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Irreversible

Irreversible

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Rating: 5 stars
Summary: CARNE-SEUL CONTRE TOUS-IRREVERSIBLE..
Review: If you want to appreciate Gaspar Noe's World you've got to begin with his short-movie "Carne" which is available on amazon.fr.
For me it's his best work !
I can't wait till his new motion picture.
If you want to learn more about Gaspar Noe's work , rush to this site :
http://www.boutiquesweb.com/LeTempsDetruitTout

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: We all stand alone
Review: Already director Gasper Noe has established himself as one of the more brutal and shocking directors in the film spotlight, similiar in many ways to japenese director Takashi Miike (Audition). Unlike Takashi, who's horror is more percise and articulate to give you a creepy feeling, Noe comes brutal, raw, not holding anything back. The type of visual effect that leaves you putting your hand over your mouth in shock. This is truely a violent and disturbing film.

Irreversible is more than just a shocking film with violent imagery. The film is played backwards similiar to Christopher Nolan's Memento, though it's stylishly different then it. The latter part of the film still stays very interesting even after the climax of the film which is near the beginning. This was my major concern regarding the film before I watched it, but my worry was replaced with an intriguing storyline that kept my attention. The technical part of the film was very refreshing, the shots were unique and lively. The writing was sharp and the acting was very realistic. The one aspect that Gasper Noe maintains throughout the film is it's human perspective. No matter how sensative, violent, or burtal, the film never loses it's human beauty. Even though human ugliness is not a new concept in cinema (even the greats like Kurosawa and Bergman dealt with this theme in really all their films), Noe shows us this light in a fresh and innovative view. Almost too real of a view.

If you do enjoy this film, be sure to watch Gasper Noe's previous work, "I Stand Alone."

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: Dark cinema extraordinaire, but lacking in substance...
Review: By now, "Irreversible" is building a massive reputation for being a ultraviolent film and on this feature alone it's becoming one of the most known indie films of the year.
The question whether it deserves this reputation in this respect should be answered with a thunderous yes. "Irreversible" is a film filmed backwards. It begins with a disturbing murder in an S§M club, continues with the frantic search by a small mob for the person who gets killed and proceeds with probably the most unsubtle rape scene ever recorded on celluloid.
But this french film actually has more things going for it. The camera work (far from the "dramamine" metaphors that others see) is brilliant. Photography and camera work go hand-in-hand as they build a dark doomy environ where the whole story keeps settling in geometrically. The cast is exceptionally picked as the actors come across perfectly as the everyday characters involved in a sudden nightmare.

I personally dont understand why the graphic violence annoys certain people. The violence depicted in this film is but a mere fraction compared to the real, daily violence going on in the real world, and in most cases not far (if not right in) from our own neighborhoods. The bombardment -for example- of civilians is not "annoying" because the media try hard to hide it from the public but this film is? Lets be serious.
Back to the film, i loved the way the landscape brightens as the film progresses to its end (which is of course the beginning) and as the colors open up as from a dommy eternal sunset to a colorful dawn, obviously the directors intent to emphasize contrast.

