MIFF 2022 Film Review - Vortex
Images courtesy of the Melbourne International Film Festival.
As a filmmaker whose career was forged in the fires of the New French Extremity movement, Gaspar Noé is a name traditionally associated with confronting depictions of nihilistic violence, nausea-inducing strobing lights and camerawork, and a healthy dose of good old-fashioned sex and narcotics. His notoriety goes to the point where walk-outs are seen as glowing recommendations, and his response to the positive reception of Climax was to make Lux Aeterna, a 51 minute film that spends its final 20 minutes actively trying to induce a seizure (though at least he made sure that medics were on standby at the Cannes world premiere). It should come with both some surprise and absolutely none at all, then, that the highly reactionary director would make his newest film, Vortex, a slow-moving and heart-aching look at an ageing couple who find themselves succumbing to the various physical and mental health issues that often come with that later period of life.
Inspired by Noé's own real-life experiences with his mother's dementia as well as a brain haemorrhage that almost killed him, Vortex takes a stark approach to its subject matter, opting for a dual camera split-screen style not unlike the one he experimented with for Lux Aeterna, with many long, seemingly single-take scenes. We're locked in with the film's subjects, Lui (in a first-time performance by Italian director Dario Argento, who learnt French for the role), and Elle (played by Françoise Lebrun, in a performance that feels startlingly real, and one I'd love to see recognised by the Academy come awards time), as they go about their mundane day-to-day activities.
The film's first 20 minutes feature virtually no dialogue at all, instead just letting us quietly interpret as one camera absent-mindedly follows Elle wandering into town and getting herself lost, while the other focuses on Lui as he bangs away on his typewriter, without even giving the audience the allowance to see what he's actually writing. It's decisions like this that ensure the film doesn't overplay its emotional core, and while that in itself will no doubt be far too challenging to recommend for most audiences, it lends itself to an extraordinarily immersive experience - one which is both gruelling and beautiful.
While definitely not a film for everyone, it's undeniably one that won't soon be forgotten to those who bear witness. Standing at the very peak of Noé's filmography with an uncharacteristically mature handling of its subject matter, Vortex is a haunting reminder of the ephemeral nature of life, and a touching ode to the memories that accumulate over the course of one.
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Vortex is screening as part of the Melbourne International Film Festival, running in cinemas August 4-21 and online August 11-28. For tickets and more info, click here.