Vortex

Unnervingly naturalistic performances from two cinematic legends – the great Italian giallo master Dario Argento, the great Italian giallo master and the star of La Maman et La Putain – add to the sense of loss.

Noé’s extraordinary film unfolds as a tale of murmured terrors and nameless dread, creeping softly around a cramped Paris apartment like a cinematic Grim Reaper.

Among the comforts Vortex refuses is the bittersweet balm of nostalgia. It’s a blunt reckoning with the inevitability of loss, including the loss of memory. We dream for a while, and then we sleep.

The filmmaker has made a rather soulful look at what it means to grasp onto life in its waning moments, and invites his audience into the center of that dilemma.

The hushed closing reels are unusual in Noé’s oeuvre in that they generate straightforward empathy and emotion without falling back on gimmicks, trickery or shock tactics.

Strong performances carry this unyielding portrait of dementia and elderly suffering that marks an interesting shift for Noé, but its relentless efforts to inflict sorrow and pain can feel overdone.

Vortex, while visually captivating, only functions as a window through which to look at death detached from the beauty of life.

Embora consiga transmitir bem sua mensagem, e com técnicas visuais inovadoras (o quadro duplo), o filme se arrasta mais do que deveria, tornando-se até um pouco sádico. O casal de idosos tem uma atuação realmente brilhante e visceral, e vale a pena conferir. É melancólico, meio pessimista, mas muito poético, e tudo muito realista graças às grandes performances.

Another stressful experiment by Gaspar Noé. 'Vortex' is a dramatic downward spiral of frustration and hopelessness. Dario Argento impresses as an old man trying to live many lives simultaneously despite his age. But it is Françoise Lebrun who gives the most striking and somber performance by playing an old woman lost in the shadow of dementia. 'Vortex' sure plays some of the same notes as 'The Father,' but the tone is cruder. Noé draws upon some visual resources to exasperate the viewer — is the split screen format diabolically trying to look like a film frame? — creating a sense of confusion and discomfort. It's like 'Climax' but slowed down to the minimum level, with some Haneke's 'Amour' elements in there. My only complaint is the excessive runtime and the feeling that everything gets repetitive very quickly, but I guess that was his intent.

I'm not a fan of Gaspar Noé. I never have been and I've always been clear about it, but I also know how to admit when my mouth gets shut. And Noe has done it in what is undoubtedly the most mature and crucial film he has delivered in his career. Here he's no longer the provocateur, but the creator who builds a devastating and sad story that doesn't try to be gentle in its treatment and it's not because it cannot be humane in a tale that deals with a subject as depressing as this one, but to have treated it in a way that would have softened it in some way would have been terrible for his film. Vortex is a film that perhaps goes a bit overboard in its length, and you may feel like you no longer want to go through with that painful treatment, but it's a film that should be experienced regardless of the cathartic satisfaction or entertainment it may not provide.

A slow moving, disturbing, and emotionally impaling cinematic experience. Gaspar really doesn’t disappoint, as this film packs some of the most potent performances in any of his previous films, Dario Argento, François Lebrun and Alex Lutz do a surprisingly amazing job performing. The split screen used in the film’s visuals are wonderfully implemented with a clear artistic purpose, the film is incredibly well shot and though the pacing is very slow it never feels dull whatsoever. My main issues lie with the film’s narrative feeling a little scatter-brained and random, a few plot threads feel picked up and dropped without much development, and though I appreciate the use of empty scenes that feel like nothingness as a way to illustrate how our lives are made up of 50% nothingness, there’s a point where those additions aren’t needed anymore.

Writer/director Gaspar Noé is known for his unique visual style and willingness to experiment. He keeps it up with his latest effort revolving around an aging couple in Paris, followed simultaneously on split screens. Her dementia (Françoise Lebrun) is advancing rapidly, while he (famed Italian director Dario Argento) has to deal with her erratic behavior and his own health issues. The dual images are interesting, observing their behaviors without much cinematic interference. She wanders aimlessly, while he tries to write his book and cope with her. Each scene is extended with plenty of silence and minimally interesting dialogue, which was often improvised. Noé's love of a distracting "blink" between every cut (a few frames of black) serves to pull the viewer out of the experience. Some will appreciate the measured pace and naturalistic approach, while others will find the cinematic gimmick gets in the way of any real emotional connections. (In French with subtitles)