Gaspar Noé (Spanish: [gasˈpaɾ noˈe]; French: [ɡaspaʁ nɔ.e]; born 27 December 1963) is an Argentine filmmaker, who lives and worked primarily in France.[1] He is one of the primary exponents of New French Extremity, with his most notable works including the feature films I Stand Alone (1998), Irréversible (2002), Enter the Void (2009), Love (2015), Climax (2018), Lux Æterna (2019), and Vortex (2021).
Gaspar Noé | |
|---|---|
.jpg) Noé in 2021 | |
| Born | 27 December 1963 Buenos Aires, Argentina |
| Citizenship |
|
| Alma mater | École nationale supérieure Louis-Lumière (1982) |
| Occupations |
|
| Years active | 1985–present |
| Style | |
| Father | Luis Felipe Noé |
Noé's father is artist and writer Luis Felipe Noé.
Early life and education
editNoé was born on 27 December 1963 in Buenos Aires, Argentina.[2] His father Luis Felipe Noé, is a notable Argentine artist, writer, and intellectual.[3] His father is of Italian descent, while his mother Nora Murphy is of Irish descent.[4] He has a sister named Paula.[5] He lived in New York City until age five,[4] after which point his family returned to Argentina.[6] In 1976, they emigrated to France to escape the military dictatorship occurring in Argentina at the time.
Noé graduated from École nationale supérieure Louis-Lumière in France in 1982.[7] His first feature filmmaking credits were as an assistant director to Argentine filmmaker Fernando Solanas on Tangos, the Exile of Gardel (1986) and Sur (1988).
Artistry
editHis work has been strongly associated with a collection of films often described as new extreme films. Highlighting their challenging sexual and violent bodily imagery, Tim Palmer has described them as part of a cinéma du corps (cinema of the body), and a cinema of 'brutal intimacy' because of its attenuated use of narrative, generally assaulting and often illegible cinematography, confrontational subject material, a treatment of sexual behavior as violent rather than mutually intimate, and a pervasive sense of social nihilism or despair.[8]
Noé often directly addresses the audience in confrontational ways, most notably in I Stand Alone, when an intertitle warns the audience that they have 30 seconds to leave the cinema before the final violent climax. In a different way, this can be seen in Irreversible, in which the 10-minute long single-take rape sequence has frequently been read as an assault on viewers, as well as a depiction of an assault on the female character.
Collaborations
editGaspar Noé and Lucile Hadžihalilović have repeatedly collaborated with each other on film projects. In the early 1990s, Noé co-founded the production company Les Cinémas de la Zone with Hadžihalilović.[9] Noé operated the camera and was the cinematographer for two short films directed by Hadžihalilović: La Bouche de Jean-Pierre (1996) and Good Boys Use Condoms (1998). Similarly, Hadžihalilović produced and edited Carne (1991), edited Seul contre tous (1998) and was credited as a writer on Enter the Void (2009). The creative collaboration is made clear in the comparable stylistic choices across these early films, most clearly the credit sequences and the marketing designs. In 2025, Noé will appear in Hadžihalilović's fourth feature film, The Ice Tower.[10]
Three of his films feature the character of a nameless butcher played by Philippe Nahon: Carne, I Stand Alone and, in a cameo, Irréversible.
All of Noé's feature films are shot by cinematographer Benoît Debie.[11]
The music for Irréversible was composed by Thomas Bangalter. The latter also sent Gaspar Noé a unreleased song he made circa 1995 for Climax. The song was named Sangria in reference to the movie.
In collaboration with Saint Laurent, he directed films Lux Æterna and Saint Laurent - Summer of ‘21.[12][13]
Style and influences
editNoé stated in the September 2012 edition of Sight & Sound magazine that seeing 2001: A Space Odyssey at the age of seven changed his life, without which experience he would never have become a director.[14] A poster for the film features notably in a scene towards the end of Irreversible.
Many of his movies feature all kind of film posters, which reflects his collection and passion for them. He's believed to be the owner of one of the three known copies of the rarest poster for M (1931 film).[15] Since Irréversible, he's kept working with French film poster designer Laurent Lufroy for all his feature films: Lufroy even appears in Love (as a policeman), Climax (as a dog-handler) and Lux Æterna (using a torch).
