I keep trying. Heretofore I've seen three of Gaspar Noé's other films. I was extremely unimpressed with 'Enter the void'; while I might get more out of it if I watched again, I didn't think much of 'Irreversible,' either. On the other hand, most recently, I greatly enjoyed 'Climax.' It's largely on the basis of that one high note that I so far continue exploring the filmmaker's work, to see where my favor lands. Having now watched 'Lux aeterna,' I can only reflect that I'm still 1 for 4 when it comes to Noé - I don't much care for this at all.
There's the start of an idea here in the portrayal of a fictional film production that's an absolute mess in every possible way; if "God's craft" were real, it would be the laughing stock of the world. From this root there is potential for Something to happen, and it indeed seems like 'Lux aeterna' is building to something in its last minutes. But then it just ends. All that pervasive tension, conflict, chaotic split screen presentation, underhanded commentary, and mounting disaster leads to... nothing but a roll of credits.
And, listen - in 2022 (or 2019, as it were), I don't think there's any excuse for filmmakers to deliberately employ flashing lights of the variety that carry substantial risk of inducing epileptic seizures. I'll allow that every possibility of color and frequency can't be accounted for, but it seems like such conditions generally fall within a particular range. Are such visuals truly so important to the artistic vision of a project that it's worth putting potential viewers at actual risk of their health?
I congratulate those who get something more out of this than I did. Actually, genuinely congratulate, in the truest sense of the word. Only for the fact that I like Charlotte Gainsbourg do I feel like this wasn't a total waste of my time. There's an admiring audience out there somewhere for 'Lux aeterna,' but for my part, I don't know who they are.
There's the start of an idea here in the portrayal of a fictional film production that's an absolute mess in every possible way; if "God's craft" were real, it would be the laughing stock of the world. From this root there is potential for Something to happen, and it indeed seems like 'Lux aeterna' is building to something in its last minutes. But then it just ends. All that pervasive tension, conflict, chaotic split screen presentation, underhanded commentary, and mounting disaster leads to... nothing but a roll of credits.
And, listen - in 2022 (or 2019, as it were), I don't think there's any excuse for filmmakers to deliberately employ flashing lights of the variety that carry substantial risk of inducing epileptic seizures. I'll allow that every possibility of color and frequency can't be accounted for, but it seems like such conditions generally fall within a particular range. Are such visuals truly so important to the artistic vision of a project that it's worth putting potential viewers at actual risk of their health?
I congratulate those who get something more out of this than I did. Actually, genuinely congratulate, in the truest sense of the word. Only for the fact that I like Charlotte Gainsbourg do I feel like this wasn't a total waste of my time. There's an admiring audience out there somewhere for 'Lux aeterna,' but for my part, I don't know who they are.