Gaspar Noé Movies
Baldheaded Franco-Argentine filmmaker Gaspar Noé has made some seriously disturbing films during his relatively short career. He has also won several critical awards and festival acclaim for each of his works. Noé made his first film in 1991 with the short Carne, an introduction to the character of the Butcher, played by Philippe Nahon. An angry man, the Butcher seeks revenge on whoever hurt his disabled daughter. After working as an actor, cinematographer, writer, and director on some other projects, Noé made his first feature film, I Stand Alone, continuing the story of the Butcher after he does time in jail and abandons his daughter. In 2002 he received major public notice and outrage with the controversial Irréversible, mostly due to the much-publicized eight-minute rape scene. Starring real-life married couple Monica Bellucci and Vincent Cassel, the film is a brutal look at male violence shown in reverse chronological order. ~ Andrea LeVasseur, All Movie Guide- 2009
Death takes one man on a journey that is by turns beautiful and terrifying in this feature from writer and director Gaspar Noe, who describes it as "a psychedelic melodrama." Oscar (Nathaniel Brown) is a small time drug dealer who sells his wares at a club in Tokyo called "The Void." In the midst of a deal that goes sour, Oscar is shot dead, and finds himself crossing from one plane of existence to the next. When he was younger, Oscar made a pledge to his younger sister Linda (Paz de la Huerta) to always look after her, and as his soul leaves his body, the spirit is led on a journey through Tokyo, past traditional consciousness and into the moment of human creation as he struggles to be reunited with Linda, who now works as an exotic dancer. Soudain Le Vide (aka Enter The Void) received its world premiere at the 2009 Cannes Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Nathaniel Brown, Paz de la Huerta, (more)
- 2009
Eight internationally known filmmakers address vital issues concerning the Third World in this omnibus feature. In 2000, 191 countries affiliated with the United Nations agreed to take part in a program to cut world poverty in half before the year 2015 by observing eight Millennium Development Goals. In Eight, each of these goals is addressed in a short film from a different filmmaker. "Tiya's Dream" by Adberrahmane Sissako focuses on "Eradicating Extreme Poverty and Hunger" in a story about an African student preparing a class project on the Millennium Development Goals. A child in Iceland is learning about Nepal in Gael García Bernal's "The Letter", a variation on the theme of "Achieving Universal Primary Education." Mira Nair examines the issue "Promote Gender Equality" in "How Can It Be", about a Muslim woman who wants to leave her husband. "Mansion on the Hill" by Gus Van Sant focuses on contemporary teens as he contemplates efforts to "Reduce Child Mortality." Jan Kounen traveled to Peru to film his polemic on "Improving Maternal Health," "The Story of Panshin Beka". A man struggles with a fatal disease in Gaspar Noe's "SIDA", aligned to the goal "Combat HIV/AIDS, Malaria and Other Diseases." A village in the Australian outback struggles with environmental issues in "The Water Diary", a parable on "Ensuring Environmental Sustainability" by Jane Campion. And Wim Wenders looks into the ways people in need can help themselves in "Person to Person", his study of "Global Partnerships for Development." Eight received its world premiere at the 2008 Rome Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- 2006
Originally released as a segment of the art-porn omnibus film Districted, Irreversible director Gasper Noé's Babysitter details the strobe-lit encounter between a sexually insatiable man and a blow-up sex doll. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
Gaspar Noé's Irreversible utilizes the same storytelling technique used by Christopher Nolan in Memento and Harold Pinter in Betrayal. Consisting of about a dozen scenes, all shot in single takes, Irreversible charts a disturbing night in the life of Marcus (Vincent Cassel), but presents the events in reverse chronological order. The audience eventually learns how the beautiful Alex (Cassel's real-life partner Monica Bellucci) is involved. The film opens with a violent altercation at a gay sex club and works backward to explain how and why the violence occurred. The actors improvised the vast majority of the dialogue starting from a four-page story outline. Irreversible was screened in competition at the 2002 Cannes Film Festival. ~ Perry Seibert, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Monica Bellucci, Vincent Cassel, (more)
In this French drama, Gaspar Noe, who won awards (Prix Georges Sadoul, Cannes Crix Week) for his 40-minute Carne (1991), continues where that film ended, beginning with a Carne recap: The Butcher (Philippe Nahon) narrates, telling how, as a war orphan working at 14, he opened his horsemeat butcher shop and fathered a mute, retarded daughter. After the mother and daughter left for life in a Paris suburb, he served a prison term after an assault on someone he mistakenly believed had raped his daughter. The follow-up sequel, set in a Lille suburb, begins in 1980: Obese bar owner (Franjkyie Pain) is pregnant by The Butcher, who is unable to find work. The couple moves in with her mother, but he becomes irritated with the two women and goes to Paris where the humiliation of job-hunting and the sum total of futility and hopelessness triggers thoughts of what he might accomplish with his gun and his last three bullets. Shown at the 1998 Cannes Film Festival. ~ Bhob Stewart, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Philippe Nahon, Frankye Pain, (more)
- 1996
The literal translation of the decidedly squirmy black comedy's French title La Bouche de Jean-Pierre is "Jean-Pierre's Mouth," a reference made quite clear. The weirdness begins when young Mimi's mother attempts to kill herself. While her mother recovers in the hospital, she is sent to stay with her elderly, never-married Aunt Solange, who offers her a curtained corner in her tiny apartment. Much to Mimi's surprise Auntie Solange is a spinster but she is no desiccated prude, something the girl discovers when Solange's young, buff lover comes to call. Unfortunately, Jean-Pierre also finds himself shamefully attracted to the tender young niece. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Sandra Sammartino, Denise Schropfer, (more)
- 1991
Written and directed by Gaspar Noé, this 39-minute experimental film centers around a horsemeat butcher who comes to suspect his daughter is being repeatedly raped by one of his employees. The plot is purposely incoherent at times, and utilizes graphic depictions of sex, the birth process, butchery, and discordant music. Intended to induce an "attack on the senses," Carne features Philippe Nahon, Blandine Lenoir, and Frankye Pain. ~ Tracie Cooper, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Philippe Nahon, Blandine Lenoir, (more)
