The last time we saw you, you were in the middle of fundraising to complete the budget for Enter the Void, which you estimated at 10 million euros. A daunting sum?

"Actually, if you add in the producers' profit-sharing salaries and other overhead costs, it comes to 13 million. Things started moving when BUF, the special effects company, decided to become a co-producer. The film was made possible thanks to the goodwill of people who felt a bit like they were in a casino. Whether it was Wild Bunch, Fidélité Production, or BUF, there was a desire to create something truly unique, not necessarily thinking about return on investment, but rather about the return on investment. I don't know the commercial future of Enter the Void, but when I made Irreversible, I just thought I was making a cult film for midnight screenings, and in fact, it went global and became very mainstream in terms of distribution. Today, many people have seen it; one out of every two taxi drivers mentions it to me… To the point that when I go to a police station to file a report for a stolen cell phone or lost documents, every cop has something to say about it!" Similarly, abroad, I've often discussed it with a waiter in some dive bar. So, we can't predict what the future holds for Enter the Void. Any teenager who's smoked joints or eaten mushrooms is likely to be interested, and that's quite a lot of people, really! When I was 18 and went to see The Outer Limits and later Videodrome, I could have been just as drawn to this hallucinogenic experience." GN

You think Enter the Void is aimed at teenagers, but it will be banned for those under 16!

"The teenagers who saw it don't understand this ban. I would have preferred a ban for those under 12. There's nothing very shocking about it." GN

Seven years between the two screenings at Cannes is a long time.

"They tell you yes, then it's no… The life of a director is mostly about knowing how to keep busy while you wait for answers. I was offered many projects that weren't my own idea, commissioned films… Producers offered to buy the rights to a book of my choice… But I'm stubborn and had become fixated on making Enter the Void above all else. I can say now that at 45 I made the film I wanted to see when I was 20-25, and it's also a way of being true to my past." GN

Did you use this period to write different versions?

"The first draft of the script was a short film, then it became a medium-length film… There was a version where the story took place in a small village in the Andes Mountains, then I thought it would be interesting to set it in an anonymous city in France. And Paris. Then a more modern city. Then I went to New York because I loved the atmosphere in the 70s, but it had become a bourgeois city without the wildness that reigned there then. Since I've been to Japan many times in recent years, it became obvious, and I had to adapt the script with foreigners, knowing that I ultimately wanted to make it in English. I also kept some things. For example, the nightclub manager is named Mario even though he's Japanese! I was told that the police brutality couldn't actually happen because the police there don't carry guns, but that comes from an earlier version where it was possible. Given the result, I'm not disappointed "I'm glad I chose Tokyo. Last week I was in Hong Kong and if I had to go back today, I'd still choose Tokyo but I'd add some shots of skyscrapers because, architecturally speaking, Hong Kong is even more mind-blowing; you feel like you're in a gigantic virtual world from a video game." GN

When you make a film about death, do you bring your own beliefs into it? Do you believe in reincarnation?

"(Laughs) Thank God, no. I came from my father's balls and my mother's womb. I think religions invented an afterlife or future lives to relieve people of the fear of dying without having done anything with their lives. We have a pretty short life, it goes by so fast. Some people have children, others read books… For me, life is a bubble blowing on emptiness. There's emptiness inside and outside, and you feel like you're looking at the walls of your life. When the bubble bursts, life no longer exists. The mysteries are in life, not in non-life. There's life and then nothing. But I read The Tibetan Book of the Dead, quite a few books on astral projection, and then you make an amalgamation where you mix different things, especially since at the time, I was taking mushrooms or joints. Always in safe conditions, never like a psychonaut who puts himself in the "I had some really bad experiences with acid. I never considered myself a drug-addling adventurer. But I took enough to want to capture what I was experiencing in film, and even though my issues have changed since then, I've managed it. I talk more and more often about making an erotic film because that's where my current obsessions lie; it will be more in line with who I am today." GN

What is your religious background?

"I'm an atheist. My parents ate communion wafers when they were kids but discouraged me from doing the same. It's strange because when you have an atheist upbringing, there's always a moment when you want to believe in higher dimensions. Around 15, I remember wanting to study comparative religions, but it doesn't exist. And then I turned to cinema! All it takes is smoking a joint or getting drunk on vodka for your perception of reality to be different. Reality is what your senses perceive." GN

To what extent has the Tibetan Book of the Dead guided you?

"There's a faithful connection to its structure from the moment Oscar's mind begins to wander after his death. The film unfolds in three parts. The first is real, from a subjective point of view. The second is a flashback where he relives his life as if in a magic mirror. And then there's the third, astral. It's the most ethereal and the one where, narratively, the stakes are least clear. It's a choice I made before shooting, but if I could do another edit, I'd make it even more psychedelic, with less dialogue, and all the flashbacks would be more disjointed. It would be a complementary version to watch after the theatrical release, an alternative cut for those who have already seen the film. There was something similar in the DVD of Michel Gondry's *The Science of Sleep*. In a film laboratory, Gondry is very inventive; he's practically an invention machine. At one time, people went to see Godard because he held that position." "The guy who's always making things up." GN

Were you tempted to be influenced by the reviews at Cannes, particularly regarding the film's length?

