Movie Breakdown: Climax

Pre-Screening Stance:

Gaspar Noe (Enter The Void, Irreversible) is a creative force, but he doesn’t really direct the most accessible films, which can make for a “love it or hate it” kind of time.  At any rate, I think I can at least expect an interesting (if not visceral) experience from Climax.

Post-Screening Ramble:

Climax is the kind of film that just keeps escalating things until your brain is about ready to pop.  At the beginning you’re introduced to a variety of dancers who are auditioning to become part of a tour.  This is done with talking heads that are shown on an old TV, with books and VHS tapes (I spotted Suspiria) stacked around it, but even with the setting and some interesting questions, for the most part you get a slew of bland answers, as the interviewees are all trying to say whatever will most help them make the cut. The film then jumps over to a really wonderfully shot dance scene that takes place in an abandoned school.  Once it wraps you find out that the troupe has been together for a few days, tirelessly rehearsing, and they’re now going to spend some time unwinding.  Initially, director Gasper Noe just shows you a bit more of who the dancers really are via quick cuts of the candid side convos they’re each engaged in around the rehearsal space, but then it’s revealed that everyone has unknowingly consumed sangria that’s been laced with LSD, and it’s no holds barred from there.  All of the standard social barriers get obliterated, people lose control of themselves, and what’s left is a wild, raw situation that only steadily gets more wild and raw as film barrels along.

If Noe’s goal was to show the full range of a person – from fake pleasantries to drug-fueled insanity – then I think he succeeds here.  I don’t know if he needed to go to some of the extremes that he hits in Climax (it wouldn’t at all surprise me if it inspires a lot of walk-outs), but then again, that’s just his style.  To each their own!  By the way, this phrase represents my official thoughts on the film.  I liked the bizarre ride it took me on, but it’s not for everyone.

One Last Thought:

At a few points in Climax there’s so much screaming that I’m sure I could have joined in and no one in the theater would have noticed.