Irreversible
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Movie Reviews of Irreversible
Movie Review: SHOCKINGLY RAW!!!!
Summary: 5 Stars
O.K., let me just start by saying that i'm tired of seeing all these reviews here on Amazon! Blah, blah, blah, there is no need to show so much violence, blah, blah, blah, there is enough violence in the real world and we know it exists, blah, blah, blah. Listen, printed on the front of this dvd in big letters is WARNING: CONTAINS GRAPHIC SEX AND VIOLENCE. So if you don't want to see this type of film then don't buy it and don't watch it. Instead, sit down with the family, a big bowl of popcorn and watch The Wizard Of Oz!!!Sorry, just had to get that off my chest. Now for the people who actually like this type of film, this is one of the most brutal, gut wrenching films i've ever seen. Kudos to Gasper Noe on such a brillant masterpiece. Let me just say that I love Indie films and classic gore films(I have over 200 in my collection)so I am not a novice when it comes to this type of genre. Check out my other reviews on films such as Ilsa-She Wolf Of The SS, Boise Moi, Tim Roth's The War Zone, etc. I love Lucio Fulci, and of course the godfather of horror, Dario Argento. My point is that i'm pretty much jaded when it comes to shocking or disturbing material, and Irreversible is one that will stay with me for a long time.
I loved this film for many reasons but mainly because how much Noe makes you feel involved with the main characters. Since it's told in reverse you don't feel this way right away, but you will. I'm not going to get into the whole plot line because so many others have already done that for me. What i'm really here to say is that this is a very REAL movie. Like it all is really happing right before our eyes and we need to stick around to find out what happens. Noe's vision is surperb, and in his own way very artistic. I'm tellin' ya, see this film.
There are a couple things I would like to point out that some other reviewers failed to elaborate on. For those of you who saw Noe's previous film, I Stand Alone, I was wondering if anyone got the opening sequence of this film. The movie opens with two guys talking in a small apartment upstairs from the club where the murder takes place. Did anyone realize that it's the guy from I Stand Alone, and that he is still in character from that film? His is telling the other guy that he was locked up for having sex with his daughter. To me is was like leaving off of I Stand Alone and going right into Irreversible. Excellent touch!!!!
Also, in some of the other reviews, some made it sound like there was a sort of triumph to this film, or that justice was done. That is so untrue. There is no happy ending here, the good guys don't win. I mean sure, the guy who rapes Alex and beats Marcus to a bloody pulp with only half of his face left(there will be no open casket for him) does get arrested, but if you were into the characters as much as I was, you really wanted to see this pr*%k, at the least, get tortured to death or set on fire or something. So to me there was no justice.
Anyway, if you want to see a movie that will leave a lasting impression in your head then pick this one up. It may not be a happy impression, but a impression none-the-less. I am so tired of the senseless dribble that comes out of Hollywood these days. All these big corporate movies with big name stars that when the movie is over, you feel like you just wasted 2 hours of your life.
Is it just me or don't people notice that most of the films made these days are geared tward teenie-boppers, or movies that are PC? I'm glad to see that there are still directors out there that have the balls to make a film thats over the top, or geared to the adult viewer. Even if we have to get them from somewhere like France!!! NEVER FORGET 9/11/01!!!!
Movie Review: Gaspar Noé's nihilistic nightmare
Summary: 5 Stars
Irreversible is French director Gaspar Noé's second feature film, after the mildly successful "I stand alone", released in 1998. Irreversible premiered last year at the Cannes film festival and quickly gained a cult reputation as a film that had packs of people exiting the theatre in the middle of the presentation in a state of shock. As a person well versed in shock cinema I have sadly become desensitized to a lot of on-screen violence but once in a while a film will come along that will shock me. Irreversible did more than just shock me, it sickened me. There were a couple of scenes in this film that had me choking back bile, looking away from my T.V. set and thankful that I was watching it alone and hadn't subjected anyone else into viewing this orgy of violence with me. The entire film rolls in reverse order, starting with the ending credits. The next 20 minutes show us an uptight guy named Marcus and his friend Pierre enter a gay brothel in search of "Le Ténia", a pimp who raped Marcus' girlfriend Alex. As the movie unfolds in reverse order, we see the events that lead up to Alex's rape and the tight friendship that the three have.
The first half hour of the film is a very taxing experience on the viewer. The camera constantly spins, turns and twists in every imaginable direction. Anyone prone to seasickness or headaches might find this to be very unpleasant. Not to mention the pounding score that never lets up and pretty much muffles any dialogue on screen. Fluent in French, I fully intended to watch the film in its original version, however the constant noise of the industrial-tinged score and booming nightclub music makes it nearly impossible to make out what the characters are saying and I had to resort to switching on the English subtitles. After the first 30 minutes (which are the climax of the events since the film plays backwards) things slow down a bit and the shifting camera and loud noise finally let up, until of course Noé subjects the viewer to an absolutely horrific 9-minute rape sequence. It is easily the most shocking scene of its type that I've ever seen and it's the way it's presented to us that makes it all the more shocking. The camera never shifts, there's no ominous music, just the horrible cries of anguish of the helpless victim. This rape sequence and a gruesome death scene involving someone getting bashed in the head with a fire extinguisher 20+ times are really the only major shockers of the movie but they are such intense scenes that it is no wonder so many people at Cannes walked out on the movie.
