*potential spoilers* (although I'm almost positive that everyone is already aware of the story)
Brilliant! I rarely use that term to describe a film but Gaspar Noe is able to possess my brain for a long time after I have finished his films. The power behind these films can only be delicately described and most of the time escape words all together. I don't think I need to state that this film will have only a select few viewers who will enjoy it, (although the word 'enjoy' seems rather perverted for the subject matter) let alone understand it. IF YOU ARE UPSET BY BRUTAL ACTS OF VIOLENCE DO NOT SEE THIS MOVIE. There, I've done my duty as an upstanding citizen and now I can move on. Irreversible is the best film of 2002 (unfortunately in 2002 I was unaware of this). This film is deeply upsetting and from the very start (which is in fact the end) you (hopefully) understand that this film is not simply about revenge or violence, its about life. Life does not have order, it does not have happy endings and horrible things occur every day. Having this film run in reverse only demonstrates how well Gaspar Noe understands both cinema and humanity. By seeing the events of the film unfold without knowing the history behind them makes us more aware of the horrors of violence and revenge because we don't understand the reasons for them to take place. Instead of the typical 'hero' in a revenge film getting sympathy from the audience (and as a result the audience condones this behavior, not matter how disgusting the act) we see a brutal killing without understanding the reasoning behind it. This is the reason many people believe this film is actually violent for the sake of being violent, when in fact Noe is showing just how disgusting violence is regardless of the motives behind it. Bravo! (too bad this point will not be understood by most of the audience-who is too focused on the violence itself, the irony is somehow appropriate) The camera work also creates an eerie, uncomfortable experience for the viewer. We are taken without consent to places most of us would never dare venture to. The 12 scenes, all done with a single shot, create a 'documentary' feel to the film. It's brutal because the camera does not cut away no matter what content is being shown. The violence is excessive (and in this case quite long) because violence doesn't come in a pretty package. We are almost given an endurance test during the underpass scene (at a staggering 10 minutes). We watch as a stranger comes down the stairwell, witnesses what is going on, and finally leaves without doing anything at all (while the camera stays perfectly still, unflinching). This demonstrates perfectly that unless you are the victim of a brutal crime you have the option of walking away and remaining unharmed (and people do choose to simply walk away). Noe takes away this option, we are forced to watch the entire act take place without a break and in this case with the knowledge that in the end the perpetrator walks away and will never be held accountable for this crime (for those of you that didn't notice, the man killed with the fire extinguisher was not the same person who raped Alex). Then to top it off we witness that before this horrible act, a simple argument is what caused Alex (Monica Bellucci) to leave the party alone in the first place. Then even further back we see Alex and Marcus (Vincent Cassel) laying around on a typical evening doing the (boring, I think I heard one reviewer say) typical tasks and saying the typical things (which only makes the things we have already experienced in the film even more effective). The very end of the film is perhaps the most upsetting, a seemingly "perfect moment" when the world feels like it might actually be all right after all. I'm not going to mention much about the directing, acting, etc. because they simply have to be witnessed rather than described. This film is near perfect and anyone that says otherwise I think just had a difficult time with the content (which is totally understandable) and brushed the film off as artistic, foreign crap (which is really unfair). I'd give this a 9.99999 out of 10.
Brilliant! I rarely use that term to describe a film but Gaspar Noe is able to possess my brain for a long time after I have finished his films. The power behind these films can only be delicately described and most of the time escape words all together. I don't think I need to state that this film will have only a select few viewers who will enjoy it, (although the word 'enjoy' seems rather perverted for the subject matter) let alone understand it. IF YOU ARE UPSET BY BRUTAL ACTS OF VIOLENCE DO NOT SEE THIS MOVIE. There, I've done my duty as an upstanding citizen and now I can move on. Irreversible is the best film of 2002 (unfortunately in 2002 I was unaware of this). This film is deeply upsetting and from the very start (which is in fact the end) you (hopefully) understand that this film is not simply about revenge or violence, its about life. Life does not have order, it does not have happy endings and horrible things occur every day. Having this film run in reverse only demonstrates how well Gaspar Noe understands both cinema and humanity. By seeing the events of the film unfold without knowing the history behind them makes us more aware of the horrors of violence and revenge because we don't understand the reasons for them to take place. Instead of the typical 'hero' in a revenge film getting sympathy from the audience (and as a result the audience condones this behavior, not matter how disgusting the act) we see a brutal killing without understanding the reasoning behind it. This is the reason many people believe this film is actually violent for the sake of being violent, when in fact Noe is showing just how disgusting violence is regardless of the motives behind it. Bravo! (too bad this point will not be understood by most of the audience-who is too focused on the violence itself, the irony is somehow appropriate) The camera work also creates an eerie, uncomfortable experience for the viewer. We are taken without consent to places most of us would never dare venture to. The 12 scenes, all done with a single shot, create a 'documentary' feel to the film. It's brutal because the camera does not cut away no matter what content is being shown. The violence is excessive (and in this case quite long) because violence doesn't come in a pretty package. We are almost given an endurance test during the underpass scene (at a staggering 10 minutes). We watch as a stranger comes down the stairwell, witnesses what is going on, and finally leaves without doing anything at all (while the camera stays perfectly still, unflinching). This demonstrates perfectly that unless you are the victim of a brutal crime you have the option of walking away and remaining unharmed (and people do choose to simply walk away). Noe takes away this option, we are forced to watch the entire act take place without a break and in this case with the knowledge that in the end the perpetrator walks away and will never be held accountable for this crime (for those of you that didn't notice, the man killed with the fire extinguisher was not the same person who raped Alex). Then to top it off we witness that before this horrible act, a simple argument is what caused Alex (Monica Bellucci) to leave the party alone in the first place. Then even further back we see Alex and Marcus (Vincent Cassel) laying around on a typical evening doing the (boring, I think I heard one reviewer say) typical tasks and saying the typical things (which only makes the things we have already experienced in the film even more effective). The very end of the film is perhaps the most upsetting, a seemingly "perfect moment" when the world feels like it might actually be all right after all. I'm not going to mention much about the directing, acting, etc. because they simply have to be witnessed rather than described. This film is near perfect and anyone that says otherwise I think just had a difficult time with the content (which is totally understandable) and brushed the film off as artistic, foreign crap (which is really unfair). I'd give this a 9.99999 out of 10.
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