most of the film is seen through the eyes of his disembodied ghost floating over Tokyo, while he has flashbacks to his youth and watches the aftermath of his death unfolds.
This is the point where the review tells you what the movie tries to achieve, and whether it succeeded (to quote Roger Ebert). I'm not entirely sure if the principal goal of the movie is to explore the themes of death, sex and reincarnation or to just give us the cinematic trip of a lifetime, but it definitely succeeds at the latter. From a purely technical point of view, this is a masterpiece of cinematic immersion. Because of the perspective and the unique visuals (best described as a stroboscope on acid) it's almost impossible to look away from.
This is honestly the closest I've ever come to tripping without using drugs.
But this movie isn't meant as a technical exercise. This is an injection of pure, unfiltered experience right to the brain. Most films show you a situation different from our own. Enter the Void has us experience a plain of existence different from our own. It's a long movie, and one of the most hypnotic pieces of cinema I've ever seen. Since you watch everything from the perspective of one of the characters, it's impossible to take a step back and reflect on what's happened. You're just dragged through the biggest trip since 2001: a Space Odyssey. The only difference being that that movie is Sesame Street compared to this.
Gaspar Noe, the director of this movie, isn't exactly known for his delicate subject matters, and Enter the Void is no different from that. We witness, nay experience murder, vulgar sex, drug abuse, abortion and some rather disquieting incestuous undertones. I've seen enough movies to not be squeamish anymore, but this movie shocked me to my very core and left me an empty shell of a person. It took me almost an hour of numbly walking around to get myself back together.
The strange thing is that I'd still very much recommend you go see Enter the Void. I don't expect you to like it; in fact, it'd be rather disturbing if you did. Even the most hardcore cinemagoers won't be able to "handle" this film, so you'd best just give yourself over to it. Nietzsche told us that the abyss would stare back if we would stare too long. Enter the Void proves that "too long" is a lot shorter then you'd expect.
Alias
The Mars Volta helped me with the getting back. If The Mars Volta is the average of real life and something else, you can probably imagine that the "something else" has to be quite fucked up.
Friday, February 25
Review: True Grit
The western and jazz. If Clint Eastwood is to be believed, those are the only two original American artforms. I wouldn't know about jazz, but I believe him on westerns. There are few filmgenres so closely linked to a certain time and place as the western, which always takes place in the West of the United States, circa 1865. The genre has been around for as long as movies exist, and has delivered quite some masterpieces over the years. John Ford's The Searchers, Sergio Leones Once Upon a Time in the West and Clint Eastwoods Unforgiven are all groundbreaking movies and unquestionable parts of the American cinematic canon. And with True Grit, their first real western, the Coen Brothers have earned a spot in the company of these masters.
Like many westerns, the story of True Grit is driven by revenge. Mattie Ross wants to hunt down the coward Tom Chaney for killing her father. This isn't made easier by the fact that Mattie Ross is a fourteen-year old girl. She seeks the aid of someone with experience, mercilessness and grit: US Marshal Rooster Cogburn. The two set out on their hunt with Texas Ranger Lebeouf, a man charged with hunting down Chaney and bringing him to justice in Austin. The story is straightforward and told in a straightforward way, without many twists or turns along the way. What makes True Grit so fascinating is the characters. None of them, not even the bad guys, is a stereotype. All three leading characters are fully fleshed-out tragic characters, and the dynamic between them is very much unique. It makes the movie almost unpredictable at points, quite a feat considering that everybody knows exactly how it's going to end.
This is helped in no small part by the excellent acting. Matt Damon shows us once again that he is a great supporting actor by giving LeBeouf the depth that prevents him from just being a comic relief character. Newcomer Hailee Steinfeld is fantastic as Mattie Ross, turning her into one of the most memorable characters in recent cinematic history. But, as always, it's Jeff Bridges who just walks away with the movie. He plays Cogburn without a trace of his usual layed-back stoner persona, and all for the better. This is a role that was once played by John Wayne, but it's Bridges who nails it. Who'd ever guessed it: The Dude outdid The Duke.
The bottom line about True Grit is that, when handled by the right people, the western has as much impact as ever. Although the movie hardly shakes up the formula, it does everything it does right. The acting is great, the cinematography and the music are as good as ever and the Coens directed the crap out of it. This is an instant classic if I've ever seen one.
Alias
P.S. Apparently the Coens doing horror next. I'm already exited about their inevitable musical.
I've been wanting to use this song for a long time now. Yee-haw!
Like many westerns, the story of True Grit is driven by revenge. Mattie Ross wants to hunt down the coward Tom Chaney for killing her father. This isn't made easier by the fact that Mattie Ross is a fourteen-year old girl. She seeks the aid of someone with experience, mercilessness and grit: US Marshal Rooster Cogburn. The two set out on their hunt with Texas Ranger Lebeouf, a man charged with hunting down Chaney and bringing him to justice in Austin. The story is straightforward and told in a straightforward way, without many twists or turns along the way. What makes True Grit so fascinating is the characters. None of them, not even the bad guys, is a stereotype. All three leading characters are fully fleshed-out tragic characters, and the dynamic between them is very much unique. It makes the movie almost unpredictable at points, quite a feat considering that everybody knows exactly how it's going to end.
The bottom line about True Grit is that, when handled by the right people, the western has as much impact as ever. Although the movie hardly shakes up the formula, it does everything it does right. The acting is great, the cinematography and the music are as good as ever and the Coens directed the crap out of it. This is an instant classic if I've ever seen one.
Alias
P.S. Apparently the Coens doing horror next. I'm already exited about their inevitable musical.
I've been wanting to use this song for a long time now. Yee-haw!
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