Delicatessen

My distain for foreign films and subtitles was only strengthened with this movie. Ugh.

The time period for this movie was rather ambiguous and threw me off a lot. I didn't like how the film was purely so character based. The movie solely circled around that they all lived in an apartment building, and their landlord occasionally fed them. Big whoop. I also live in an apartment building... that would be the weirdest reality show ever if all the tenants were filmed... nobody cares about what other individuals are doing. A viewer wants a good plot line.

Dante's Inferno

The Dante's Inferno that we saw in class was composed entirely to convey a modernized adaptation of the classic story.  The animation was utilized as a simple pictorial aesthetic and in no way met with the standards of a traditional composition, therefore its hard to critique this as you would with any other film.  However, with that sort of simplistic visual display being the intent, I believe that the film was very successful in those regards.  I am not familiar with the original story, but I thought that this was a successful modernization.

Delicatessen

One aspect of this film that is of particular interest is the environmental consciousness which it exhibits: remembering that it was filmed and released in the early 1990s when energy was cheap, trade was on an upswing, and long before popular works like An Inconvenient Truth exhibiting the danger of global warming and desertification the framing of the tale around a worldwide collapse of food networks must have seemed like an odd choice. This is further complicated by the film’s use of antique technology, with television being broadcast in black and white, vinyl records still the standard for audio recordings, and the appliances having that distinctive 1950s styling popularized by Braun and other modernist companies; it is almost as if the film were trying to posit an alternative history wherein the environmental apocalypse which seemed so unlikely to happen in the future had already occurred in the past.

Enter the Void

I really like this movie. Although it can be gory and confusing sometimes, I love the concept and the portrayal. It reminded me a lot of Requiem for a Dream and even Donnie Darko at some times. Overall I enjoy a good mind-twisting movie, and especially liked the bright lights and the way the story was told through Oscar's eyes.

Dante's Inferno

I agree with a lot of people in that the more modernized version of the story was a bit skewed. Although I appreciate the fact that more people are exposed to the classic story, the film took away some of what made the story a classic in the first place. I would like to think that once people see the modern version, they would be interested in the original story, but this may not be the case.

Dante's Inferno

Prior to watching this movie, I have only ever heard of Dante’s Inferno – so I was more or less familiar with the story. However, I didn’t like the “artistic take” on making everything so modern. It’s the same thing with the Leo DiCaprio version of Romeo and Juliet… sure, a fun idea—but it’s not the same when Chris Rock gets shot on Venice Beach instead of slayed by a sword. The story over all though, was a good one. I’m glad I finally got to see some sort of rendition of the story.

Enter The Void

I really disliked the movie “Enter the Void,” I didn’t like the movie format nor the concept. The graphics in the movie were also really gory and a little unsettling. Though I really did appreciate all the colors and flashing lights--- probably the only thing that kept me entertained throughout.

Dante's Inferno

I have read The Divine Comedy before and I can tell you that I hated this variation on Inferno. One thing that this did bring up for me though was the idea of perspective. Nowadays, we see parody cartoon everywhere from the newspaper, Southpark, Jibjab.com, etc. and I know for one that I find them to seem very cheap, dated, and (sometimes) rather unintelligent due to all the pop culture references and what not. For me, I feel as though this film fell into that category. With that in mind, I began to wonder if people in the past thought similarly when satirical pieces featuring prominent people and events of the day came out. Did someone in the 14th century who read Inferno think to themselves as they picked up on all of the satire "what a low blow that is!" or "Ugh, I'm so tired of hearing about [insert event, person, place prominent at the time]!" Did those kinds of "pop culture" references diminish and date the story as much for them as the ones in the movie did for me? Just an interesting point to ponder...

Enter The Void

I don't think that I hated this movie as much as the rest of the class seems to, but I do think that there is a fundamental problem with this movie, and that is the format. I think that this story was far to graphic and vile to have as a film, but as a book where the reader uses their imagination to fuel the story it would be so much better. As a visual, it can seem exploitative and unreasonably graphic, but as a book I think those issues would be negated and it would force the creation of a more developed and elaborate story, something that viewers crave the whole time during this almost 3 hour movie. In all, I just think that a change in format from film to book would make a world of difference for Enter the Void.

