Irreversible

Rating:
Summary: Thought-provoking and powerful!!! A must-see!!!!
Review: "Irreversible" is a graphic and violent film that intentionally leaves nothing to the imagination,including watching a man's face disintegrate as it is bashed in with a fire extinguisher, and a very intense nine-minute, single shot rape scene (with one of France's top actresses).

"Irreversible" is definitely a serious piece of film making. It is raw, emotional, powerful, and shocking. The use of flashbacks is sequential - we see the 'end' scene first, then the scene that led up to it, then the scene that led up to that, and so on. It is full of disturbing images and innovative camera techniques. It can be described as a journey from hell to heaven. We start in reverse by seeing--at the beginning of the film--terrible scenes that are the conclusion of events we have yet to witness in flashback, slowly moving us from nightmare to bliss.

The first 'nightmare' scene is in a gay sex club somewhere in France. The soundtrack has a steady note that reverberates insistently like an audio depiction of a throbbing headache. The camera, hand held, thrashes wildly around in the dimly red-lit areas, catching up with and following the two men out for revenge. It slows somewhat to focus on the apparent object of their anger. The initial attack is thwarted, but the second of the two men takes over and pummels the victims head to a pulp - and we see the face and head disintegrate under blows as it is mercilessly bashed with a fire extinguisher. It is a scene that is very hard to take, but it makes sense, and is definitely
justified, as the almost nonexistant plot unfolds. Halfway through the scene, I realized I couldn't take it anymore, and had to turn away. No matter how hard I shut my eyes and shifted in my seat, the pulsing soundtrack of the beating blared out of the speakers, making it just as uncomfortable with my eyes closed. Terrifying and disgusting just doesn't cut it, the effect is indescribable.

Next we follow the attackers before they reach the nightclub. We learn that they are hunting the perpetrator of a violent rape on the girlfriend of one of them. The film is still not easy to watch, but the jerkiness of the camera slows enough to allow us the indulgence of following some sort of plot. The anger of the two men as they try to trace their intended victim is still uncomfortable viewing.

Next we see the rape scene. This time the camera is motionless. The movement and struggle of the victim - for nine long minutes -becomes paramount. Monica Belluci is a brilliant actress
because she conveys the pain and anguish this character is going through, making us feel for her. It all seems a bit too real and is definitely one of the most disturbing scenes in motion picture
history, becoming a bit much to take. Things become even more emotional as we see this woman's life BEFORE the rape took place. We look at how perfect everything had been, and how happy she was. It definitely packs a punch, and the reverse order of the sequences make it all the more disturbing and emotionally powerful. Belluci is masterful at the emotions she conveys. This woman is definitely someone you could know, and that alone makes the film more moving.

"Irreversible" is hard to take and easy to quarrel with, but it is also a brillint and amazing film. When a movie lingers in your mind until you go to bed, and is the first thing you think about in themorning, you KNOW it has made an impact. Bravo to Gaspar Noe for giving us this shocking and absorbing piece of film. Notorious for being one of the most walked out of movies of this year, "Irreverisible" is definitely worth sticking with. It takes some time for the initial shock to wear off, but once it does, you realize what a great movie it actually was, and is much cause for a conversation (with cigarettes) right afterward. The title could mean two things--the order in which the film takes place or the tragic event that will haunt our characters forever, which are both irreversible. Here is a film that actually makes you think. Wonderful on all levels. See it now!!!

Rating:
Summary: Beyond cinema
Review: The camera is alive throughout the film. Its frantic, dizzying, floating movements will either hypnotize you, force you to vomit or question what the hell you're actually looking at on screen (I'm with the latter). Eventually, in a couple of scenes, the camera sobers up, only to present us images that will totally horrify and repel us.

The most infamous scenes, as everybody knows, are a rape and the beating of a man with a fire extinguisher. These scenes are violent in a way that Hollywood violence is not. And even though there are "good" characters defeating a "bad" character in the film, we are not cheering in the same way that we root for the action hero to destroy the villain.

Hollywood presents violence of an "attractive" sort. We don't cover our eyes while watching somebody get shot, beaten, or blown up. The realistic consequences are absent. Yet, in IRREVERSIBLE, one of the friends of a raped woman vengefully bashes the face of the rapist with a fire extinguisher until he is literally faceless. We, the audience, are terrified by this. We want the character to stop, rather than continue.

