Rating: 
Summary: THIS FILM IS FOR MEN ONLY.
Review: "Seul Contre Tous" is like a French "Natural Born Killers". I recommend it to men only because everyone else who does not fit in this category, women, homosexuals will likely to be offended by this film. It's not the violence (it's less violent than "Bad Boys" or any other American commercial movie that exploits violence and makes it look like fun) that "offends" most people who've seen this film -- is it's attitude.
The ones who know how to appreciate art, like Scorsese's Taxi Driver they're the ones who may like "Seul Contre Tous". It's not really a masterpiece but it's still a great achievement from Gaspar Noe, the same guy who made "Irreversible", the controversial rape & revenge film told in reverse starring Monica Bellucci and Vincent Cassel.
Rating:
Summary: A warm fuzzy flick? Noe way! A cinematic kick in the teeth!
Review: "The tragedy of a jobless butcher struggling to survive in the bowels of his nation" says the script at the beginning of Gaspar Noe's I STAND ALONE.
The movie is the tale of a horsemeat butcher, the son of a French Communist & solo parent to a mute daughter; with whom he has an incestuous relationship. The first five minutes of the film has him telling his background & history.(The majority of the film is told as a first person narrative, with little actual spoken dialogue.) He is unable to get a steady job as a butcher because the simple act of smiling and being friendly to cusomters is next to impossible to him, so he winds up sitting around watching TV all day. His home life is lousy: he lives with his elderly mother & his wife, who miscarries after he kicks her in the stomach (presumably) because of his fear of them producing another disabled child. To escape from this cesspool which makes Robert Crumb's home life look like the stuff of cookies -&- milk style 50's suburbia , he goes to a sleazy hotel- where he always rents the same room: a room that holds special memories for him. The room in which his daughter was conceived.
And it is in this room where life REALLY starts for him. On this day, January 3, 1980 The Butcher makes the decision to start his life over again. He has with him a gun, and three bullets. And sets off on an odyssey of vengeance against those who have looked down on him and made his meager existance all the more miserable. Three bullets. Three deaths. How will he make the right decision?
Noe slowly but surely builds the tension until your heart is pounding in your throat & the blood is pounding in your temples.
Noe also does a "William Castle" &, as a prelude to the film's ultra-violent climax viewers are given 30 seconds to leave the theatre; only this is no gimmick. The ending even had my stomach in knots. Naturally this wil anger the SPCS. IT'S JUST A MOVIE!
Sometimes to put across a message of MORALITY you must show IMMORALITY, to convey an ANTI-VIOLENCE message then violence of the most graphic and disturbing nature must be portrayed. And that is exactly what Noe has done here. I STAND ALONE is certainly not for the faint-hearted. Noe is indisputably a master film maker. He has crafted a technically briliant film which is powerful, literate and compelling. Highly recommended. I hope IRREVERSIBLE comes to Dunedin soon. I'm really keen to see it now. As for David Lane, he really needs to find something more productive to do. The SPCS must be shut down once and for all.
Rating: 
Summary: Missing "Meat"
Review: By rating this DVD a three out of five, I do not mean to indicate that my opinion of the film is negative in any way. "I Stand Alone" is a tremendously bleak, yet excellent portrait of Gaspar Noe's "butcher" character, a man filled with believable (because it is fairly mundane) inner torment that drives him to increasing levels of rage, violence, and socially unacceptable behavior. The film can draw parallels to "troubled lead character" movies such as "Taxi Driver," "In a Glass Cage," and "A Clockwork Orange," but "I Stand Alone" revels in realistic situations that feel as if they would be easy to fall into. Far better than "Man Bites Dog," and so far beyond anything involving Quentin Tarantino, this film is grim, but somehow not humorless, as Noe "lightens" the tone with jarring edits, sound blasts, and a very funny warning when things are about to reach a climax. The loss of one (or maybe even two) star(s) is due to the decision to leave Noe's 1991 short film "Carne" (the precursor to this film) off of the DVD. Overall, Strand Releasing did a poor job with this package, offering no "extras" whatsoever. Fans of writer Michel Houellebecq should look into this film as it portrays a more "working class" rendition of that author's inhuman viewpoint.
Rating:
Summary: I Stand Alone....indeed you do...