Once the movie ended, I couldn't help but restart the movie right away and watch the first half hour again. The first time I saw these climactic scenes I felt somewhat indifferent as I didn't even know the characters yet. But I knew I'd see it in a very different light the second time around. Not since Memento had a film made me want to re-watch a major portion of the film immediately after the initial viewing. As I flicked off my T.V. set I felt disturbed but also at the same time felt like I had witnessed a truly creative piece of filmmaking by an upcoming maverick filmmaker that would have a lasting effect on me. Irreversible plays like an urban and intellectual art house version of "I spit on your grave", an all-out assault on the senses that pummeled me into submission during its mercifully short 90 minutes. It is shocking, sickening and at times thoroughly unpleasant. It is also one of the best films I've seen in quite some time.
Movie Review: Best Film of 2003
Summary: 5 Stars
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 content to the point where it could be deemed gratuitous...no matter how long it really lingers. It's easy for some to turn away and say this is junk for showing you things you do not want to see (e.g. 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.
The infamous rape sequence that led to many viewers walking out of the theater seems to have an amazing effect on the audience. I have a mini-cinema in my house and I show this movie to people as often as I can. The same things happens. Just as the rape scene reaches a point that makes us uncomfortable enough to consider getting angry with the movie and leave the room, it ends. I'm inclined to say that this is intentional. Rape should never be expressed in a film in any other way. It should make us uncomfortable and scared. Unfortunately, most of us are so desensitized to violence and it's consequences, that it takes a sequence like this to get under our skin. Make no mistake about it, if a movie that handles subject matter like this gets under your skin then it has done it's job better than most.
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.
Movie Review: Homebrewer
Summary: 5 Stars
I've read the comments here and am strangely encouraged by the fact that so many intelligent opinions can be so completely polarized. It shows me that film still has the power to enthrall.....and infuriate.....cinephiles around the world.
Personally I loved this film....if you can use "love" to describe a movie that battered me, sickened me, mesmerized me, drained me and left me feeling as if I had been kicked in the gut.
The theme of "time destroys everything" is not new in the world of art. It is a concept that becomes frighteningly real to us as we get older. In this film, Gasper Noe shows us the tragic outcome of a series of events before allowing us to view these events in reverse chronological order. By doing so he has given us a god's eye view over the lives of the main characters. This gives the subsequent scenes an ever deepening sense of irony and despair, more than a conventional storyline could ever hope to achieve. It also gives the audience a deep sense of personal despair...for even though we know what's going to happen, we remain powerless to intervene. Time destroys everything, and it is unstoppable.
Much has been said regarding the explicit sex and violence as well as the spinning camerawork at the film's beginning. There is no gratuitous exploitation here...what we are forced to witness is raw, realistic and merciless. We may long to run away from the horror and pretend it isn't there, much like the faceless witness in the tunnel (a brilliant device), but when we open our eyes it is still there. In a genre where sex and violence have become commonplace these scenes will shake-up all but the most jaded moviegoer.
The camerawork was also essential for it expertly mirrors the turmoil of the characters. As the film opens all is chaos...emotions are past the breaking point and mindless brutality rules the mind. The camera swoops and spins, rolls and ducks, it is completely unbalanced and out of control....a sign of intense control on behalf of the director. The lighting is dark, the colours lurid. Compare this to the long, sunny takes towards the end of the film (and the beginning of the story).
This is not a simple story told backwards...rather, it is a meditation on fate, destiny, and free will. Is our future already written? Are our actions pre-determined?
"Irreversible" is a cinematic Memento Mori that I look forward to seeing again and again. 10/10 (or for amazon's sake 5/5).
Movie Review: Bleak, unhappy, disturbing, shocking, grim and brilliant
Summary: 5 Stars
Gaspar Noe's Irreversible is an unforgettable film and one that is guaranteed to provoke a strong reaction. The first half of the film is so bleak and unpleasant that it's almost oppressive. Though it's not exactly a horror film itself, this film is darker and scarier than most horror films. Depicting a brutal head-bashing murder in a dingy hellish nightclub, and a vicious violent rape in the first forty-five minutes, it's difficult to watch and may be too much for most audiences. These scenes will not leave your head for a long time.The film unfolds in backwards chronological order, similar to Memento. More than just a simple gimmick, this structure adds even more depth to the experience. The main theme of the film seems to be choices that we make and the irreversible consequences of them. By having the film sequenced in reverse, we actually see the consequence before we see the choice. I agree with what Roger Ebert wrote in his review of Irreversible, saying that our present happiness depends on not knowing what will happen in the future. In this film we see the horrible, horrible circumstances that the characters are going to find themselves in. In the second half of the movie, when we see them in happier times, we know what is going to happen while they do not. This just makes it seem all the more tragic the way things turn out.
The style of the film can be a bit much at times. In some scenes, the camera moves all over the place almost making The Blair Witch Project look relatively still in comparison. It's quite a cinematographic achievement, but it does call attention to itself. In contrast, during the rape scene the camera is completely still and does not cut away, presumably to force us to focus on what is happening onscreen.
Irreversible is a fascinating film which will have you glued to the screen and also, at times, wanting to look away. It's powerful, well-made, brilliant and unforgettable. However, the first half of the film is mercilessly grimy, unsettling and dark giving nearly the most unpleasant feelings that this reviewer has ever had in a movie. It's not all that way, however, and the second half of the film shows the couple (Monica Belluci and Vincent Cassel) in happier times and significantly lightens up. Irreversible is not at all for the squeamish but for those who can stomach it, it's an exhilarating cinematic experience.