With his latest feature, Vortex, Gaspar Noé returns to the unusual subject material that marked his earlier works. An elderly couple struggles to go about their daily lives in Paris. The husband, a movie director (played by famed Italian director Dario Argento), tries to focus on writing a new book, but his wife (Françoise Lebrun), who suffers from dementia, needs constant care. Their son (Alex Lutz), who is addicted to drugs, offers little help. Gaspar Noé is an unrivaled stylist. He juxtaposes two screens to illustrate the overlapped lives of the couple, and the questions the film asks of the couple are in line with the format. Lebrun was the star of numerous French Nouvelle Vague films, including Jean Eustache′s The Mother and the Whore (1973). Argento is the director of such international cult favorites as Deep Red (Profondo Rosso) (1975) and Suspiria (1977). (Mann KIM)