Review: Gapar Noe is a great filmmaker. He is actually my new favorite Director and
I look forward to seeing anything he touches upon seeing
Irreversible (which completely blew me away). It seems at first that his main focus is to
take the things we have not yet endured in film and make us numb to it all.
Noe is technically sound and writes an a decent screenplay here
(particularly the dialogue). Subtitles aside, if you speak English or
French, the dialogue takes you deep into the mind of the film's
"protagonist" (a character we briefly encounter in Irreversible as well).Let's dissect the word protagonist for a moment. It can mean the principal
figure or it can mean the leader of some kind of cause. Noe uses his
protagonist for the former and destroys any positive connotation the word
may have held at any point. Michael Corleone (The Godfather) and William
Munney (The Unforgiven) are examples of villains directors are sympathetic
toward, but there we find reason for their downward plunge, whether it be
selfishness or simply the ever-relative feelings of retribution. These
classic films pose some intriguing questions. Does real evil exist and
assuming it does why should we care about what it thinks? or worse yet
how we may actually see ourselves in their errors? Why can't we just put
them in films and let their actions speak for themselves and let their
consequences carry the audience toward a satisfying feeling of payback or
resolution? This story is about an old man released from jail and attempting to live his
life plagued with guilt and hopelessness. He is a sad, indirectly sorry,
unrealistic and profoundly disturbed character. He is mislead and careless
to everything around him. The kind of person we want to ignore completely
and not know anything about. The kind of person whose motivations when
taken into account entirely, make many of us cringe and want to warehouse
him and others of his ilk in the demonic subculture of the American
"Correctional" Facilities. But Noe takes a different approach completely.
He not only engages this character but he refuses to sympathize, he just
shows us what makes him tick. The film serves as a sort of diary for this
character and shows us little in way of hope. He shows us a man who
rationalizes ever single dark thought and action he completes regardless of
the fact that they are all so impulsive, primal and damaging to everything
and everyone around him. What Noe seems to understand is that the world is not always black or white,
good or evil but sometimes evil and more evil, black and even darker. So
here we can attempt to understand why a man would have a difficult decision
to make between rape or murder, no matter how scary this proposition may sound. If you dare to take
yourself into this character's mind then you may begin to realize that
sympathy for anyone with even the potential to be like this is probably
pointless, but your opinions are your own observations. Keep in mind that Noe is not an advocate for his dark characters, he is
really just a host. There are no messages in his film beyond how ugly life
is in some circles. I'm not sure he means to say that life is as pointless
as it seems here and in Irreversible. The film is definitely not for
everyone; in fact chances are you will hate it very much but if you make
similar observations that I have made after watching a movie than please go
right ahead but be careful. The film does contain some extreme violence and
a brief pornographic sequence, so be wary of these elements as well.
Rating: 
Summary: One of my favorite movies
Review: I really love Gasper Noe's two films. They have simple messages and convey them simply, and beautifully. One would have to be blind not to see how talented this guy is. And he really is. There are already plenty of synopses in the other reviews, so I won't repeat the story here. I do want to say that this is not a film that is ugly for ugliness' sake. It is a movie about a man from certain social stratum trying, and failing, to deal with faliure. He is filled with hatred, for himself and for everyone else. The most interesting thing is, as I listened to him spew his bile, I couldn't help but nod my head now and then. The Butcher has moments of insight, and you can tell that Noe empathizes with his character, because he proves him right again and again. I even found myself forgiving our protagonist's racism and homophobia - because it was so obviously misdirected anger. He is brimming over with anger and self-hatred and, I'll admit it, I felt very sorry for the poor [illegitimate]. I only spent so much time on my half-assed analysis because I feel that Noe's films are misunderstood. They are nihilistic, but so what? They both honestly explore some aspects of the human experience that most humans don't want to think about. And I think they are fascinating. Irreversible is a better film, but this one is my favorite. Noe is a genius.