The following sequence involves a rape, that is uncut and (reportedly) seven or nine minutes long. The genius of the sequence lies in the performance by Monica Bellucci. Her terror is executed to shockingly realistic effect (as is the case with every other performance in the film). But why did Gasper Noe, the director, shoot such a scene for so long?

People ask a similar querie as to why filmmaker Larry Clark depicts young adult actors in the nude. Well, I think it's because he's brave enough to actually make films about sex and depict it in a "realistic" light (otherwise, why write a film about sexuality at all?). And that's what Gasper Noe is trying to do with this film, only he has made a film about the negative results of violence; unwatchable and totally graphic.

But this is a film. Film is fictional. Yet the whole point of going to the movies is to disregard the fact that what's on screen has been staged. And to watch IRREVERSIBLE is to see something that is beyond cinema, yet obviously very cinematic ( i.e. the ever mobile camera).

Will I see this film again? Probably not. Am I glad that I saw it in a theater? Yes; the film is an aural and visual experience a la REQUIEM FOR A DREAM.

However, the violence and acting is so amazingly realistic, that I just might return to it (not soon) to admire that aspect of it.

Rating:
Summary: one star because I can't give zero
Review: A piece of dung in an artistic package is still a piece of dung. This was the most SICKENING work of cinema I've ever seen. Unless you find enjoyment in watching a rape scene in which a man forces violent anal sex on a weeping woman at knife-point, I urge you to steer clear of this one. I'm not talking a slit-second visual flash to let you know what's happening ala Pulp Fiction, but several excrutiating minutes (felt like an eternity) of uninterrupted, graphic rape followed by beating - great, guys. An afficionado of foreign and art films (even 'tastefully violent' ones), I went to see this movie without knowing the nausea I was in store for. Don't make the mistake I did - stay away.

Rating:
Summary: Mainstream Snuff Film (sort of)
Review: Mainstream Snuff Film (sort of)
This film left me shaken and very confused. I work in the film business and after watching the film I was suddenly very worried about the direction of "entertainment" in general. I've seen violence in film before. This is different. Just because I'm deeply distressed by the intensity of the images, does it make this a "good" film? Will we be seeing more of this, simply because it's effective? (I suspect so - it's the modus operandi of visual media).

Irreversible gives us the dubious opportunity to feel what it might be like to see a man murdered savagely and graphically in front of us. The atmosphere created just prior to this extreme moment is choreographed to be as unsettlingly realistic and unpredictable as possible. It's like watching a real moment, bled of any sense of artifice.

Thanks to Jean-Christophe Spadaccini (who created the heads which are destroyed,) and to Mac Guff Ligne (the Paris based fx house which augmented the effects digitally) we are witness to all the horror that one might expect to see in a snuff film. Without the intensity of the violence, the film serves as a sophomoric, manipulative revenge drama. Sophmoric because, without time reversed, we have a film about a sexy girl with a complex life who we get to see graphically raped, and then follow the more dynamic storyline of the attempt by boyfriends to find and kill the rapist. Unlike Haneke's "Funny Games", there is no insight behind the audacity.

The rape scene, the other aspect of this film's notoriety, is far less troubling than the earlier(subsequent) murder. There is no voyeurism at play here and there is thankfully (a little) more restraint in depiction. However, the fact that the film cares more about the interests of macho rage and its more aggressive possibilities than what women endure from rape is problematic. More so since the beginning of the story (the end of the film) is all about her, at least as a visual/sexual archetype. It's seems like once she's battered to a pulp she's no longer visually useful to the real story.

The philosophy behind it is troubling, too, for several reasons. Nietzsche has often been trotted out by intellectuals in France (particularly during the period that Mr. Noe was in high school). Morally untethered power as a challenge to established authority and as an effective social critique seems to underly his published justification for making this film.

However, in real terms, Gaspar Noe is on record as wanting to make a Hollywood Porn Film - "Irreversible" is what he ended up making.

...

Rating:
Summary: The road to hell is irreversible
Review: For the majority of people "Irreversible" will probably be remembered as the film with the 9min. rape scene involving Monica Bellucci. Still, if you belong to that category, you may actually be missing the point.

Ok, it is a shockingly violent film at times. Also it is true that some extreme reactions of the characters may, at first, seem irrelevant. But as the story keeps unwinding in a reverse manner, rightfully reminding us of "Memento", the pieces fall in the right places and everything seems logical. Cruel but logical.

