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Climax (2019)

Climax
I'm so happy. I couldn't be happier.
—Selva
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After seeing Gaspar Noé’s 2009 film Enter the Void, director David Fincher had high praise for its title sequence, created by Paris-based designer Tom Kan. He called it “a jackhammer to the middle of your forehead.” Flowing from that same impulse (and after the flop that was 2015’s Love) comes Climax, Noé’s most recent offering to the New French Extremity genre. The film follows a troupe of dancers as they rehearse a stunningly choreographed routine and then celebrate, drinking sangria that, we soon learn, contains a dangerous hallucinogen. 

Where Enter the Void took viewers inside the body, Climax penetrates the darkest, shrieking corners of the mind. It’s a visually intense and sonically vibrant film, the sort that plunges you into fresh hell and gets under your skin. Its pulsing, 3D title sequence, again designed by Kan, appears more than 40 minutes in and features enormous typography, driving electronic beats, and bright punches of iconography. And similar to Brady Corbet's 2019 film Vox Lux, the main title card is shifted to the end of the film and the dense crawl of credits to the start.

IMAGE: Climax Title Card

Climax main title card, which appears at the end of the film

Kan describes Noé as “among those creators who advance the progress of their field by considering the title sequence as its own whole.” Doing so gives the film a stronger foothold in the memories of viewers, delivering a graphic wallop for the ages. Ten years after the jackhammer, it’s a joy to behold.

Climax credits crawl, which appears near the beginning of the film

  • Credits

Director: Gaspar Noé
Editor: Denis Bedlow
Editor Assistant: Julien Soudet
Colour Grading: Marc Boucrot
Sound Designer: Ken Yasumoto
Title Designer: Tom Kan

Music: "What To Do" by Thomas Bangalter

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Title sequence

  • Title Designer

    Tom Kan
  • Category

    Film
  • Styles

    2010s, live action, main title, type over scene, typographic
Climax
  • Film Director

    Gasper Noé
  • Release Date

    March 1, 2019
  • Aspect Ratio

    2.35:1
  • Studios

    Wild Bunch, Rectangle Productions
  • Country

    France
  • Languages

    French, English
  • Reviews

    Reviews on Letterboxd
  • IMDb has full details

Article

  • Writer

    Lola Landekic
  • Published

    December 27, 2019

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