Irreversible

Rating:
Summary: Behold, Gaspar Noe!
Review: Unquestionably the biggest breath of fresh air for me in the year 2003 was Noe's second unnerving, inspiring and overall pessimistic film. Here, I would argue, he has painted a masterpiece.

The movie counts backwards from one tragedy and to another as we see what caused the first inexplicable and horrific sequence to occur and then each and every scene before that. It is intense, entertaining, shocking and edgy as hell. Films like this push the bar far enough and are done with just enough mainstream appeal and pure talent that they gain some steam and attention and permanantly transform how we view, enjoy and create cinema. This film is about as ugly as you can get but doesn't seem to wallow in any of it's violence or nudity to the point where it could be deemed gratuitous. It's easy for some to turn away and say this is junk for showing you things you do not want to see (i.e. realistic Rape and Murder) but it is still important to allow total freedom of expression and Noe's work, whether intentionally or not makes him an advocate for such expression. He is also technically as strong as anyone in Hollywood.

You'll get your money's worth here despite it's grainy and cheap feel. The film is done that way to make the scenes more raw and believable obviously. The beginning murder sequence is handled so delicately (as evident by the special effects overview on the DVD) that it makes me shiver as to why a filmmaker would got to this extent to show us something this horrible. Well it all makes sense in perspective, trust me. Gaspar Noe is a true artist and Irreversible is a great film that I will recommend to anyone willing to handle it's content.

Rating:
Summary: graphic violence and lost innocence
Review: THere are few films that actually make me sick to my stomach, and this is one of them. The violence is so graphic - there is one scene where you can count how many teeth a man loses as his head is slowly bashed in - that I simply had to fast forward it OFTEN. Really, it made me heave, near vomiting. Then, there is the horror at the center of the plot, the fate of a beautiful and happy young woman. Now there was a time in my youth when I would have relished my "reaction," feeling that such a film made me "experience" a new reality, etc. All the artistic longings - often nonsense in retrospect - of the inexperienced. Well, I am afraid that life has made me no longer want to see such things. I have had friends who suffered similar things and there is nothing to learn from it and no value is bringing it to the screen in my opinion. However, it does make the film controversial - look at the range of reviews here!

Because of the odd way that the film is edited, I am not revealing the plot here. Indeed, with the camera waving around in an attempt at avant garde technique, it added to my nausea. Nonetheless, the acting is very very good. Moreover, there are philosophical points throughout the whole thing and they are not totally pretentious, but add to the portrayal of life and love in the film. The chemistry between the actors is totally believable, as is the changes in personality.

Am I a bourgeois philistine for saying that it was simply awful to watch? Perhaps, but maybe I have just outgrown this kind of art thing. I think you can get deep philosophy and thoughtfulness without such total horror.

Not recommended.

Rating:
Summary: Shockingly Powerful
Review: -SPOILERS-

'Irreversible' is a totally unique film experience. It may not be totally enjoyable due to its content, yet a must see for any film enthusiast.Director/writer Gaspar Noe delivers this mind-bending, harrowing film in total reverse sequence. Thus we are given a view of the conclusion at the film's very start. It is immediately known that the principal characters (Vincent Cassel and Albert Dupontel) are engaged on a vicious search for an individual who has committed an extreme act against them. Whether directly or indirectly, we sit eyes affixed to the screen eager to know what has transpired. As the film unfolds, we view the principals in a wild dash around Paris to find this mystery individual. Stopping at nothing, these two characters will clearly not be denied and are willing to assault and harrass anyone who might hold the key. Eventually, we bear witness to an extremely unpleasant and repulsive rape scene of Cassel's girlfriend played by the lovely Monica Bellucci. This scene lasts at least 10 minutes and we now understand the reason for this vengence. The remainder of the film provides the set-up for this awful scene and allows the viewer to gain an understanding of these incredibly complex characters. This is a triumphant achievement for Mr.Noe. He is clearly a man with vision and one who knows no boundaries in terms of what to put on the screen. A big thumbs up to Thomas Bangalter of DAFT PUNK for putting together a musical score that flows so well with the story. This film will not appeal to everyone. If your idea of film is the latest Julia Roberts flick, steer clear of this movie.

9/10

Rating:
Summary: Fiercely done but so what.
Review: IRREVERSIBLE for such title of an unconventional thriller literally means one is impossible to undo but to regret for what happened. But to look closer behind all due respects of the reverse scenes arrangement, the making of IRREVERSIBLE falls under that genre of cinematography which has totally no mercy to spare any brutal details of human violence as extreme as to vividly disclose all sorts of mankind sexual fetishes in its explicitness. Artistically or notoriously, that's up to anyone to say.

