CLIMAX MM D: Gaspar Noé. France. 96 min. Sep 9, 11:59 pm, Ryerson Sep 16, 10 pm, Scotiabank 3. See listing. Rating: NNNN
Noé’s exhilarating new film set in 1996 won top prize in the Directors’ Fortnight sidebar at Cannes, finally fulfilling the promise the impish enfant terrible of French cinema showed in his first feature, I Stand Alone.
Shot in 15 days with a troupe of Parisian dancers, Climax is 45 minutes of exuberance and technical brilliance, revealed in long, brilliantly choreographed takes, followed by a disquieting descent into hell at a party, once the LSD-spiked sangria kicks in.
From Gary Numan’s bent take on Satie’s iconic Gymnopédies to Dopplereffekt, Daft Punk, Cerrone and many more, the pre-1996 techno-heavy soundtrack supports the riveting physicality Noé marshals onscreen.
