Lux Æterna

As a fan of Gaspar Noé, I enjoy his movies even when I feel sick of what I see in his movies. I'm also pretty sure that the most catchy element of his movies is the visuals. So far, i've seen his every feature films except Love. Climax, Irreversible and Enter the Void, which are mostly the favorites of the audience, achieved giving fancy visuals. Strangely, visuals of Lux Aeterna does not make you satisfied since the story leads to literally nowhere worthy. Instead, this time Gaspar Noé tries to introduce a point of view to role of woman in film industry and also in history. I can say that he does it well. Lux Aeterna is a "must watch" for Noé fans because in every second you will feel the style of Gaspar Noé. But if you are not a fan, this movie is a pure boredom and agony.

... though it may just get you twitching.

A number of patients in a high security psychiatric hospital decide to make a short film. Conscious of the fact that in medieval times they would most likely have been considered witches or warlocks, since their behaviour could only be interpreted as such during those times, they place the punishment for such behaviour at the centre of their creation.

Fortunately, as luck would have it, the split screen personality allows the viewer to gorge on twice as much pagan pantomime than would normally be recommend but, since this piece occupies slightly less than an hour, they just about get away with it, although that may depend on the medication you're currently prescribed.

You'll be pleased when the credits role, although it's unlikely you'll make it through to the end.

This was a movie that when I saw it was from Gaspar Noé and coming to the Gateway Film Center, it had my attention. Reading through the synopsis and checking the genres, I thought that it could be horror or at least adjacent. It also featured Béatrice Dalle and Charlotte Gainsbourg, I was in.

What I should say next is that this isn't a horror film. It does have elements though. This movie is about making a movie. Dalle and Gainsbourg play themselves. The first part is them chatting about different movies and experiences they've been on. They are both in this production that is borrowing from Haxän, which is a documentary/dramatization of witchcraft throughout the ages. This moves into a surreal situation to end the movie as they film the scene with Gainsbourg, Abby Lee and another actor as they're 'burned' at the stake for the movie.

The movie has a feeling of dread. We see that the production of the movie is troubled. Dalle is the elder actor and she butts heads with the director who in turn wants her off the project. He takes this to the executive producer. We have a guy who is trying to pitch an idea of a role in his feature film debut to Gainsbourg and Lee. This annoys both as it is unprofessional. Gainsbourg learns a horrific thing might have happened to her daughter and she is torn what to do. The tension just builds until the climax. It is interesting as well since this runs 51 minutes.

This movie does get some of that Noé flair. He is a bit over the top at times, but I respect his style. The acting is natural as playing caricatures of themselves. The visuals here are amazing. That is the biggest take away for me. I enjoy the message we are conveying here both on the surface and underneath. This won't be for everyone though. This is arthouse. It is short, so keep that in mind. It is an interesting ride for sure.

My Rating: 8 out of 10.

First off, I'm quite a Gaspar Noé fan, and I have watched every movie since "I stand alone" - I liked every single one of them, and especially Climax really surprised me with how good it was.

This movie however leaves me with very mixed feelings. 90% of the movie consists dialog which is either meaningless or leaves alot of room for interpretation, but, in any case, wasn't very entertaining to watch. The other 10% make anyone familiar with Noé's work instantly recognize his trademark visuals. These 10% are really painful to watch, but not for the reasons you might expect from a "classic" Noé movie. In the end, the movie left me pretty unsatisfied. The visuals were pretty interesting at times, yes, and would have been perfect for a music video, but they don't save save the movie from feeling dull.

I would still recommend it for fans of this director, as it is definitely an unusual movie, just don't expect anything mindblowing or truly disturbing!

While watching the movie You are definitely feeling the stress on the set. If you want to watch a regular cinema and if you don't know who is Gaspar Noe you might say "what was that ? What happened ?". As in the previous films of Gaspar you are not just standing there and watching the movie you feel what characters feels.