Outstanding, incredible performance though by the curvaceous Italian screen goddess Monica Bellucci (MALENA, BROTHERHOOD OF THE WOLF), and a multi foreign festival awards winning film by the fiercely intelligent French director Gaspar Noe. This film is seen mostly set upon nightime out-takes, from a rundown living hall with glimmering light across or the glittering posh interior of a eatery lounge, the downtown neon streets, inside the pedestrian underground tunnel or the subway train, to that somewhat bizarre hole on earth i.e. a sleazy S&M club. All these afterdark urban substances add a strong atmosphere to the film's brooding background that will leave you highly strung right from the start.

Run a play in one of those sleepless late night before your long couch and pour yourself, or/and your loved one, a good chilling drink. I gave 4 SOLID stars to this one no matter what they say.

Rating:
Summary: Raw and disturbing
Review: I have heard about this movie for about a year and half before it opened in Australia and was eagerly anticipating to see it. The night before I watched it, I had a dream that Monica was lying half naked on a couch. She looked blissfully asleep but I knew that she was hurt on the inside. Damaged by someone. So, it was hard to see this beautiful actress playing the rape victim compared to her other roles where she was always the seductress. It has been five days now and that 10 minute rape scene still haunts me. Rape, whether it lasts 10 seconds or 10 minutes is excruciating for everyone and for an actress to portray the victim, she deserves ultimate respect. When I watched Ireversible, I did think that it has been overrated. But it slowly occurred to me that Noe's depiction of life's dark side with its most disgusting and brutal effects is to leave a permanent stain and people who have experienced this can never erase the memory. Directed in reverse Memento style, it is like looking into someone's mind who has been traumatised and thinking if only everything could be turned back to a more happier beginning. If only Marcus had left with Alex at the party so that she never had to use the under passage. Or if Marcus and Pierre had not hunted down and killed the wrong man for Alex's rape. And then it also shows that when tragedies happen, damages are done and they can not be fixed but eventually time will erase them. There are elements of this movie that will haunt every viewer. The very bleak, shaking and thumping opening scenes leaves either a lot or nothing to the imagination and it is this open interpretation that makes this movie so attached to people's mind long after it has ended. The comparison of Marcus' womanising and childish behaviour is about as bad as the rapist, it is an emotional abuse that is followed by physical and psychological abuse. Pierre's merciless violent killing defies his earlier pacifist behaviour. It must be said that everyone, Cassel, Dupontel, Prestia and especially Bellucci had tough roles that they semi improvised and they were gut wrenching decisions to make from the moment they chose to be in this movie. Many would prefer not to see Irreversible (again) to hide away from life's tragedies but to see it again would definitely remind us that life is also beautiful and that there are certainly things and people that we should not take for granted and do whatever we can to protect and hold onto them for as long as we can because eventually time will erase them as well.

Rating:
Summary: irreversible damage
Review: perhaps one of the most shocking films i've seen in the past year or so, i'm having a difficult time placing a star rating on this review but let me give you some facts if nothing else. for starters, monica belluci is one of the most beautiful in the actress in the business & i hated watching her gruesome rape scene(even though this isn't the most graphic scene in the film) this montage alone was perhaps the most scary rape scene since baise moi or i spit on your grave. having said this, i can respect the artistry of the film & the terrific performances but i couldn't bring myself to watch it more than once. gaspar noe has a style here similiar to nolan's memento(although a little less confusing i believe) which is cool but certain scenes here tend to drag including the senseless acts of hatred & violence. irreversible opens up with a naked old man sitting on a bed telling us how time manages to literally destroy everything & we should already be forewarned that nothing good could possibly happen throughout the course of 90 odd minutes. he then tells a younger gentleman how his young daughter was taken away from him after he sexually molested her. yuck! in the next scene, we see two young men searching all over an s&m gay club to find some man & we have no understanding as to the urgency of finding this mysterious character. needless to say, you learn more information about each character or event with each montage. in essence, each montage shows us more detail as to what has transpired & what will lead up to the violent chain of events which are shown in the second scene. i should make a point that watching a man's arm broken by another man & then seeing a man's face literally crushed is a bit excessive for an artsy film so this may disturb many viewers. as i stated earlier, the rape scene isn't the only harrowing or intense scene in irreversible. there isn't really a whole lot i can gather from this film except that the terrible things we do to one another often are permanent & humans by nature are barbaric in ways we can't possibly imagine. definately not a feel good film by any means & most viewers will perhaps be subject to much nausea after watching but i still tend to believe irreversible will have a grand cult following for some strange reason. i give it 4 stars out of a possible 5 for great acting, nausea inducing camera-work, & a decent film-making style. the dialogue is an honorable mention but most people will probably only view this film for one obvious reason. they will want to see if this film is as shocking & truly repulsive as so many have stated before me. if you loved memento or baise moi, probability suggests you will probably want to see this one too. it's hard to believe though that you can actually purchase this in a store like best buy. wait a second, best buy also sold a faces of death box set so i'm not too surprised after all.