Noé also cites the 1983 Austrian serial killer film, Angst, by Gerald Kargl, as a major influence.[16]
Personal life
editHe is the business partner of filmmaker Lucile Hadžihalilović.[17]
Noé is a dual national of Argentina and Italy, having obtained an Italian passport through lineage, though he does not consider himself Italian.[6][18] "I have never lived in Italy, I don't speak Italian," he said in an interview. "If I hadn't had an Italian passport to travel all over the world, I would have applied for a French one."[6]
Noé suffered a near fatal brain hemorrhage in early 2020, which partly inspired the plot of his film Vortex.[19]
Filmography
editFeature films
edit| Year | Title | Director | Writer | Producer | Editor | Other notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1998 | I Stand Alone | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | |
| 2002 | Irréversible | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | Also co-cinematographer with Benoît Debie |
| 2009 | Enter the Void | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | |
| 2015 | Love | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | |
| 2018 | Climax | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | |
| 2019 | Lux Æterna | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | |
| 2021 | Vortex | Yes | Yes | No | No |
Short films
edit- Tintarella di luna (1984)
- Pulpe amère (1987)
- Carne (1991)
- Une expérience d'hypnose télévisuelle (1995)
- Sodomites (1998)
- Intoxication (1998)
- Eva (2005)
- We Fuck Alone (2006) segment of Destricted
- SIDA (2008) segment of 8
- Ritual (2012) segment of 7 Days in Havana
- Shoot (2014) segment of Short Plays
- The Art of Filmmaking (2020)
- Saint Laurent - Summer of '21 (2020)
Music videos
edit- Animal Collective - "Applesauce"
- Arielle – "Je Suis si Mince"
- Bone Fiction – "Insanely Cheerful"
- Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds – "We No Who U R"
- Placebo – "Protège-Moi"
- SebastiAn – "Love in Motion"
- SebastiAn – "Thirst"
- Thomas Bangalter – "Outrage" and "Stress" (both from the Irréversible soundtrack)
- Travis Scott – "Modern Jam" (Segment of Circus Maximus)
Other production credits
edit| Year | Title | Credit |
|---|---|---|
| 1985 | Tangos, the Exile of Gardel | Assistant Director |
| 1988 | Sur | |
| 1996 | La Bouche de Jean-Pierre | Cinematographer |
| 1998 | Good Boys Use Condoms | Camera Operator |
| 2016 | The End | Trailer Editor[20] |
Acting roles
edit| Year | Title | Role | Director | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1984 | Tintarella di Luna | A teenager from the village. | Himself | Short film, made while at Louis Lumiere College |
| 1985 | Tangos, the Exile of Gardel | Maria's boyfriend. | Fernando Solanas | Short appearance, he doesn't talk in the movie. He was also the Assistant Director. |
| 1995 | Cinématon n°1749 | Himself | Gérard Courant | |
| 1996 | Le Rocher d'Acapulco | Sandrine's brother | Laurent Tuel | Gaspar Noé doesn't appear on-screen but his voice is used in a phone call scene. |
| 1996 | Je suis ton Châtiment | The homeless | Guillaume Bréaud | Shortfilm made for Canal+. Starring Denis Podalydès in the leading role, Albert Dupontel, Marc Caro and original soundtrack by John Powell[21] |
| 1997 | Dobermann | Kebab seller | Jan Kounen | |
| 2002 | Irréversible | A client from the club | Himself | |
| 2009 | Enter the Void | Alex | Himself | Alex is a character played by Cyril Roy. But in a nightmare scene, there is a brief moment during which Gaspar Noé is dressed up as Cyril Roy's character. |
| 2013 | 9 Month Stretch | A prisoner | Albert Dupontel | Cameo alongside Jan Kounen. |
| 2015 | Love | Noé, the Gallery Owner | Himself | Credited as Aron Pages, which is an anagram of his own name. |
| 2020 | Mon Cousin | A patient | Jan Kounen | Cameo alongside Albert Dupontel. |
| 2022 | Three in the Drift of the Creative Act | Himself | Fernando Solanas | Posthumous documentary in which director Fernando Solanas, Luis Felipe Noé, both of their sons (respectively Juan Solanas and Gaspar Noé) and Eduardo Pavlovsky discuss about creating arts.[22] |
| 2023 | Dario Argento Panico | Himself | Simone Scafidi | Documentary film |
| 2024 | Schirkoa: In Lies We Trust | - | Ishan Shuklan | This feature film is the longer version of Indian shortfilm Schirkoa. Gaspar Noé was announced in the cast in 2021.[22] |
| 2024 | Dans la peau de Blanche Houellebecq | Gaspar, the director | Guillaume Nicloux | |
| 2025 | The Ice Tower | TBA | Lucile Hadžihalilović | [23] |
Photography
editBesides being a filmmaker, he is an occasional photographer. In 2013, Noé shot the cover art for American singer-songwriter Sky Ferreira's debut album Night Time, My Time. Other celebrities, such as Agnès b., Todd Solondz or Stacy Martin were shot by Gaspar Noé, as well as several models for erotic magazines.[24]
Reception
editMany of Noé's films were polarizing or controversial with viewers due to their inclusion of graphic scenes of violence and sexual violence. I Stand Alone, Irreversible, Enter the Void, We Fuck Alone, Love and Climax were all considered controversial for their challenging sexual and violent imagery.