"I heard it all. I was even told not to change ANYTHING! It's true that the abundance of visual effects can strain the eyes, especially because of the flashing lights, and the soundtrack isn't exactly relaxing. Add to that the fact that the soul is lost and adrift, and the film can seem longer than it actually is. I figured that since you're making a film about a trip, you have to include some bad trips too, like in real life. I keep coming back to the joint or the mushroom, but how many times have I wanted to break the effect by eating sugar or taking a shower… I wanted the viewer to feel the same thing, without overdoing it. I tried shortening some long takes, but I wasn't entirely convinced. Avatar was only 2 hours and 40 minutes long to be shown in IMAX, but it will be released in a longer version. I wasn't bored for a single second watching Avatar." And I'm delighted to see the whole thing one day. I haven't had that problem." GN

Did you like Avatar?

"I have some reservations about the subtitles floating in the middle of the 3D, but otherwise I loved it and I even cried when they blow up the sacred tree. It's a real attempt at creating a grand spectacle, and James Cameron succeeded. Every film is aimed at a certain age, and I would have loved to see it even more at 12. More so than Star Wars, which never really resonated with me." GN

Looking back, wouldn't you have preferred to present Enter the Void this year at Cannes?

"It's true that I was exhausted on set, I looked like a zombie. But it's an offer you can't refuse. It gave a huge boost to the visual effects and editing; we worked like crazy as soon as we learned of the selection, and the number of active teams tripled. We were on our knees for the next two months, but we kept going even though all I dreamed of was a vacation. I haven't had one in four years, by the way." GN

When you're making a film like Enter the Void, aren't you tempted, like Oliver Stone was with Natural Born Killers, to take some hallucinogenic substances?

"Making a film takes so much energy that, as far as I'm concerned, it's not feasible, and all my experiences in that area are in the past. I haven't even smoked a joint since I've been working on Enter the Void. I used to smoke a lot when I was a teenager, but it ended up making me paranoid, so I stopped. I remembered those experiences well enough to do without them, and besides, you have to know that these psychotropic drugs have a nasty side effect. For every day of effect, you have three days of comedown… If you're trying to be productive, it wrecks you too much, especially as you get older. I've switched more and more to vodka. With ginger juice, preferably." GN

The French release, scheduled for May 5th, will be on around twenty copies. That's not many!

"Exhibitors aren't exactly chasing after a film rated 16+ that lasts over 2 hours and 30 minutes, but frankly, I prefer a few full theaters to many half-empty ones." GN

You said earlier that you wanted to make an erotic film. But let's call a spade a spade. Erotic or pornographic?

"Let's call a dick a dick and a pussy a pussy. And a movie where people make love, a movie where people make love."

(speechless)

Let's say that if I want to show people loving each other, I prefer it to be real rather than them pretending. That's just an intention for now; I don't see myself going into pre-production for another six months. Enter the Void is released today in France, and in the US, England, and other countries in September, so I'll probably be doing promotion all summer. After that, I'll need to recharge a bit. I'll need to have some existential experiences that have nothing to do with making a film. I'll probably start a new project at the end of the year." GN

I read that you also have a 3D horror film project?

"No… And as soon as you throw out an idea, everyone now wants it to be in 3D, but I'm not completely sold on it yet. The other day, I was in the Czech Republic and I saw a small Panasonic 3D TV that you watch with glasses. It works, but you don't get much depth; you always feel like you're in a small puppet theater. For me, it's compressed 3D. Avatar in IMAX works because the screen is giant, but 3D lacks the infinity. Tomorrow, 3D TVs will flood the market, and there's already a huge demand for programs. For example, for the erotic film I'd like to make, I've already been told I'd get more money if I made it in 3D. My final choice will depend on the lightness of the camera setup because I'll need a certain level of intimacy. After a big budget and large crews like those on Enter the Void, I think I'd rather find myself in a more intimate setting." "like that of ' I Stand Alone, where I can play with time without financial pressure." GN

One last word about Eyes Wide Shut because an interview with you where we don't mention a Kubrick film is pretty lame. Legend has it that you offered Irreversible to Cassel and Bellucci, saying something like, "Do you want to make the film that Cruise and Kidman missed out on?" Fact or fiction?

"It's a press invention. Eyes Wide Shut isn't my favorite Kubrick film, but to call it a failure is a step I certainly wouldn't take. I just think he probably wasn't very interested in sex; it wasn't his area of ​​expertise. Eyes Wide Shut isn't the 2001 of the sex world!" GN

By the way, between a César and a Hot d'Or, which would you prefer?

"A Hot d'Or! (Laughs) You shouldn't take yourself too seriously, look at Verhoeven when he went to collect his Razzie for Showgirls, he did the right thing. The Césars aren't my thing… On the other hand, I think a prize at Cannes would touch me." GN

I bet he'll get it one day?

Interview by Didier Verdurand | April 2010.

https://www.ecranlarge.com/films/interview/901520-gaspar-noe-enter-the-void