In May 2010, following the French theatrical release of Enter the Void, filmmaker Gaspar Noé met with the public at Fnac Paris Forum. Divided into two parts, the recorded discussion offers an in-depth look at the conception, production, and underlying intentions of a film widely regarded as one of the most radical works in his career.

A Film Shaped Over Time

Gaspar Noé explains that Enter the Void emerged from a lengthy and evolving creative process. After an initial work-in-progress version, the film underwent several additional months of post-production. Editing, color grading, visual effects, and sound design were extensively reworked to achieve the final version shown in theaters.

According to the director, this extended post-production period was essential to reinforcing the film’s sensory coherence, in keeping with his original goal: to create an immersive experience rather than a conventionally structured narrative.

A Subjective and Fragmented Narrative

Across both parts of the discussion, Noé emphasizes his intention to depart from traditional storytelling models. Enter the Void is constructed around a radical subjective point of view, initially anchored in the gaze of the protagonist, then transformed into a disembodied perspective following the character’s death.

The narrative unfolds through fragments, repetitions, and memory-like sequences, reflecting the inner workings of consciousness rather than linear causality. Noé states that the spectator is not meant to observe the story from the outside, but to inhabit the character’s mental space, without the comfort of stable narrative landmarks.

Technical Choices Serving Perception

The conversation also addresses the film’s technical challenges and innovations. Noé discusses the extensive use of digital visual effects and impossible camera movements, which were required to visualize altered states of consciousness and perspectives beyond physical reality. These techniques, he stresses, were not employed for spectacle, but to serve a precise formal intention.

Filming in Tokyo is described as both an aesthetic and practical choice. The city’s dense urban landscape and artificial lighting contributed to the film’s hallucinatory visual language, while also offering a distinct production environment that aligned with the director’s ambitions.

Influences and Philosophical Themes

In the second part of the meeting, Noé elaborates on the philosophical and conceptual influences behind Enter the Void. He references the Tibetan Book of the Dead, particularly its notion of an intermediate state between life and death. The film explores the possibility of consciousness persisting after physical death, without asserting any definitive spiritual doctrine.

The director also addresses the explicit depiction of sex, birth, and death, which he views as fundamental human experiences frequently softened or avoided in mainstream cinema. Drug use, as presented in the film, is framed as a means of altering perception rather than a narrative spectacle, mirroring Noé’s broader conception of cinema as a consciousness-altering medium.



Cinema as a Physical Experience

Throughout the exchange, Gaspar Noé situates Enter the Void within a broader reflection on cinema itself. He defines his approach as one rooted in formal experimentation, prioritizing sensory impact over narrative clarity. For Noé, cinema operates as a physical experience, capable of directly affecting the viewer’s perception of time, space, and bodily sensation.

Taken together, the two-part meeting at Fnac Paris Forum provides a detailed insight into the filmmaker’s creative process and artistic philosophy, reaffirming the distinctive position of Enter the Void within contemporary cinema and within Gaspar Noé’s body of work.