Irreversible
editIrreversible was hugely divisive amongst critics with journals such as Sight and Sound (UK) and Positif (France) allowing critics to openly voice their disagreements about the film.[25][26][27] It caused substantial outrage in many countries for its central scene of rape, filmed in a single take and lasting nearly ten minutes in total, with some critics comparing it to pornography because of its length and the use of a static camera,[28][29] as well as considering the film as a whole to be deeply homophobic for its hellish portrayal of a gay S&M club.[30] On the other hand, it was also frequently praised for its brutal portrayal of the horrors of rape, and its implicit challenge to viewers of the scene. Eugenie Brinkema, for instance, describes Irreversible as "ethically, generically, subjectively" disruptive: "the rape [...] is real, it is private, it is contained – it is insufferably present. [...] it interrogates vehicles of receptivity and the power and violence done to bodies by bodies".[31]
Awards and nominations
edit| Year | Award | Category | Title | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1991 | Avignon Film Festival | Prix Tournage | Carne | Won |
| Cannes Film Festival | SACD Award | Won | ||
| 1992 | Fantasporto | Best Film | Nominated | |
| 1994 | Yubari International Fantastic Film Festival | Minami Toshiko Award / Critic's Award | Won[32] | |
| 1998 | Cannes Film Festival | Mercedes-Benz Award | I Stand Alone | Won |
| Namur International Festival of French-Speaking Film | Golden Bayard | Nominated | ||
| Molodist International Film Festival | Best Full-Length Fiction Film | Nominated | ||
| Sitges Film Festival | Best Film | Nominated | ||
| Sarajevo Film Festival | FIPRESCI Prize | Won | ||
| Sitges Film Festival | Best Screenplay | Won | ||
| Stockholm Film Festival | Bronze Horse | Nominated | ||
| 1999 | Buenos Aires International Festival of Independent Cinema | Best Film | Nominated | |
| 2001 | Boston Underground Film Festival | Best of Festival | Won | |
| 2002 | Cannes Film Festival | Palme d'Or | Irréversible | Nominated |
| Stockholm Film Festival | Bronze Horse | Won | ||
| 2004 | Bodil Awards | Best Non-American Film | Nominated | |
| 2009 | Cannes Film Festival | Palme d'Or | Enter the Void | Nominated |
| Sitges Film Festival | Special Prize of the Jury | Won | ||
| Best Film | Nominated | |||
| 2015 | Cannes Film Festival | Queer Palm | Love | Nominated |
| Camerimage | Best 3D Film | Love | Won | |
| 2018 | Cannes Film Festival | Art Cinema Award | Climax | Won |
| Sitges Film Festival | Best Film | Won | ||
| 2022 | Dublin International Film Festival | Best Film | Vortex | Won |
| San Sebastián International Film Festival | Zabaltegi-Tabakalera Prize | Won | ||
| Ghent International Film Festival | Grand Prix for Best Film | Won | ||
| International Istanbul Film Festival | Golden Tulip for Best Film / FIPRESCI Prize | Won |
References
edit- ^ Leigh, Danny (13 November 2015). "Interview: Gaspar Noé". Financial Times. Archived from the original on 11 December 2022. Retrieved 20 November 2021.
We are in Paris, where he has lived since his teens, in a café near his flat in a scuffed corner of the 10th arrondissement.
- ^ Schneider, Steven Jay, ed. (2007). 501 Movie Directors. London: Cassell Illustrated. p. 616. ISBN 9781844035731. OCLC 1347156402.
- ^ PremiereFR (7 May 2010). "Enter the Void : Gaspar Noé réagit aux critiques" (Video upload). Youtube. Google, Inc. Archived from the original on 21 December 2021. Retrieved 26 July 2012.
- ^ a b Nesselson, Lisa (20 January 1999). "Gaspar Noé". Variety. Retrieved 23 May 2023.
- ^ Mouriquand, David (25 November 2015). "Gaspar Noé: love polarises". The Berliner. Retrieved 28 June 2024.
I put in names in Love that were linked to my life: my mother's maiden name is Murphy, like the lead character; the girl Murphy fucks in the toilet is called Paula and that's my sister's name.
- ^ a b c Trinh-Thi, Coralie (7 March 2016). "Tout contre Gaspar Noé". Wyylde (in French). Archived from the original on 11 March 2016.
- ^ Palmer, Tim (2015). Irreversible. London; New York, NY: Palgrave. p. 15. ISBN 978-0-230-33697-1.
- ^ Palmer, Tim (2011). Brutal Intimacy: Analyzing Contemporary French Cinema, Wesleyan University Press, Middleton CT. ISBN 0-8195-6827-9.