Dante's Inferno

               There are two aspects that are really of interest in this film: the format of using paper cutouts to represent the action and the seemingly ambiguous aspect of justice, specifically whether or not justice is being served through the various different punishments that the sinners experience. The paper cutout is interesting not only because of its originality and the amount of effort that clearly went into it but the metaphysical suggestion it makes when you come to the character of Lucifer. While all the other characters in the film are two dimensional Lucifer is represented in three dimensions, as if demonstrating what would be the clear difference in state of being between humans and the supernatural creatures of Judeo-Christian mythology. The question of justice is interesting because the film does not seem to make up its mind on the issue of hell: the main character pities the sinners and clearly questions whether their punishment is just but the filmmaker also, much like the historical Dante, places her political enemies in hell, a fate which we can assume is meant to represent the justice that those politicians will never face on earth.

Enter the Void

Fantastic. It is the word that comes to mind after watching "Enter the Void." Gaspar Noé did an excellent job with this film. The way he filmed using Oscar's POV throughout the film is nothing I have seen before. After Oscar is shot dead and looking at his hands while on the floor, the camera scans up to what I believe is him now looking down at himself. I think throughout the rest of the film we continue in Oscar's POV with a lot of camera shots coming from above the actors, as if his spirit is watching life go on. Also during more intimate scenes, for example the one with his sister and Mario, the camera goes through Mario's head-but it is really Oscar entering his body and we see his POV of his sister below him. It sounds weird but throughout the film there was an incestuous feel between them so I wouldn't doubt that to be Oscar wanting to experience having sex with his sister. There are other moments when the camera goes through someones head as if he is entering the body.  Another thing I really enjoyed was the birth at the end. They talk about reincarnation in the film so many believe it is Oscar reborn. But there are flashes of Oscar's mother in place of his sister giving birth. Could this mean that instead of a new life, it suggests that Oscar-and I guess everyone- is bound to repeat the same life over and over again? Kind of depressing. But just a thought. Anyway, fantastic film-even being sober watching it. I'll have to try watching it not sober and see if I get a different perspective on it…am I allowed to say that? haha 

"The Void:" No Escape

The film, Enter the Void, offers three distinct contenders which could be interpreted as “The Void:” life, the escape of life (i.e. drugs and sex), or death. All three seem to be acceptable candidates, but when you thrush out the film’s representation of each, perhaps “The Void” that the film alludes to is inclusive of all three. The film presents the lives of Oscar and his sister and the friends, or so-called friends, with whom they associate. Their lives are devoid of direction, meaning, and ambition, and are consequently arbitrary, dull, and consumed with self-destruction. Oscar spends his time getting high or looking to get high while his sister accepts any attention given to her, especially sexual attention which she seemingly mistakes for love; Her sexual assertion towards her brother shows that she interprets sex as love because she shows her love for her brother in this way. The second interpretation may consist of the act of getting high, being high, and sex as “The Void” in which they escape their terrible childhood; their devastating childhood is revealed by the intense repetition of the car crash in which their parents died. Lastly, “The Void” may be death which Oscar experiences. The discussion of reincarnation allows this interpretation to warrant death as being the void between lives, namely Oscar who dies and supposedly is born again. Although all three are given merit, the idea of reincarnation allows for life to just be a repetition of life and death, and thus “life,” or existence, incorporates death and through a universal perspective a single life is pointless and irrelevant in the scheme of things. Therefore, because there is no way to escape this cycle, existence is just continually the act of entering a void.

Tree of Life

In the movie “The Tree of Life,” Brad Pitt looks back on his life and forces to ask the tough questions—like what was the point? Did it mean anything? Grace and nature are compared and contrasted throughout the movie – sometimes things are beautiful, but they can still lead to pain and suffering.