Rating:
Summary: One of my favorite movies
Review: I really love Gasper Noe's two films. They have simple messages and convey them simply, and beautifully. One would have to be blind not to see how talented this guy is. And he really is. There are already plenty of synopses in the other reviews, so I won't repeat the story here. I do want to say that this is not a film that is ugly for ugliness' sake. It is a movie about a man from certain social stratum trying, and failing, to deal with faliure. He is filled with hatred, for himself and for everyone else. The most interesting thing is, as I listened to him spew his bile, I couldn't help but nod my head now and then. The Butcher has moments of insight, and you can tell that Noe empathizes with his character, because he proves him right again and again. I even found myself forgiving our protagonist's racism and homophobia - because it was so obviously misdirected anger. He is brimming over with anger and self-hatred and, I'll admit it, I felt very sorry for the poor [illegitimate]. I only spent so much time on my half-assed analysis because I feel that Noe's films are misunderstood. They are nihilistic, but so what? They both honestly explore some aspects of the human experience that most humans don't want to think about. And I think they are fascinating. Irreversible is a better film, but this one is my favorite. Noe is a genius.
Rating: 
Summary: director trying to shock the audience to attract attention
Review: It looks like the movie director's goal to shock the audience no matter what. And he sucseeds, by showing the scenes which are guarnteed to disturb most people. If you don't count the effect of these disturbing scenes, the movie does not have much to talk about. The plot(it there is one) lacks integrity, the ending is out of sync with the rest of the movie and in general the scenes in the movie are not developing very well.
Good movies have food for thought or are at least entertaining, but this one does not any of these qualities. It's not entertaining and once the movie is over, you can pretty much forget about it.
If you take out the shocking schenes then the movie would have nothing to attract the audience.
So, if you like to be shocked(exercise your nervious system) go ahead and see this movie, if not - skip it.
PS One might assume that I don't like the movie because I am easily offended by the shocking scenes, that's not true. I have no problem watching the movie that shocks, as long as it has something to teach me, has something that I can thing about later... this one DOES NOT!!!
Rating:
Summary: whata F***?
Review: one of the best movies and french new wave films ever.also recomand to see
MAN BITES DOG.
Rating:
Summary: SEUL CONTRE TOUS aka ALONE AGAINST ALL.
Review: the DVD is indeed very poor, no trailers, no short films from the director are available. on the other hand, the transfer is exellent!... "SEUL CONTRE TOUS",(i stand alone) was directed by GASPAR NOÉ... the story takes place in france in 1980. it is the story of a jobless butcher struggling to survive in the bowels of his nation. the butcher (played by french actor philippe nahon) only wants one thing:"to escape the dark tunnel of his existence". unfortunatly for him; his life is gonna hit the bottom,plagued by misfortune,betrayal,sadness..etc.. 70% of the film takes place inside his mind,the voice over is sometimes even more frightening than anything else. needless to say,do not watch this movie if you have suicide tendencies. the cinematography is really exellent.(the film was shot with a super 16mm anamorphic camera), the acting is impressive, it sometimes feels as if you're watching a documentary. the film contains pornography,disturbing violence... the ending is also extreme.., I wont spoil the rest, but "I STAND ALONE" is a must!...a masterpiece. ps:the short film entitled:"CARNE" (also directed by gaspar in 1991) is the first part of "i stand alone" it is 45mins long and is equally good!.."carne also marked gaspar noe's debut in the cinema industry. -philippe nahon can also be seen in "le pacte des loups" aka BROTHERHOOD OF THE WOLVES..."la haine" aka THE HATE...and "les rivieres pourpres" aka THE CRIMSON RIVERS. memorable lines from the butcher: -"your mother. you love her as long as she gives you milk. & your father when he lends you money. but when her breats are all dried up. or when your father's pockets are empty. the best thing to do is lock them up. and let them die before they cost you too much. that's how it goes. the law of life.children pretend to be nice only when there's an inheritance."...
Rating:
Summary: A film that blew my mind.
Review: This is a director (Gaspar Noe) that can deliver a film with out being a hypocrite. He is a man that tells it as it is with out holding anything back. Some people might say this isn't art, this is simply an excuse to show explicit content to an audience to find ones amusement. I say please go back to your fantasy world. ...
I find it hard to believe that anyone can look over the beauty this film has to offer. The cinematography is some of the most beautiful I have ever seen and the way everything is shown to us makes me shiver with delight. Deffinately a film for any major movie fan. Noe, I hope you keep it up, I'll be cheering you on the whole way. And don't worry, the world isn't completely filled with ignorant hypocrites. You have the ... to tell it as it is.
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