Review of Irreversible (2002) by Jesse O — 14 Dec 2011

A lot of people question whether this movie has any real artistic merits. And I would say that it has, because even with its very graphic violence and rape, there's is a clear narrative and logic to the madness.

Everything is not thrown out there for shock value, unlike A Serbian Film which is very obviously trying to shock people by doing stupid shit with sense or logic, there's a real sense of heartbreak in the story especially when it ends, which is really the beginning as the movie is played in reverse chronological order, you know that something terrible is going to happen to the character and there's just absolutely nothing she can do to change it.

To me, that qualifies as an artistic merit, since it does make you think. Especially with showing the revenge at the beginning and knowing that they JUST missed the guy. There's real intelligence in this movie that goes beyond the violence and the rape and some people can't see that because of its shocking scenes.

And that's understandable, it's not an easy movie to watch. Its visual style is incredibly raw yet it commands your attention and it refuses to hold your hand throughout. The editing is pretty amazing considering the amount of effort it must take to make everything look like it was one continuous take.

I wouldn't exactly recommend this movie to everybody, it's definitely not that kind of movie, but if people can stomach it, I think this is a movie that should be seen.