Irreversible.

It has been a long time since a scene in a film caused me to audibly gasp. Plenty of films have made me laugh out loud, and a few made me jump or shield my eyes. But this French import, directed by Gaspar Noe, portrays a few violent scenes in such an unflinching, realistic way that I feel compelled to issue a warning to all whom might be interested in seeing it.

Ironically, I urge those of you who love good cinema to make the effort to see this film. It is very unique and much more complex than it’s simple plot suggests. According to the Internet Movie Database the plot can be described thusly: When a woman is raped by a stranger, her friend and ex-husband decide to take justice into their own hands. Well, okay, that’s the basis for this movie in a nutshell, but it doesn’t begin to describe what you’ll see on the screen. And feel in your head.

Like “Memento”, “Irreversible” uses a reversed timeline. We see the end first, then we work backwards to the beginning. More than a gimmick, this device serves the purpose of reminding us that our actions don’t always have the effect we want them to. In the film, we get to see the effect first, and while we’re speculating on the cause, we find out that it is something totally unexpected.

But what was it that made me involuntarily cry out in the theater? It was a bit of violence so realistic that I still cannot figure out how they pulled it off…and this particular bit was definitely not the nastiest thing that occurs in this film. Much has been already written about the rape scene in this film, and I found it to be very disturbing. However, it was the “revenge” beating that literally took my breath away. I long ago learned how to deal with nightmarish images in films by always keeping in mind the fact that they are constructed pictures. Manufactured fantasies. How the filmmakers of “Irreversible” accomplished their special effects is nearly beyond my own understanding of latex and prosthetics and horror-movie makeup. I kept asking myself “Is this real? How did they do that?” Although it’s not a horror movie, it represents a stunning achievement in horror effects.

“Irreversible” is a fantastic, but disturbing movie. I recommend it only to the most mature movie-goers, and I again must warn you: if you have an aversion to intense, unrelenting violence and gore, don’t see it.

More later…
Paul