Irreversible (2003)

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  TheMovieDiorama

  8 / 10

  Irréversible has made me unable to reverse the explicit horrors I just witnessed. Love is irreversible. Sex is irreversible. Time is irreversible, and time destroys everything. After delving into my first Gaspar Noé feature, I immediately wanted to escape his uncompromising mind. This is an excellent film, but one I would never want to watch again. Never. Damn...what an experience! A woman is brutally raped and assaulted, to which her lover and her friend attempt to seek their own vengeance. Edited in reverse chronological order, the narrative's sequence conveys the theme of the destructive force of time. It allows Noé to deliver chaos and nauseating camerawork within the first half, to which he then calms down in the second half to focus on the humanity between these two lovers. Each scene is filmed in one take, allowing the story to become immersive. These are separated by transitions that were ridiculously frantic as the camera spins out of control. Innovative? Sure. Nauseatingly unnecessary? Definitely. Both Cassel and Bellucci give physically demanding performances, as the former showcases both love and anger whereas the latter has to undergo one of the most brutal scenes in cinematic history. I'm just going to say it, that extended controversial rape scene was horrible and the most horrific scene I've ever watched. The sheer ferocity and helplessness made for a scarily realistic assault that definitely makes this film difficult to watch. Incredibly uncomfortable. Yet, it's necessary to convey the irreversible damage that it causes. Noé makes you feel that damage by forcing you to watch. Understandably her lover is raging after the incident, however the frequency of homophobic comments was slightly excessive (considering it's the first scene). "The Rectum" club sequence and the last thirty second seizure were also nauseating. Still, a unique experience like this, that both deafened and silenced me, deserves praise. It doesn't conform to exploitation. It doesn't glorify criminal acts. Subjectively and objectively speaking, it's art.

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