RbDeraj

Enter the Void (2009)

One Bad Trip

This film consists of a small plot line having to do with a junkie in Tokyo's underworld, his junkie sister, and more junkie friends that quickly turns into a dreadful two and a half hours of nothingness. This nothingness I'm referring to consists of mostly nonstop seizure inducing flashes of color combined with camera shots weaving through and passing over hundreds of buildings aimlessly just wandering about. The incessant strobe is excessive, obnoxious and without real cause (like much of the movie). The little acting in the movie is mostly unintelligible whispering and murmuring madness, between people with every scene blurry and out of focus. Even the main character's voice acting was terrible (which is really all it was because all we saw of him was the back of his ugly shaved head).

Nudity, sex, and drugs are the main action (and really the only things going on) just for the sake of being included as they don't contribute anything to the film. There are long drug trip scenes that look like kaleidoscopic microbiology documentaries you were probably forced to watch in high school, that remind me a lot of Ang Lee's many similar scenes from his films. The whole film is much like the movie Irreversible (by the same director) with many of the same shots and subject matter yet without a much of a storyline.

After the original story is presented, a series of flashbacks ensue, giving us a background and bring it back full circle. But when we get to this point you will realize that the movie is only halfway over. There is nothing appealing or even interesting about the film. It boils down to painfully long boredom and a nonsensical flashing of colors.

The best part of the movie was its artsy opening credits in every font imaginable in a neon palette coupled with upbeat music.

In the film a character says "DMT only lasts six minutes but seems like an eternity." That is exactly what the movie seemed like, an eternity but without the high. I can't imagine this being any good unless you were high when you watched it (which I wouldn't know about I'm a drug-free kid).

The only positive thing I can see about this film is that it show that this lifestyle does not pay off and ends in complete disaster.