Rating:
Summary: Art or Exploitation repackaged ?????
Review: At first let me say that even if u are a gorehound and think that u have seen the "nasties out there", this film will still hit u like a hammer. In fact it will take some time to get over the face crushing scene, which is indeed irreversibly traumatic for the viewer. The official homepage of Irreversible offers a clip about the making of the gore effect which can help to take some impact out of that shocking moment. Yet it still hit u hard as it goes deep into the subconsciousness of human fear, fear of mutilation and disfigurement. Also the rape scene should be mandatory viewing for men who play down domestic violence against women. It hurts to realize that there are men who do such incredibly cruel things to women.

Yet Gaspar Noe has produced another movie that goes with a new trend in Euro cinema that I consider questionable. He does have a point though, the fact that the whole story is told backwards leaves u with a bad feling as u know that the beautiful Monica Bellucci we see at the end of the film will end up molested and brutally battered. Life is hell and men are beasts. Bottom line of the film. It shows the effect of vigilancy and how the vicious circle of violence drags everyone deeper and deeper into destruction. Yet the "New Euro Cinema" still does not offer what it lacked for so many years, GOOD STORIES. Hollywood on the one hand has fallen into the trash can of commercialized nonsense and loveless self promotion. Yet the Euro front, especially French cinema obviously feels that the apathy of modern movie goers needs to be filled with ever growing shocks and breaking of taboos. However if u are looking for a film that will haunt u in your dreams, watch this one, but do not expect too much just because it has the label "Non-Hollywood" on it.

Rating:
Summary: Designed to frustrate . . .
Review: A movie with a different approach.

The character Alex's name is first mentioned outside of the club. However, what I found most interesting in this movie is that you only begin to get to know the person named Alex AFTER her attack. During the sequences in reverse, almost like flashbacks, you begin to see that Alex is really a sweet and ordinary person, unaware of the tragedy to befall her. But YOU know, because you have already seen it occur. Because of that, you begin to feel even more sympathy for Alex as you begin to get to know her more. What you also realize as the movie progresses backwards is that Alex's assailant will not pay for his crime. Adding more to the viewer frustration. From that aspect, well done.

Rating:
Summary: LIKE YOU JUST GOT STABBED
Review: As a young female I found "Irreversible" just about the most disturbing experience of my life (not counting my bad drug trip). I was literally traumatized to the point where I thought I might need to start taking anti-psychotics or seek out some therapy of some sort. Fortunately those feelings have begun to fade, one week after I've viewed the film, and I REALLY don't want to watch it again! Well, yeah I do, but it'd be akin to wanting to be stabbed in the side of the head. If you're curious as to just how shocking "Irreversible" can be, here's how shocking: AHHHHHHHHHHH! It will make you want to scream at the world. It will make you sit in the dark at night shaking back and forth. It will make you want to sleep just so your mind will be quiet. Proceed with caution! Now that that's out of the way, "Irreversible" is a great film due to its a) improvisational acting b)storyline c)direction and editing. It's a goodish film mostly because its ending is too abrupt and doesn't completely deliver on the tagline: "Time destroys everything." See it, by all means, if you can deal with the emotional debilitation that will follow.

PS: Monica Bellucci, you need a BIG hug.

Rating:
Summary: Brutal but excellent
Review: If you have a weak stomach or are easily offended you will not like this movie. That said, Irreversible is actually an extremely well crafted film. The character development and dialogue are first-rate and extremely realistic. You come to know these people and identify with them. Had the movie not been done in reverse order, you may have actually cared for them.

You have never seen violence this realistic on screen before (not since Bunuel and Dali's "The Andalusian Dog" at least). Horrific and beautifully done. The main complaint of critics seems to be that the violence is gratuitous. That may be, but it brings about a feeling of revulsion in the normal person, which I think is the point. Additionally, the movie does not glorify violence at all. There is nothing erotic or sexually exciting about the rape scene. And the violence at the night club has real consequences.

I laugh at you people who are offended by this yet see no problem in the glorification and sanitization of violence by mainstream Hollywood.