| Irreversible | | Cast : | Monica Bellucci, Vincent Cassel, Albert Dupontel | | Director : | Gaspar Noé | | Studio : | Lions Gate Home Entertainment | | Format : | Color, Closed-captioned, Widescreen, Dolby | | Released Date : | January 01, 2002 | | DVD Released Date : | August 05, 2003 | | Language : | English (Subtitled), Spanish (Subtitled) | | Audience Rating : | Unrated | | | BUY THIS DVD FROM AMAZON |
Customer Reviews
| Rating |  | | Date | August 06, 2005 | | Summary | Leaves you in a bad place... no recommendation. | Content
 | Arthouse reviewers seem to love this movie because of it's 'unflinching', 'truthful', brutal depiction of the twin horrors of murder and rape. Well, I consider myself a kind, open-minded, relaxed person with a pretty 'alternative' lifestyle, and my big problem with this film is this:
If real-istic rape and savage murder on film is so praiseworthy, why not just film a REAL rape and murder? Wouldn't that, then, be the ultimate, the most 'praiseworthy'?
What is actually 'good' about this film, tell me? "Not only is "Irreversible" not shocking, but it also thinks you're stupid enough to think it's deep." said a previous reviewer.
The ONLY single reason this film has attracted so much attention is because of those 2 horrendous scenes. Take them away and you have a dull, unimaginative, ordinary story. Include them, and you have a dull, unimaginative story with 2 scenes which go as far as they can to be brutally 'realistic'. Yeah, so?
Tell me, who out there needs a film to tell them that, duh, 'rape and murder are horrible, evil acts'? Are they really?! Never! I'm glad they told me that!
The more I think about this film, the more I find it inhuman, vacuous, patronising and pointless. And all these people using it as an argument for protecting free speech, anti-censorship etc... How about my very important fight; against crap films?
Just because of the ultraviolence, this film's artistic merits (or lack of) are overlooked. Fundamentally, IT'S NOT A GOOD FILM, PEOPLE!
Is anyone going to watch this in 20 years time and praise it? What makes a good film? Dialogue, acting, story? Or hyper-real scenes of murder and rape? Cast your votes now...
I'm not advocating censorship, never have done, I don't take issue with the film on some 'moral' grounds, as a previous reviwer said "I'm virtually impossible to offend, but you can irritate me".
I take issue with it on 'trying-to-attract-attention-to-a-story-by-going-all-out-to-offend-and-shock' grounds.
The filmakers say 'rape and murder are commonplace, so why shouldn't they be put truthfully in a film?' Well why not just go film bodies in a morgue, or crash victims or any horror on earth, because 'death is commonplace'?
I couldn't watch the worst parts through, but if 'realistic anal rape' is your bag, be my guest!
Conclusion:
This film stays with you for all the wrong reasons. Just like i'm sure watching the Iraq beheadings would stay with you. It's like snuff masquerading as art. Rubbish. |
| Rating | | | Date | July 26, 2005 | | Summary | Shattering | Content
| This movie actually made me sob. I didn't know going in the movie was being told backwards so I admit to being a bit confused...very vertigo(ish)in the opening fifteen minutes, but after catching on I was able to follow.
Be warned...the scene where Monica Bellucci is raped is just horrible. I was unable to stomach a lot of it...then to see her beat afterwards was just...God it was awful.
This is probably one of the most tragic movie's I've ever watched. I was literally in tears at the end.
I won't lie...this is NOT a feel good movie. This isn't even a movie you'll probably ever want to watch after one viewing...that's if you can even get through it the first time, but it is an incredibly brave story staring an incredibly brave actress.
I was stunned by the sheer force of the imagery and brutality. It's foreign...and I know a lot of people shy away from the sometimes avant garde camera work in this movies...and it is a bit dizzying sometimes, but there are scenes that are just haunting.
The interaction between Marcus and Alex as they play together after sex were so tender and beautiful.
This is a movie made up of contradictions; Unmatched beauty and Undeniable violence.
Not for the squeamish. |
| Rating | | | Date | July 25, 2005 | | Summary | Twisted but good | Content
| This movie is very twisted, its not anything like the norm but it was very good! |
| Rating | | | Date | July 07, 2005 | | Summary | Disturbing and brilliant | Content
| The movie takes it's trick from Memento, a good movie that used it's reverse timeline as more visual trickery than as an integrated plotline.
Here, Gaspar Noe does a better job and the movie Irrevisible would not work nearly as well if it moved linearly in time.
The movie starts off with two men being arrested in a gay sex bar and they are accused of some unnamed horrendous crime (the bystanders are yelling at them). As the movie moves backwards, we see what that crime is and what motivated them to commit such a horrendous act. The main character is Marcus, a philandering alpha male that seems to react on forces that are thrown at him. He is unpredictable, reckless and works on emotion exclusively. His counterpart is Pierre, who is rational, more philosophical and tends to think things through. That makes him more boring and neurotic as well (A la Woody Allen), but they feed off each other well as the bloody crescendo reaches it's climax as they search for a rapist named La Tenia, who raped Alex (female) who is Marcus' lover and Pierre's ex girlfriend.
