Gaspar Noé (Spanish: born December 27, 1963) is an Argentine filmmaker based in Paris, France.
He is the son of Argentine painter, writer, and intellectual Luis Felipe Noé.
He has directed 7 feature films: I Stand Alone (1998), Irréversible (2002), Enter the Void (2009), Love (2015), Climax (2018), Lux Æterna (2019), and Vortex (2021).
Noé was born in Buenos Aires, Argentina. His father Luis Felipe Noé is of Spanish, Italian, and French-Basque descent while his mother, Nora Murphy is of Irish and Spanish descent. He has a sister named Paula.
He lived in New York City for one year as a child. His family emigrated to France in 1976, to avoid the tense, dangerous political situation in Argentina at the time.
Noé graduated from Louis Lumière College in France.
His work has been associated with the cinéma du corps/cinema of the body, which according to Tim Palmer share an attenuated use of narrative, assaulting and illegible cinematography, confrontational subject material, treatment of sexual behavior as violent rather than mutually intimate, and pervasive sense of social nihilism or despair.
Noé often breaks the fourth wall by directly addressing the audience through confronting, and strobing, typography that aims to “disrupt and disturb” the viewer, similar to the typographical methods of Jean-Luc Godard.
Three of his films feature the character of nameless butcher played by Philippe Nahon: Carne, I Stand Alone and in a cameo Irréversible.
The films of Kubrick are source of inspiration for Noé, and he occasionally makes references to them in his own works. Noé stated in the September 2012 edition of Sight & Sound magazine that seeing 2001: A Space Odyssey at the age of 7 changed his life, without this experience he would never have become director.
Noé also cites the 1983 Austrian serial killer film, Angst, by Gerald Kargl, as a major influence.
He is married to filmmaker Lucile Hadžihalilović.
Although his professional career and residence are in France, he does not have French citizenship.
In 2013, Noé shot the cover art for American singer-songwriter Sky Ferreira’s debut album Night Time, My Time.
Regarding most of his films, which were polarizing or controversial due to heavily portrayal of graphic violence and sexual content, Noé stated jokingly: “I must be doing something wrong. I have to take long holiday and rethink my career.”
Noé suffered near fatal brain hemorrhage in early 2020, which partly inspired the plot of his film Vortex.
Filmography
1998 I Stand Alone Yes Yes Yes Yes
2002 Irréversible Yes Yes No Yes
2009 Enter the Void Yes Yes No Yes
2015 Love Yes Yes Yes Yes
2018 Climax Yes Yes No Yes
2019 Lux Æterna Yes Yes Yes No
2021 Vortex Yes Yes No No
Short films
Tintarella di luna (1985)
Pulpe amère (1987)
Carne (1991)
Une expérience d’hypnose télévisuelle (1995)
Sodomites (1998)
We Fuck Alone (1998) segment of Destricted
Intoxication (2002)
Eva (2005)
SIDA (2008) segment of 8
Ritual (2012) segment of 7 Days in Havana
Shoot (2014) segment of Short Plays
Music videos
Animal Collective – “Applesauce”
Arielle – “Je Suis si Mince”
Bone Fiction – “Insanely Cheerful”
Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds – “We No Who U R”
Placebo – “Protège-Moi”
SebastiAn – “Love in Motion”
Thomas Bangalter – “Outrage” and “Stress” (both from the Irréversible soundtrack)
SebastiAn – “Thirst”
Other production credits
Year Title Credit
1985 El exilio de Gardel (Tangos) Assistant Director
1988 Sur
1996 La Bouche de Jean-Pierre Cinematographer
1998 Good Boys Use Condoms Camera Operator