Gasper Noe's Enter The Void has been announced today as a late confirmation to the New Zealand International Film Festival.
The film is Noe's hallucinogenic follow-up to the critically acclaimed, highly controversial Irreversible.
It will be playing one session only at Auckland’s Civic theatre as part of the Incredibly Strange programme.
"The film has the potential to alienate and polarise many of the audience,” says Incredibly Strange's Ant Timpson.
“I suspect many heated discussions exploding as the curtain comes down. Some will be seeking revenge for it being programmed, while others will be heralding the work as a new form of cinema. Whatever happens, cinephiles will be arguing about it for some time to come".
Manohla Dargis of The New York Times had this to say about the controversial film: "What largely distinguishes it, beyond the stunning cinematography, is that this is the work of an artist who’s trying to show us something we haven’t seen before, even while he liberally samples images and ideas from Stanley Kubrick and the entirety of American avant-garde cinema.
“The grungy milieu and calculated shocks might have been designed to make you flee - even while your attention is tethered to the camera - but, really, these aren’t the point. The point is the filmmaking."
Patrons are warned that the film may cause some disorientation and are advised not to take any mind-altering substances before arrival.
The director has stated that the film itself is an intoxicant and therefore any additional substances may affect the viewers immersion into the world of The Void.
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