Climax

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.

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

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"!

Had many expectations before watching this "art" movie... However, I was left dumbstruck with the "salad" of shocker put all together in such a mainstream movie going for an arthouse movie. Tackles and puts in your face too many taboos and (still?) controversial issues such as homosexuality, abortion, rape, incest, drugs and so on. Lacks an intriguing story in my opinion. Visual mambo-jumbo and musical hysteria! Watch it if you don't have anything else better to do... Such a pity the soundtrack is so cool and rich in 70s and 80s electro and disco hits and wasted on such a flick!

Love it or hate it, this film is technically astonishing and whatever it's trying to do, it's doing it very well. It's almost like they've trapped the true essence of French Extremism, set it on fire, and followed it with a steady cam.

The camera work in this is surreal and its movements, along with the actors' choreography, are surprisingly well coordinated for a "write-as-we-go" film.

Climax will make you feel a lot of things and I don't think you're going to like how most of those things feel, but that's exactly what makes Climax a very well executed horrifying experience.