Irreversible, a film long said to be a truly stunning and one-of-a-kind piece of moviemaking, has long been on my to-see list, and now thanks to the glory of Netflix, my time has come. Definitely slipped out of work a bit early today, just to be able to head back to the apartment and watch it devoid of any distractions, being that my roommate said he was going to have a late night, work wise, so I knew I'd have the digs all to my lonesome....perfect for some intense movie-watching.
And boy was this shit intense. Previously, all I'd ever heard about Irreversible, an acclaimed French head-tripping drama from back in 2002, was that its the celluloid home to the mosr gut-wrenching, visceral, harrowing, and fearless rape scene ever put to film. But what I wasn't fully aware of is the narrative structure of the flick. Similar to Memento---only much less confusing and much more smoothly sequenced--Irreversible tells its rather simple story backwards. Starting with the closing credits scrolling upward from the last credit, scene-by-scene you're thrust into this surreal day from hell for Alexandra, a likeable and warm-hearted gal played by the flawlessly-beautiful Monica Bellucci, who gives an outstanding performance here.
Long story short, its a simple premise: leaving a party by herself, in anger as her free-spirited and loose-cannon boyfriend Marcus (played by Vincent Cassel, a great underrated actor in his own right, from Ocean's 12 and Eastern Promises) has pissed her off with his drug-use and general asshole mannerisms. After a shay chick gives Alex some bad advice, Alex follishly enters an underground tunnel walkway by herself, bumping into a evil-beyond-words pimp, who proceeds to rape her. And once Marcus and level-headed, pacifist Pierre---Alex's ex-boyfriend and still-chum who tagged along to the party with them---catch wind, they set off to find the rapist and exact some truly-brutal revenge.
This is one of those movies that, honestly, I can't see people ever wanting to watch more than once. Not myself, though; I'm surely buying this on DVD ASAP, just for the sheer technique and execution put forth by the utterly brave and unflinching writer/director Gaspar Noe. But man, this shit slugs you across the face repeatedly, like a sledgehammer being swung by The Incredible Hulk after the big green guy has injected three ounces of steroids into himself. Hits hard as all bloody hell.
Being that its structured in reverse order, the revenge and rape happen first, obviously, so the camerawork off the bat is so relentlessly loose-handed and frantic, your mood is instantly set off the ease-end and left into a state of surreal bewilderment.
The camera swirls around rooms, switches back and forth from upside down to rightside up. There's no music, which adds to the feeling that the viewer is part of the action. But aside from these points, what's most jarring and fucking genius to me about Noe's direction here is that Irreversible, seriously, feels like one long continuous take, a nonstop shot without edits. I'd imagine there are edits, of course, and I know where they'd be, but the way its pulled off, the camera never stops moving throughout the film's 90-plus runtime.
For the first half, the camera swings around the scenery so frantically that you can't look away, even when some truly heinous shit is going down. And once the structure brings us to the preface of this party-to-forget, the camera calms down bucketloads, and stays in one place, focusing in on the dialogue tightly.
Irreversible is absolutely, positively, unequivocally a film that any and every cinema buff needs to see, at least once. If the art of moviemaking is something you largely appreciate and take seriously, this is one flick that will open your eyes to some beyond-inventive tricks and treats. Problem is, however, that recommending it is a bit tough to do. There's some unjustifiable things happening, scenes that are more-than-tough to endure. The revenge carried out, for one, is so raw, I won't even spoil it here, but I'll just say this--me, whose seen all kinds of insane gore and visceral shit, saw my jaw drop to the floor during it. And its nothing more than simple, spur-of-the-moment vengeance, but the way its done here is something else. And what makes it really sting is a twist thats employed, that you don't catch right away, but once you do, its a bit a shot the jugular. Well done, indeed.
And then there's that rape scene. About nine or so minutes long. No cuts. No edits. Just the camera sitting still, focusing in on Alex's worst nightmare come true within a dank, red-lit subway tunnel. Its spellbinding in such a wrong, foul, I-shouldnt-be-so-intrigued-by-watching-this-right-now kinda way. I'd imagine women, in particular, not being able to sit through the whole scene. I almost had to fast-forward through it, just due to sheer discomfort and near-shame for watching it. But I didn't, I stood strong.
So yes, once again the French have kicked my ass with a real stunner of a film. I'd go into more detail about Irreversible, but really, this is one you have to see for yourself. And again, I've watched a flick that I'm now dying to discuss and debate and examine, but I don't know anybody else who's seen the thing. I really need to go on some Movie Lovers message boards or some shit and make some new friends that way. Being the lone cinephile in the bunch kinda blows. Chunks.
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