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Enter the Void (2009, US)
Can I get this six hours of my life back?
(I jest. But seriously...)
Okay, so, this is clearly not a movie to catch while you’re waiting for a flight. It’s long, and just when you think it’s finally over after stretching on and on for another seeming hour, it goes on for another. Tight narrative cohesion isn’t really the point. The main character, Oscar, is dead at the hands of the police from a drug-deal gone bad within the first few minutes of the movie. But it doesn’t end there; in fact, it’s all just beginning, as he ascends into a dizzying first-person omniscience. His death is a catalyst for a whole lot of drama—not least of all with his sister Linda, his only surviving relative. The film takes you on a wild ride through the rocky lives of his interpersonal network of friends and dealers, and this is sprinkled all the while with past recollections of emotional shock, false memories, and psychedelia. It leaves you feeling incredibly hollow and kind of second-hand traumatized, if anything. But the entire film’s point is to take you on a personal cinematic journey through the utter vacuousness of humanity and existence itself, and it definitely accomplishes that.
(I jest. But seriously...)
Okay, so, this is clearly not a movie to catch while you’re waiting for a flight. It’s long, and just when you think it’s finally over after stretching on and on for another seeming hour, it goes on for another. Tight narrative cohesion isn’t really the point. The main character, Oscar, is dead at the hands of the police from a drug-deal gone bad within the first few minutes of the movie. But it doesn’t end there; in fact, it’s all just beginning, as he ascends into a dizzying first-person omniscience. His death is a catalyst for a whole lot of drama—not least of all with his sister Linda, his only surviving relative. The film takes you on a wild ride through the rocky lives of his interpersonal network of friends and dealers, and this is sprinkled all the while with past recollections of emotional shock, false memories, and psychedelia. It leaves you feeling incredibly hollow and kind of second-hand traumatized, if anything. But the entire film’s point is to take you on a personal cinematic journey through the utter vacuousness of humanity and existence itself, and it definitely accomplishes that.