Irreversible

An adrenaline rush of violence and emotion. It's films like Irreversible that remind us what a good independent film can accomplish. French director Gaspar Noe creates a violent, but real world where love and pain live in the same breath. Films with a true understanding of the world they portray are films to be cherished. Disgusted is one of the feelings that stood out the most for me after I saw this film. Similar to many, but this experience is like no other. From the panic stricken beginning, to the aching emotion the viewer feels at the end, Irreversible will tear apart many, but disappoint none.

Starring Vincent Cassel, Monica Bellucci, and Albert Dupontel. The performances hit with force, but it is Vincent Cassel who delivers the knockout punch. Cassel plays Marcus, a man seeking revenge for the brutal rape of his girlfriend Alex. Alex is played superbly by Monica Bellucci. She is innocent, kind, and cautious but nothing can save her from a world that takes no prisoners, where no one is safe from misery. In their first major film together since L'Apartement, real life husband and wife Cassel and Bellucci once again play on screen lovers. Their wonderful on streen chemistry and veteran way of doing controversial scenes is what keeps Irreversible from being just another dirty graphic film. With their acting strength this film is able to reach hights much higher.

With the films protagonist being a very tough person to understand, Irreversible needed to hit on all cylinders to work as a whole. I'm not going to sit here and say that this is a masterpiece, because in no way is it, but this is one of those wonderfully crafted indie-films that need to be checked out. The film follows a non-linear narrative depicting the acts of vengeance before the events that caused the turmoil. A very hard idea to work with, viewers will feel the sudden and very strong urge to dismiss this film when the shocking acts of violence seem to be shown without any cause or meaning, but please I ask you with passion, do not dismiss this film. Yes, there is nudity and violence portrayed in the most disturbing of ways, that may seem like something unappealing right away. But Gaspard Noe does a great job making it all seem worthy. Noe starts the film with camera movement so fast-paced that it may cause viewers to get serious headaches, during the parts with intense emotion he rightfully keeps the camera moving and does not ease up for even the briefest of moments.

Brief story lines have been known to cause much trouble for
filmmakers. Allow me to elaborate; when a film's plot line only takes up a shorter period of time, like how this film takes up only about an entire day. Or if the film only features a few major events and wastes painful amounts of time with very little worth mentioning occupying the time, like countless amounts of films have tried to get away with. Something I must admit is that Irreversible struggles to deal with both, at times the film does tend to drag. But as I have learned from watching many films is that every film tends to drag a bit. For example, the universally praised, low-budget indie-film Reservoir Dogs, the film that shot Quentin Tarantino to worldwide fame even had its slow moments. Yes, in between viscous killings and witty dialogue even a Tarantino film had dull moments in order to allow the storyline to progress. In no way am I comparing Irreversible to Reservoir Dogs, because there is no way I possibly could. Both films are completely different from the other and both are great in their own ways. One similarity though is that both films are great in their own twisted ways. Now back to the movie on hand, Irreversible no doubt has flaws. Including, perhaps, violence that will be over the top to many. Also a storyline that is brief while also being out of order, and may confuse the average movie watcher.

As I have named some potential "flaws" for this film I will end by saying that Irreversible is a film that the faint of heart will most likely not tolerate, and its unique masterfullness will be lost on many. The shocking and controversial (but very powerful) scene that dominates Bellucci's screen time will unfortunately cause many to overlook her performance like the majority of the film. So finally, I beg of you, do not allow anything you find distasteful of gitorious about this film let you overlook the emotionally pained performance by Vincent Cassel.