The Story Behind

Gaspar Noe is a director and a screenwriter, born in Buenos Aires, Argentina, but when he is still young, he is moving with his family to Paris, France, because of the dangerous political situation happening in Argentina at the time. He is studying cinema at the Louis Lumiere College in France, and even in his teenage years, he is showing some unique vision and taste.

As he says, without watching 2001: A Space Odyssey, he would never think of becoming a director, so Stanley Kubrick was his main inspiration. He spent his entire professional career in Paris, where is he still based, and another interesting fact is that he is an atheist, but the topic of life and death and life after death exists in all his works.

The Mind of the Modern Genius

Hated or loved by his audience around the world, Gaspar Noe is putting himself out there with his vision of the surrounding world. He is telling stories so disturbing that some people are walking out of the cinema. I mean not only the ordinary viewers but people in the industry as well.

That happened many times, just like on the premiere of his first colossal movie Irreversible, 250 walked out, and a bit later, I will tell you why. His work is evolving, but at the same time, the topics in his movies are all connected. He is a different bred of a filmmaker, and for those like me, who watched all of his work, we all know what he is capable of – from one of the best dancing sequences in cinema to absolutely disgusting scenes, where puking, screaming or crying is the only option.

the Moral Topic

What I like the most about Gaspar movies is the fact that they all have something very unique and something that was never seen before. As Gaspar says: “Usually people do a new mix of things that already exist. But if you have to say how many movies you have seen in the last year that had something new, there aren’t many.”

One of his first works, “I stand alone”, is an example of that. From the beginning to the end, the main hero – the Butcher, who shows up in his previous movie “Carne”, and the first scene of his next work “Irreversible” is total nonsense.

The script is moving, only by his own thoughts, presented like a Voiceover. I still feel goosebumps all over my skin when he gives us the notice of 30 seconds to leave the screening of the movie because of what happened next. No spoilers, but it is so brutal and so raw. Definitely not for everyone. But yes, the topic about morality is different for every single person on our planet, so in a way, I really see the sense of why The Butcher chooses to act like he is acting and his moral choices.

The topic of morality is portraited from his first to his last movie. Even in the part that he is directing in the movie “7 Days in Havana” we can see clearly and understand that morality is a notable thing for the eyes of the different family members.

Brutal and Honest

Gaspar Noe is never scary to be himself. He does not care if he is going to be hated or loved, he only thinks of how to write a story, which is close to his version of reality. He always finds a way to disturb your mind and leave you in a deep think. He finds a way to convince the production companies to produce his movies. For his movie “Carne” he used a girl to convinces a butcher factory to let him shoot, even that he was rejected numerous times. He also convinced a lady to shoot the birth of her child and for a week he was ready to shoot any time, any minute, and any second.

For his movie “Irreversible” he convinced Vincent Cassel and Monica Bellucci, to act in his movie by meeting them randomly in the nightclub. And then with no script, he convinced the StudioCanal to have sponsored him with 2 million. So, he had 5 weeks to write the script, do the preproduction and find the cast. This is a remarkable effort, and the result is one of the most brutal and disturbing movies of all time. Recently in 2018, he reworked it and now the story does not go backward like the original form. As he says this movie could not be produced nowadays.

Also, it is the only movie in history, that has 2 versions. One going to tell the story backwards and the other one forward.

One of the Most Bizarre Movies of All Times

“Enter the Void”, “Love” and “Climax” are one of the most bizarre movies of all time.
• “Enter the Void” is filmed as an Astral Plane Trip, the camera movement is POV in the first part, and on the second we have the point of view of a bird and a ghost. Trippy movie, connecting the topic of life and death. As he says: “Dying is the ultimate trip”.
• “Love” is a movie that you should not watch with your family! They are some monstrous sex scenes. Filmed in beautiful Paris like most of his movies it presents a story of a young American, who loves drugs, sex, and cinema. And his crazy mind putting him in a real-life situation. The moral story of the movie is that whatever you do, you can never escape from yourself.
• “Climax” was originally a documentary about street dancers. Again, with no script. But while they were about to shoot, a blizzard hit Paris and he had this vision of a woman crawling through a field of snow, screaming, panicking, filmed from above until she collapses. You can see Noe’s contribution of how much he appreciates dancing in that movie by the opening scene. No spoilers, but something happened to the dancers and while you are watching, some of the scenes will take your breath away.

So, if you are into a bizarre cinema or want to watch something very disturbing and unique, Gaspar Noe is your man. Put your seat bale on and get ready for a life-changing experience!

By Clyde