Review of Irreversible (2002) by Al M — 20 Aug 2010

Again, rewriting some old reviews because they were lost. Irreversible is another of the most despicable, controversial films ever made but it is also a brilliant, beautiful, and powerfully original film that demonstrates the true potentials of the cinematic medium.

If you have a weak stomach or constitution, you should stay away from Irreversible. There are only two scenes of violence, but they are so long, unrelenting, and brutal that you will be scarred irreparably if you are not prepared for them. Irreversible's title refers to its theme about fate and causation. Like Memento, Irreversible runs backwards from horrifying violence to beatific happiness. But like I heard another reviewer state, it is also irreversible because you cannot unsee it once you have witnessed the film.

Featuring powerful performances from Vincent (La Haine) Cassel and the astoundingly beautiful Monica Belluci, Noe's film opens with a brutal scene of revenge inside a gay S&M club and proceeds backwards through the horrific rape that precipitated the murderous acts and on backwards into the couple's life previous to the rape. The rape scene is notorious and lasts for at least ten minutes--it is unrelentingly brutal in a way that few rape scenes ever have been. Even Straw Dogs, Last House on the Left, and I Spit on Your Grave pale in comparison to Irreversible, which features the most unrelenting, disturbing rape scene that I have ever seen. But, unlike those other films, Irreversible is in no way an exploitation film--it is arthouse cinema to its core.

Its direction is absolutely breathtaking and often nauseating in its quick cuts and camera movement, but it is an immaculately beautiful and horrifying film. Irreversible is ultimately a film about causation or fate and the relation between events and our identities. An unforgettably bleak film about how we cannot undo our pasts and about how even our most noble actions are doomed to failure.