I really loved Gaspar Noe’s Climax, a movie I watched on NYE 2018 and clicked with me more than Noe’s previous provocations like Irreversible or Enter The Void. His most recent production is a short art film, Lux Aeterna (2019), was produced by fashion line Saint Laurent, which exists I guess as corporate synergy to show off clothes but also works as Noe’s version of Day For Night, a movie about moviemaking complete with interstitial quotes from classic art-house directors. Beginning with the theme of witches and cinematic depictions of witches, and using the historical and mythical figure as a metaphor for actors and directors being “burned” at the stake, it opens with a split-screen focus on a conversation between Beatrice Dalle (acting as the director of a witch movie) and Charlotte Gainsbourg (who is starring in Dalle’s directorial debut). I would loved a full two hour movie of just Dalle and Gainsbourg shooting the shit, their careers and personalities making for a nice contrasting energy. The rest of the movie delves into the chaos of production with make-up, producers, cinematographers, extras, critics and hangers-on all adding to the building stress of making something, naturally escalating to a very Noe-climax of intense flashing strobe lights that intends to make your eyeballs explode. Using actors from previous productions like Love and Climax as well as featuring models Abbey Lee Kershaw and Mica Argañaraz, Lux Aeterna is intentionally pretentious and arty, but I also found it compelling, funny and strange. Again, I could have gone for a full Tristram Shandy style movie in Noe’s aesthetic. Available to stream on Stan. Recommended.
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