"Irreversible" tells a story of revenge or as its director, Gaspar Noe, put it in an interview, "it depicts how people act when they find themselves in extreme situations". And you don't have to wait long, before you can realize that. The real challenge for the viewer lies in the film's opening minutes, in a sequence which, in my opinion, beats even the rape scene itself. The camera is in constant motion - moving up and down, left and right, the light is almost non-existent, while the music, loud and sharp, hurts the ears. You can sense in the atmosphere that something is very wrong. And soon, bang, you'll get your chance to see that you were not mistaken.

If that is not hell, then it should be darn close.

Rating:
Summary: REVENGE IN REVERSE
Review: Told in reverse chronological order, IRREVERSIBLE follows two men through the streets of France in an effort to seek revenge on the man who had brutally raped and beaten their dear friend and lover, Alex. There is no mistake that this film is both clever and violent. Moving from extreme depravity to bittersweet serenity, this film is likely to affect the viewer long after they have left the theatre. I cringed and wiggled in my seat during the scenes of extreme violence, but the nine-minute rape scene particularly affected me. Being a woman this scene touched on one of my ultimate fears of being sodomised and beat into a coma. Nothing is left to the viewer's imagination; everything is put on the wide screen to digest regardless of the audience's wishes. I believe IRREVERSIBLE is a highly original film that speaks volumes to the limits one would go to correct a wrong. There's lots of substance in this film and is worth a second viewing if only I could fast-forward through the violence. Definately not for those with a weak stomach or delicate senses. I believe if one is able to sit through the gore, they will walk away with a renewed sense of humanity.

Rating:
Summary: Could have had more substance
Review: The filming, although made most people nauscious, was pretty well done. The violence was well done, and acting very natural. I can't say I would add this to my collection, because I don't think I would want to watch the rape scene again. Mr Noe, did a great job by making a disgusting film and I know that he intended it to be like that. So congrats. The rape scene had to be that long, since they were trying to be natural. I liked, the sweethereafter of the film, towards the end, when the main characters are interacting and they don't know what's coming. But we do. That's the saddest.

Rating:
Summary: wow
Review: I am a huge Vincent Cassel fan, and have been since I saw him in "La Heine" several years back. I decided to check out "Irreversible," though I heard it was intensely violent and at times gruesome, only because I think Cassel is one of the best actors out there. I can only say that this was the most stunning film I have ever seen. Not only did I bawl throughout several of the scenes, but I was gripping at my sides, closing my eyes, etc, etc. I saw the movie about a week ago, and even now there are images from the film flashing in my head. The movie is incredibly violent. A couple of people have said that some of the violence looks fake, but to me, it is the most realistic violence I have seen in any film. I was amazed and simulteanously disgusted. "Irrevesible" is the kind of movie that I thought was horribly devestating and wonderfully good at the same time. It really had a lasting effect on me. What is impressive about the movie is it's realism. The majority of the movie is completely improvised, it is shot in real lighting. These realistic aspects make it more devestating. The acting was amazing. I am always impressed by Vincent Cassel, and he just keeps doing wonderfully. Best film I have seen in awhile.

Rating:
Summary: i threw a beer can at a coffee cup
Review: there's lots of laughs and this is a good film for the whole family.it makes people fall in love all over again and re marry each other in the aisles and it brings you joy to know that people are putting great family films out like this everyday now cause in the past they didn't do nothin but support filth and violent dirt trash.this film is finally something you can watch with the wife and not be afraid to pass gas afterwards because she loves you and the film loves children and wants us all to be the best in our lives until we die from everything we eat.but gaspar noe blew my children away with this little gem.he made them want to live again and since i saw it i've become a filmmaker who makes family movies.

Rating:
Summary: Unforgettable, good or bad
Review: First of all, I love this movie and want to recommend that people see it preferably at the theater.
This is one of the most uneasy, nerve-wracking and disgusting films Ifve ever seen.
Scenes go like this;
Vacant chat between 2 men -> Arrested man in front of eRectalf -> Injured man to an ambulance -> Desperate search for the raper -> Happy incidents before the assault -> Disgusting assault in a pedestrian tunnel -> Brutal manslaughter in eRectalf -> Literal message from the director Gasper Noe
I feel this film is about the relationship between LOVE and TIME. A must-see art.