Clímax

I always feel excited and a little bit anxious watching a new film by French director Gaspar Noe. His past films have have included the controversial "Irreversible" known for its unflinching and brutal portrayal of sexual violence, the mind bending and psychedelic trip that is "Enter the Void" and the erotic drama "Love" which features unsimulated sex presented in 3D. Noe is pushing the limits for not only what Is allowed to be shown in a film but also for what the film medium is capabale of. Unconventional narrative structures, mind bending visuals and camera angles you wouldn't even dream of. These are just a few things that can be found in his films.

I am happy to say that Climax may be Noe's tamest film in terms of its sex and violence. And I am very excited to say that it may also be the best film he has made yet. I feel that it's best to know as little as possible about the film before seeing it to have the best possible experience. What I will say though is that the film grips you from the start, and only tightens that grip throughout the running time. The film makes use of one location and one situation and one set of characters to put you in the moment. The excitement and exuberance that you feel during the first dance sequence which is shot entirely in one take will change and evolve throughout the film into sequences that are much more frightening and intense. Go along for the ride though because it is a unique work of filmmaking worth seeing in a cinema and if you hold on tight, you may experience something that is close to an outer body experience.

CLIMAX or how long can you stand watching boring dancers and average at best actors pretend to be on drugs? Zero story, lots of screaming, no surprises. I'd even say this film is pretty tame (for Noé). And it's neither radical nor inventive anymore to simply turn the camera upside down or to show the end credits first. Apart from big respect for some well done one-shot moments, I'm quite disappointed.

The only good thing about this movie was the dancing. Literally, everything else about it is annoying. It's actually really boring. It has no plot and no point. The dialogue is puerile, at best, and you can't possibly empathize with the characters. If this is your first introduction to Noe, you'll likely never feel the need to watch any of his other films.

This is not an easy watch. And while Climax may suggest this to be very sexual or at least sensual, you might be dissapointed if you're looking for that kind of "satisfaction". The choreography of the dancing is really good, the cinematography is something to behold too. If you don't mind long uninterrupted shots that is of course.

This is about addiction, about people driven to go the extra mile and about people hoarded in a secluded location going "nuts" as some might describe it. And as a different reviewer wrote: this is an experience. It will split a lot of people as it did at the various festivals it played. This is not an ordinary movie, but when has Noe done that? So if you are aware of his body of work, you at least know not to expect something "normal". Now some have stated, that if you had experience with certain drugs, you may understand or "enjoy" this experience more than others. I can't talk to that, not having had that experience. I can say though that this is quite rough to watch. Especially when things spiral downwards ...

Still very enticing and tension filled. Technically almost flawless it will depend what you make of the "story" or rather the excuse of one to get the viewer to go on a ... well "trip"!

As an exercise in pure viscera, Argentine provocateur Gaspar Noé mostly pleases with Climax. A group of dancers unknowingly drink spiked sangria which slowly warps their afterparty into an LSD-soaked nightmare. With a premise like that, it may be evident that this is a film meant to be experienced rather than thought about. The pleasures of Climax come nearly entirely from its sheer audiovisual power: the ceaselessly pulsating score, the fluid one-shot takes, the lurid colors. It's closer to performance art than what most people would characterize as a "movie" and should be approached with that mindset if you're to enjoy it. However, as enjoyable as its best sequences are, the lack of nearly any thematic depth imbues much of the film with a subtly nagging tediousness. And even when viewed purely from an experiential perspective, it is far from watertight in its pacing and flow. Still, there is a cumulative power in its sound, visuals, and theatrics that's hard to deny.

Weak 3.5/5