Enter the Void: What is th Void?

Enter the Void has been on my mind all week. I have come to the conclusion that the void is life itself.  The movie views life as a continuous cycle of reincarnation of one’s soul. In the end, there is no escaping life or the universe that contains all of our souls. All the characters in the film are, in some manner, trapped. This is a reflection of each of their souls being stuck in the void of life. Besides the meanings of the movie, I was also fascinated with its unique cinematography. The first person point of view shots and the hovering camera were both well executed and achieved their goals in immersing the audience. Instantly, I knew I was going to be in for a memorable experience when the opening title flashed on the screen with an array of stroking lights and music blaring. I was not surprised to learn that the film’s director, Gaspar Noé, cites 2001: a Space Odyssey as one of his favorite and most influential movies. In many ways, Enter the Void is an ode to the type of cinema Stanley Kubrick and many other distinct directors strived to create.

Enter The Void

Gasper Noe makes movies that are difficult to watch, intentionally choosing some of the most difficult subjects as the centerpieces of his films. Here he picks a handful of controversial topics (recreational drug use, incest, police power and authority, abortion, what happens after we die) and throws them all into a purposefully experimental framework dominated by a highly unusual, and static, point-of-view that is extremely disorienting both literally and emotionally. What comes away from it though is perhaps the opposite kind of narrative presentation from last week’s film, Tree of Life; Enter The Void is not trying to make any clear statements of morality or even purpose but instead present what it hopes to be a plausible scenario, though it is not simply the post-mortem astral projection that is maybe less than completely believable, and ask that the audience make their own kind of judgments about the action on-screen.

Tree of Life

The Tree Of Life offers up some interesting commentaries on life in a post-WWII world.  The relationship between the husband and wife illustrates a stark contrast of gender-roles during this time.  The wife, portrayed as a very graceful, free-spirited being, is a much less-disciplined, yet seeminly more-secure spouse as compared to her husband, who cloaks his inadequacies in a stern personality with straight-edge mannerisms.  His ideas of success and "good-living"  have been instilled in him through the national attitude that embodied the sentiment of "hard work pays off."  I think this was a sentiment that was treated as simple formula, much different and less abstract than it is treated today.  That sort-of "keep your nose to the grindstone" mentality that kept people on paths that they wholeheartedly believed in, ultimately served, in this film, to give the working man a strong sense of pride.  This pride was faulty, and based upon a false-sense of absolutism.  It painted an image of success as black-and-white, avoiding the harsher truths that were in fact the reality.  Brad Pitt's character is the perfect example of how this national attitude affected the average providing-husband.  He felt a sense of superiority and pride that ultimately yielded consequence of a ahrsh relationship with his sons.  I think its interesting how Malick exposes the very many lines that were fixed between people when it came to emotion and respect and inter-familial relationships.

Matrix-a little late

I had not seen the matrix since I was a kid so I was very excited to watch this film again. I have to say I understood it and loved it ten times more. I love keanu reeves and all the other actors in this film. I think they did an amazing job. The Wachowski brothers also did an excellent job with this film. The directing was amazing, as well as the script they wrote. There is a lot of amazing quotes/dialogue in the film. I think my favorite part of the film is that it is so thought provoking. It really gets you thinking. Are we in a computer generated dream world? Could this computer I'm typing on be just codes made up from someone to make it seem like it is actually a real computer? I'm in philosophy right now so I read a lot of theories, so i was glad to be watching the Matrix which had to deal with what I was studying. The few things I didn't like where a few plot holes here and there, but hey, it's a movie. And the biggest thing that annoys me is when Neo dies but comes to life after Trinity kisses him-I just thought it was kinda cheesy, though it goes with the storyline and what the Oracle says. But overall it is an excellent film and a classic. 

Tree of Life

Honestly, I did not enjoy the film at all. I felt like there was no real plot or story. It was just very boring. Especially the creation part which lasted, what? 20 minutes? Although I applaud Malik for his unique directing and visually appealing imagery, the film just wasn't for me. It was a bit confusing in some parts, like for example the wife randomly floating in the air??, the ending, etc. And it is also just long and slow. I did however enjoy the actress who played the wife. I had not seen her in any other films and I really did enjoy her performance in this film. Brad Pitt was good as always. And I can't watch a film with Sean Penn in it without remembering how he abused Madonna and is just an all around asshole. So that ruins it a bit for me too haha. 

Tree of Life

In the movie Tree of Life the marriage between Mr. and Mrs. O'Brien represents the conflicting philosophies of the path of nature and that of grace. By echoing the interconnectivity of everything through the title itself and the elaborate nature scenes, the movie develops the question of what exactly is the meaning of life and its culmination. As Jack looks back on his memories in recent light of his brother's death, the differing meanings of life established by his parents are staged. While Mrs. O'Brien leads a life of Grace characterized by selflessness and sacrifice, Mr. O'Brien leads a life of nature characterized by power and strength. The relationship between nature and grace is emphasized through the awe produced by catastrophic disasters and the mystery and beauty of nature which creates but to destroy. This allows for the family to cope with the passing of baby O'Brien by showing what little significance a single death is compared to the backdrop of eternity.

Tree of Life

I absolutely loved this film. Even while mostly pictures and ideas morphing together, there is so much to say about the film. The way the shots of awesome galaxies and earthy nature were used in comparison to shots of the everyday struggles and lives of a family was thought-provoking and inspiring. One of my favorite scenes is when the wounded dinosaur is spared by an oncoming predator. What makes the predator retreat? Mercy? Divine Intervention? Still the overarching story of how we come to learn and grow into the people we are today as a product of our environments is what keeps me wanting more. I could watch this film over and over and still have a million things to say about it.