Rating:
Director: Gaspar Noe
Producer: Christophe Rossignon
Writer: Gaspar Noe
Director of Photography: Benoit Debie, Gaspar Noe
Cast: Monica Bellucci, Vincent Cassel, Albert Dupontel
Visit the IMDB page for full cast and crew.
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IRREVERSIBLE Rating: Director: Gaspar Noe Producer: Christophe Rossignon Writer: Gaspar Noe Director of Photography: Benoit Debie, Gaspar Noe Cast: Monica Bellucci, Vincent Cassel, Albert Dupontel Visit the IMDB page for full cast and crew. |
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Review by: Ryan
Kugler
3/2/03
Fresh from the art house shocker I Stand Alone, comes Gaspar Noe's newest masterpiece Irreversible, a film that has garnered more notoriety and controversy than any other in recent memory. I went into this fairly hyped as I was a fan of I Stand Alone and had read all of the stories that were coming out of the various festivals. These stories especially peaked my interest, and I couldn't wait to see for myself the film that produced mass walkouts, caused people to pass out during screenings and required Noe to employ bodyguards to protect him from furious moviegoers. So, was it all just hype? Hell no -- Irreversible not only delivered (and disturbed like few films ever have before), but it also contained a surprisingly sweet love story, featured some top-notch acting and showed Noe to be the master filmmaker (probably the best new one that we have) that he truly is.
Irreversible tells a simple (though morally complex) story of revenge and it does so using the same technique as the one used in Memento (though aside from the narrative being told in reverse, the two films share nothing in common). I'll tell the story in the straightforward manner, but as you'll be able to see, it's a lot more effective when you watch it all unfold backwards. Irreversible basically charts the course of three characters and their daylong descent into the bowels of hell.
Alex and Marcus (real life couple Monica Bellucci and Vincent Cassel) awake and share a beautiful morning together. This peaceful scene soon gives way to a wild evening out, as the two, along with Alex's ex-boyfriend Pierre (Albert Dupontel), hit a swanky party. They're all dancing and having a ball, but Marcus' drunkenness results in Alex's anger and she leaves the party on her own. On the way to the subway, she is attacked, brutally raped and left for dead. Marcus and Pierre see her brutalized body as she's being put into an ambulance and the two hit the road seeking revenge. Their journey brings them to a group of local prostitutes, from whom they're able to garner a name and a location. Turns out that the man they're looking for is Le Tenia (Jo Prestia) and the place to find him is a real hellhole called The Rectum. It's in this place that their actions will cause both of their worlds to change forever.
So basically, woman gets raped, boyfriend takes revenge, the end. Now, tell this same story in reverse and it's not so simple, as shocking revelations are made at every turn (which wouldn't be as effective if told in a straightforward manner). This directorial decision also makes the film progressively more disturbing, especially when we get to the peaceful and beautiful ending, which is really the beginning.
Besides the shocking brutality (and let's be honest, a ten-minute anal rape scene with no cuts, and the most realistic beating-to-death scene ever filmed, is a real bitch to have to sit through), the criticism most levied against Irreversible is its lack of an interesting narrative. This is a ridiculous charge, since in this case, the power and the brilliance of the piece isn't about the story per se, but about the experience and the unforgettable journey that Noe leads you on.
This is a true "director's" film and Noe goes all out in his stylistic choices. I love a director that isn't afraid of anything (not of censors and not of turning-off his audience), and his fearlessness here (not to mention the size of his balls) really impressed me. I especially admired how he used his camera to create a mood, which in turn mirrored the actions in the story. During the hectic first twenty minutes (arguably the best twenty minutes of film since the opening of Pvt. Ryan), the camera is all over the place and is everything but static. As things start to slow down on screen, the camera becomes still and almost unnoticeable. Noe's imprint is on every frame of Irreversible, and it's a real honor to be led by a director who knows exactly what he's doing.
If a more provocative, challenging or accomplished piece of work than Irreversible is released in the next ten months, then 2003 will really go down as a banner year for film.
(A Lions Gate release. Opens in New York and Los Angeles on March 7, 2003. Expands to more cities at later dates.)
(Read the interview with Gaspar Noe and Monica
Bellucci)
OTHER STAFF OPINIONS:
Warren (): Cinema as a confrontational
tool -- to label it as "shock art" is to largely miss
the point.
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