The only minus in my opinion, was that the "end" was basically an anticlimax and for this it loses in my view a couple of stars. On one hand this is understandable keeping in mind that the rest of the film is super intimidating, but nevertheless, a different idea should've been used to climax the pivot of the story. It wasnt easy but the fact that it was predictable spoils an otherwise very good film.
A disturbingly unsubtle addition to dark cinema.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: Monomaniacal.
Review: This film is a teeming, glittering, sinuous ode to rape. It prettifies it, portraying the infamous offending piece cinema in womb like reds- this is not any attempt at graphic realism. This is definately not any kind of indictment of it, as some people have (stretching an interpretation or two) stated that it is. The 2001: A Space Odyssey intertext is unfortunately trite- was it a dream? Literally undoing a crime?- puhleeze- that's not insight, no 'poetic vision'. The film itself is a myopic, it does not reveal anything 'deep' (the reverse film artifice is SOOO obvious as to seem wholly gimmicky). That is what is fascinating about it. The charge and energy of an obvious exploitation film- unapologetic. To understand (some) people's fascination with cinema of the excessive, look no further than this. Fascinating in it's absolute lack of depth and breadth.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: ...
Review: The amount of emotion raised in this movie is phenomenal. By shooting this film in reverse it grabs your attention to a BRUTAL (i can't stress that enough) scene that puts OZ to shame. For anyone who can't handle BUMFIGHTS, BAISE-MOI ect..
STAY AWAY!!! This is not for the faint of heart, the rape scence is rather prolonged so...its hard to sit through. The bizarre use of cinematography literally caused me sapz out while whatching. What attracted me to a film with such power, is the complete non-censoredness of it. To tell a story of revenge, madness and love and lust is shown graphicaly yet, effectivly. When it's done it's hard to know what to think, but stuff shown happends alot...more often than most are comfortable with.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: The movie is great, the Lions Gate DVD is really bad
Review: Irreversible is a disturbing movie, and you can compare it to Cannibal Holocaust, Last House On The Left or Salo for the way it reflects violence. But Gaspar Noé's work is very good, because he tries to make the situations very real. There are a lot of scenes that will haunt you for days, maybe for weeks and months, and the last sequence may cause you a headache.
The image of the DVD is more clear that if you see the movie in a theater, specially in the now infamous extinguisher sequence (very well filmed), when one guy's face ends like the ones of that characters in Lord Of the Rings, those monsters who ara chasing Viggo Mortensen. The cinematography, editing, acting and soundtrack are very good. I recommend the movie a lot, but only to those who are prepared for it; you can close your eyes if you want to, but if you stay till the end, you'll be satisfied. You'll see a different movie.
Unfortunately, I have to say that the work of lions Gate on this DVD is BAD, BAD, REALLY BAD. There are no additional scenes, nor the making of the special effects. I sent an e-mail asking what happened to this material and they told me that they can't answer individual e-mails. Buy the european edition, not the awful Lions Gate DVD.

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: FALSE ADVERTISING ON THE DVD BOX - Five for film
Review: Just a warning, there is no special effects segment. There are no deleted scenes, just two music videos and a teaser/trailer segemnt that don't add up to squat. On the other hand, the film itself is just jaw-dropping. It's an endurance test. It's an emotional stranglehold. It has the balance of being both repulsive and beautiful. The way the DVD is presented on screen is also unique. Five stars for the film...1 for the misrepresentation of Lion's Gate.

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: A review on the directors sick imagination!
Review: This movie has to be one of the worst and unsettling movies I have ever seen. The twisting camera gets irritating. The rape scene was very disturbing, I have to wonder what goes on inside the directors head to come up with such a brutal and sick scene. I looked at other reviews where the realism is praised, but whats next, child molestation scenes on the big screen helping us "realize how horrible rape can be". Desensitization is creeping in. On another note, what the %$#@ is wrong with the French, That night club was sick!

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Does time really ruin everything?
Review: This has got to be one of the best movies I've ever seen.

People that complain about the brutal rape scene need to wake up and face reality. The scene is not there for the sake of shock. The point that the director was trying to make is that rape is brutal and disgusting. Most hollywood movie makers do not have the guts to show horrible things in a realistic light. Perhaps after seeing this movie people will realize how horrible rape can be. Most guys just hear "rape" on the news and don't think about the violence associated with it. My wife couldn't watch the entire scene and I just fast-forwarded it. If you can't stomach it do the same.

Then there are people who complain about the camera movement in this movie which says to me they did not get the movie nor the point. Time is a central element and character of this movie. The constant motion represents time (as it never stands still). Besides the actors in this movie the director has effectively put another character of time into the movie. And the theme is that people always have to deal with time and choices and their irreversible nature. After watching this movie you will have a new way of looking at life (or perhaps re-affirm your beliefs already). Just to put things in perspective to current events - take a look at what happened to that poor Cubs fan in the playoffs. One second he is sitting at a baseball game, rooting for his favorite team, loving life, next second his whole world gets turned upside down because the ball came his way. In a split second his whole life changed because of chance, because of timing, and because of his decision.

Our actions and choices in life are irreversible - but do we really have a say in what happens to us or is it predetermined destiny? It's the old philosophical question brought to you in a chilling, sometimes disturbing, but most of all very beautiful movie.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: speaking of extras
Review: the special effects documentary does not appear on some copies of the DVD. lions heart entertainment knows this and they are taking steps to rectify this. you can either send your DVD to the company (the mail-in address can be found at the "irreversible" website) for a replacement or you can stream it / download it (from the same website). the special features description on the back of the box also make mention of deleted scenes, which were not included with my copy (either that or they're hidden very well; i'm not adept at finding easter eggs). hopefully these will be made available when i get my updated disc from lions heart. other DVD companies could adopt this practice of securing customer loyalty?

other than that, i liked the film. i regret missing it in the cinema. monica bellucci has been acting for years, don't judge her on the throwaway performance she gave in "the matrix reloaded".


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