Throughout Gaspar Noé’s 29-year directorial career, he’s both wowed and disgusted audiences with his intimate, technically brilliant films. Enter the Void, Climax, and most recently, Vortex tell vivid, shocking stories that can only be enjoyed in one mesmerizing sit-through. 

In terms of narrative, Enter the Void does not stand out as Noé’s best. It serves as more of an experience, a trip through the ins and outs of his mind. Despite Noé’s atheistic views, Enter the Void is much more spiritual than his usual, as the main theme is based on the Tibetan Book of the Dead, showing the process of life, death, and being reborn. It begins in Tokyo. We begin following Oscar, a drug addict living in a small apartment. He talks to his sister Linda, overlooking a world of flashing neon life, which he then explores in a truly mesmerizing shot of him through the underworld of Tokyo. The climax of the film occurs about 30 minutes in, and from then on it’s a completely experimental, trippy journey. An insane experience, this film, as does many of Noés’, feels like the brightest, most beautiful nightmare one could ever dream of. 

One of my favorite things about Gaspar Noé’s films is his opening shots, and his 2019 film Climax tops them all. It’s a snowy night in the middle of nowhere, and we’re with a dance troupe working on their choreography. The shot is their routine — a cacophony of breakdancing, contortion, and voguing, with house music blaring in the background. The perfection of the scene lies in its ability to introduce the dancers, as we learn so much about them from their solo performances and routines. Shots in front, on top, and a complete 360 around the troupe is cinematography unlike anything I’ve ever seen. Once this collective high comes down, the movie takes a dark turn. When someone laces the sangria, the troupe becomes victim to hell on earth. With his crafting of the opening high, Noé crashes the party with another horrifying masterpiece in Climax.

A major criticism of Gaspar Noé has been a very vocal crowd who believes his films don’t carry any weight, or that they are over-reliant on shock value. In his 2021 film Vortex, however, he faced those criticisms, and made an intensely real, heart-wrenching film. It’s based around an elderly couple. The screen is split in half, with one side following the husband, and the other following the wife. Quickly, we learn that the wife has dementia, as in the opening 30 minutes she gets lost wandering in the city. It’s shot in a way to accentuate the intense overwhelmingness of the situation, as we can see the panic of the husband parallel to the skittishness of the wife. Throughout the entire film, Noé hammers a sense of trepidation into the audience, the exact same way one would actually feel in this situation. This is not a shocking, Noé-esque nightmarish film. No, this is an ultra realistic tale of love, and death — about the impossible pain of losing someone to dementia. An important watch if one is interested in understanding emotions surrounding this subject on a deeper level. 

No matter one's opinion on Gaspar Noé, there is no denying his brilliance. He evokes strong emotions, whether it’s love or hate, pleasure or horror. His visionary cinematography combined with his passionate genius create one of the best directors of this generation.