IRRÉVERSIBLE
**1/2 out of *****

Genres
Drama
Thriller

2002
Written and directed by
Gaspar Noé
Cast
Monica Bellucci ....  Alex
Vincent Cassel ....  Marcus
Albert Dupontel ....  Pierre
Jo Prestia ....  Le Tenia
Philippe Nahon ....  Philippe
Stéphane Drouot ....  Stéphane
Jean-Louis Costes ....  Fistman
Mourad Khima ....  Mourad

Irréversible is the second feature film from French filmmaker Gaspar Noé, a director that is certainly no stranger to controversy, going back to his short films. His use of graphic violence and disturbing imagery is enough to make some people sick, in fact at Irréversible’s premiere at the 2002 Cannes Film Festival 200 people walked out, disgusted by it brutal and merciless acts of violence. It’s no doubt that Noé aims to shock, but while he’s shocking you he manages to slip a few messages into the mix, and it’s up to you whether you want to listen. In Irréversible his message is that time destroys everything, and violence begets violence. This is a very strong message that’s force fed to the viewer with two very brutally horrific scenes in the film, the rape and the revenge.

Told in the unconventional reverse-chronological narrative structure made popular by Christopher Nolan’s Memento, this editing style keeps the audience guessing as to what happened previously starting with the revenge attack and leading all the way back to the rape and slightly further to a brief glimpse at Alex (Monica Bellucci) and Marcus’ (Vincent Cassel) relationship. The film’s plot is just that, a woman gets raped and her current boyfriend and her ex-lover take matters into their own hands by hiring two criminals to help them find the person that committed the rape to exact revenge. That’s it pure and simple. It’s this simple plot structure combined with the unpleasant violence that drive home cause and effect’s destructive nature to the viewer.

Now that we’ve covered the violence and shock factor, the film itself is wonderfully shot, entirely on hand held camera with 16mm film to give it a gritty first person perspective feel which, artistically, works for the film in spades as it places you right in the film from the first frame. You sense that this is something real. Additionally, the performances are extremely realistic, dealing with a situation like this the film would not have been believable had the performances not been so emotionally charged. One element of grave importance was that the dialogue had to feel natural, therefore none of it was actually scripted, when filming began all the cast and crew had was a three-page draft. These elements are a stand out feature of this film.

After viewing, whether you liked it or not you will not doubt realise the film’s realistic impact. Whether this film borders on exploitation or art is another thing, this is something you will have to decide for yourself, as is the decision to actually watch.

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