Not a film that I would've picked out for myself, but Jon suggested it, and I was willing to take a risk. Anyway, first things first: I can't say I enjoyed Enter the Void at all. Its quasi-mysticism didn't sit well with me (afterwards, Adam W told me that it was a very faithful representation of the ideas of the Tibetan Book of the Dead, which features in the film's 'plot'), and the closing stages suffered badly from an overly literal depiction of the abstract/metaphysical/spiritual notions with which it was by then turning out to be principally concerned (from that perspective - and several others - the low point was unquestionably the 'vagina eye' close-up of the penis going in and out, in and out...which was the point at which large parts of the audience started laughing and more or less didn't stop for the rest of the film); at 154 almost relentlessly disorienting, largely non-linear, frequently ugly, sometimes outright hideous, and occasionally jump-in-your-seat shocking minutes long, it was also a pretty gruelling viewing experience.
That said, I'd stop short of calling it gratuitous - while it certainly pushes the bounds of good taste very hard, and certain scenes/montages went on for way too long, I did feel that it was a serious artistic project on Noé's part, and not mere provocation - the film seems committed to pushing the viewer for a purpose, namely to experience, in all its intensity, the life of its central protagonist (including the traumatic events that have shaped his identity, to which his consciousness, being the vehicle through which the film is presented, recurs over and over) and the willed journey towards reincarnation that he undertakes following his seedy, untimely death in a Tokyo toilet.
So, all up, I don't regret having seen this film, even though sitting through it was a real endurance test, and even though I don't think there's any particular profundity to it - it was certainly an experience, it did provoke me, and I do respect its artistic integrity, however ultimately flawed the film is.
(in the end, Jon couldn't make it, so went with Adam, David + Justine; also, trang + 1)