- ^ https://medias.unifrance.org/medias/217/179/242649/presse/earwig-dossier-de-presse-anglais.pdf [bare URL PDF]
- ^ "The Ice Tower". Goodfellas. 4 June 2024.
- ^ Afcinema (17 November 2024). "Cinematographer Benoît Debie, SBC, talks about his work on "Climax", by Gaspar Noé". Afcinema (in French). Retrieved 17 November 2024.
- ^ Debruge, Peter (4 May 2022). "'Lux Æterna' Review: Gaspar Noé Takes Audiences on a Witchy, Twitchy Backstage Tour". Variety. Retrieved 16 January 2023.
- ^ "Saint Laurent's "Summer of '21" Feels the Love". Vanity Fair. 30 December 2020. Retrieved 16 January 2023.
- ^ "The 2012 Sight & Sound Directors' Top Ten". Sight & Sound: 69. September 2012. unknown ID 9-770037-480090. Archived from the original on 11 August 2012. Retrieved 12 August 2012.
- ^ Weston, Hillary (18 November 2015). "Gaspar Noé's Movie Mania". The Criterion Collection. Retrieved 6 February 2024.
- ^ "Gasper Noe - Part 3". Vice. 13 October 2010. Archived from the original on 10 October 2014. Retrieved 28 June 2017.
- ^ "The Auteurs: Gaspar Noé". Cinema Axis. 29 August 2015. Retrieved 5 February 2017.
- ^ Leigh, Danny (13 November 2015). "Interview: Gaspar Noé". Financial Times. Archived from the original on 11 December 2022. Retrieved 20 November 2021.
Noé still doesn't have a French passport but after his parents fled the Argentine junta when he was 13, he finds real meaning in his adopted country's free speech
- ^ Zigler, Brianna (27 September 2021). "Vortex is an Absorbing, Despairing Portrait of Aging". Paste. Retrieved 20 December 2021.
- ^ "Nicloux's The End teaser edited by Noé is available". www.letempsdetruittout.net. 13 March 2021. Retrieved 6 February 2024.
- ^ "When Gaspar Noé starred in a slasher movie..." en.letempsdetruittout.net. 25 November 2021. Retrieved 6 February 2024.
- ^ a b festivaldecannes (26 May 2022). "Tres en la deriva del acto creativo (Three in the Drift of the Creative Act): philosophizing about the creative process". Festival de Cannes. Retrieved 6 February 2024.
- ^ "The Ice Tower". Goodfellas. 4 June 2024.
- ^ Veille, Alexis. "Photography". Le Temps Détruit Tout. Retrieved 6 February 2024.
- ^ Kermode, Mark; James, Nick (2003). "Horror Movie". Sight and Sound. 13 (2): 20–22.
- ^ Rouyer, Philippe (2002). ""Irréversible": Bonheur perdu". Positif: 497–498.
- ^ Valens, Grégory (2002). "Irréversible: Irresponsible". Positif: 497–498.
- ^ Paris, Barry (11 April 2003). "'Irreversible' gives new meaning to sick and repulsive". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. p. 18. Retrieved 20 June 2018.
- ^ Felperin, Leslie (2003). "Reviews: Irreversible". Sight and Sound. 13 (3): 46–48.
- ^ Edelstein, David (2003). "Irreversible Errors: Gaspar Noé's Cinematic Rape". Slate Movies. Retrieved 21 January 2023.
- ^ Brinkema, Eugenie (2004). "Irréversible: A review". Scope.
- ^ "YUBARI INTERNATIONAL FANTASTIC ADVENTURE FILM FESTIVAL'94". yubarifanta.com. Archived from the original on 18 July 2011. Retrieved 19 September 2009.
Sources
edit- Frey, Mattias. (2016). Extreme Cinema: The Transgressive Rhetoric of Today’s Art Film Culture. Rutgers University Press.
- Horeck, Tanya, & Kendall, Tina. (Eds.). (2011). The New Extremism in Cinema: From France to Europe. Edinburgh University Press.
- Palmer, Tim. (2011). Brutal intimacy: Analyzing Contemporary French cinema. Wesleyan University Press.
- Palmer, Tim. (2015). Irreversible. Palgrave Macmillan.
- Russell, Dominique. (Ed.). (2010). Rape in Art Cinema. Continuum.
External links
edit
- Gaspar Noé at IMDb
- Le Temps Détruit Tout : Unofficial & International website about Gaspar Noé
- Interview with Gaspar Noé about 'Enter the Void' Part 1 (Spanish)
- Interview with Gaspar Noé about 'Enter the Void' Part 2 (Spanish)
- 2014 Bomb Magazine discussion between Matthew Barney & Gaspar Noé Archived 15 June 2015 at the Wayback Machine