As the movie starts off, the camera angles are wild and unpredictable and could get nauseating at times. As the movie progresses (or regresses), it becomes more stable because the scenes becomes less violent, less gratuitous, more innocent. It's a good tool that is used because it makes Noe's statement of time destroying all things more relevant. This is same for the music, where in the beginning it is violent, electronic, wild and then ends up being soothing, classical.
The actors do a good job at their roles, especially Monica Bellucci who plays Alex. She has a central role, which involves a 10 minute rape scene. IT is hard to watch and must have been horrendous to film, since there is no editing involved. HOwever, the cast is not given much to work with and they are given just a few emotions to deal with (pierre is rational and idological, Marcus is dominant and irrational and Alex is the passive gf). Marcus and Alex do have good chemistry (Bellucci and Cassel are a real life couple) which makes what is to happen all that much more painful to watch.
I believe Gaspar Noe (this is the first movie of his I've seen) has great potential, as did Bryan Singer, John Woo, David Fincher before moving on bigger, but not always better things and I hope his next movie is as good as Irreverisible.
The DVD has an excellent transfer and has amazing sound. The extras are lacking though, other than a couple of trailers, a short film (boring) and two vignettes that seem like they were afterthoughts because of the lack of a "making off".
I did like how they explain the beating to death scene in the SFX section. It was the most realistic I have ever seen on film.
|
| Rating | | | Date | June 30, 2005 | | Summary | Shocking to those who are easily shocked, but overall well done | Content
| I don't know many who have heard of this film and the ones who have are only familiar with it because of the much talked about acts of extreme violence during the film's climaxes. Because these particular acts are pretty realistic and shocking to those not desensitized to unflinching film violence, many are turned off and will not sit down to view this feature. While this is understandable, and while it can be justified, it is too bad because the film is actaully pretty well made.
Having seen Christopher Nolan's 'Memento' prior to 'Irreversible', I had the assumption it would be a foreign version of a familiar plot (the credits rolled backward, some letters were reversed, etc). Then, while viewing it, I begin to notice the unique style, flair, and an intriguing swagger the film starts to show.
As in 'Memento', the film begins with its brutality in the beginning, and to see why it is happening is the key. Some of this review will give away parts of the film, so if you have yet to see it, I dont wish to spoil anything for you, so consider yourself warned.
The camera work starts off erratic, blurry, and constantly moving, like a fly trying to avoid the swatter. The color pallette is heavily saturated, most notably with a lot of red, which help create the unsettling and violent mood, and there is a significant amount of chaos. As the film progresses, the camera slows down, becomes more steady, clear, and comprehensible. The colors are still vibrant, but they are more soothing and create a peaceful, harmonious feel.
A wicked soundtrack accompanies this film. The eerie opening drone in The Rectum (the club) sounds like something David Lynch would use in his films. Like the camera work, the soundtrack starts off horrifying and uneasy, then begins its unwinding towards the end of the film, and ultimately becomes quite soothing.
While this may seem like a rehashing of such an original idea as 'Memento', there are a few notable differences that set it apart. In 'Memento' there is a narratation by Guy Pearce (great job in that film, by the way) to sort of help the viewer along to understand the story, the situation, and the justification and explaination of certain key events. 'Irreversible' offers none of that; the viewer is almost like that fly on the wall, looking in and trying to figure out what the hell is going on. This also seemingly justifies the violent scenes (I don't intend to offend anyone by saying any violence of this nature is justified, but for the film's purposes...). As brutal as the opening murder is, after watching the rape, if that was my girlfriend, I would probably have the same spontaneous, uncontrollable lust for revenge.
Another thing I find interesting is the very end, when Alex is in her sun dress with her hand on her seemingly pregnant belly, and the scene shifts to the blue sky, orchestra, and relaxation on the beautiful green hill. Then the pretty sky fades into a static-like pulse that brings upon the conclusion of the film. Is it a dream? Is this entire film a dream? It would be nice if it is.
After thinking about it some more, though, I am leaning towards it is Alex as she succumbes to her injuries, since she is found in a coma. Maybe it is Alex fighting for survival, as she holds on to the peaceful feeling in order to keep her life. Maybe it is her last vision before dying, her life as it flashes before her eyes, maybe her intrepretation of heaven, maybe her entrance into heaven. I am not certain, but it's something to think about.
As in the title of this review, this film is overall a well made picture once (and if) you can get past the shock value. Enjoy being the fly on the wall, because you will never ever forget that you are one of the people to have watched 'Irreversible'.
I will most likely check out 'I Stand Alone', although I heard it is not quite as good. And I love how pedestrians are about as useless as they are ignorant.
Thank you for your time. |
|
|
|
|
