Irreversible
note: the movie reviewed below is extremely explicit in its violence and sexuality, and as thus the review is not intended for people under 17
Bleak. Depressing. Words I would use to describe Requiem for a Dream. But, even in all the chaos of that movie, the last moment attempts to round off the edge a tiny bit with Wayan's character's minor peace.
Irreversible is just bleak, and depressing, and painful. It is a study of entrophy.
Obvious comparisons exist between Irreversible and Requiem for a Dream, namely the phrenetic camera technique, and the unshying attitudes of the directors and actors. But, where Requiem dealt with a precise subject, namely drugs and addiction, Irreversible takes on Time. And with this goal, the movie brings the audience through a backwards fairy tale, a nightmare about things falling apart.
Memento was told backwards to more fully understand a man's illusions. Irreversible is told in reverse to reconstruct a horrific day without the sentimentality of the forward narrative. I would say the director wanted to show the actions before the motivations perhaps so as to not form the vengeance process into a heroic act, instead making it a bloody and vain act of anger.
The movie begins with a naked portly man sitting in an apartment talking about his abuse of his daugthers, ending with the statement "time ruins everything". "[we are] guys who fool around a bit and then hear its something bad". The audience understands these are characters of selfish thought, bastards of morality. To them, "there are no crimes, only actions". This statement drips of avoided consequences.
The camera pulls out of the apartment to the night club below name The Rectum. A man on a stretcher is insulted as he it put into the ambulance, and another is lead away by the police, with people yelling about his future of prison sodomizing. As the characters are driver away, the camera pulls out and acts like a hyperactive child as the sounds growl ominously, and the narrative rewinds twenty minutes to the entrance of the duo into the club.
The next few minutes follow Vincent Cassel's character Marcus as he lunges around a gay male sex club looking for a man named The Tapeworm (Le Tenia). As he interogates the patrons, the men proposition him for sex. As he runs around, the director makes no attempt to hide the explicitness of the sex acts going on around him, maybe to prepare the audience for the next scene of graphic violence, one of the most violent scenes I've ever watched. And, it is percieved to the two male lead characters as retribution for the earlier rape of a girlfriend and wife.
Oh, did I mention, this isn't an american film. This film wouldn't have been made in america, or by american stars. This movie does not exist in the exploitative sexual vacuum of the west but in the experimental european society. When this movie comes out on dvd, it won't be in Blockbuster. Hell, they might not release it on dvd in america.
Ok, this review is part opinion, part warning. This isn't a date movie. This isn't a guy's night out movie. This is a movie for adults to sit with, and examine afterwards. It's an extremely dark look at time's destructive force.
Was the movie enjoyable? No. Pain is not enjoyable. The movie was a worthwhile expression of cinema-as-art crafted by a deft director, and staring courageous actors and actresses.
I could tell you the whole movie, the lighthearted beginning of the day, and the extremely painful middle, and the violent and harrowing end, but that wouldn't blundt it's impact. Seeing this movie, and remembering it to watch this review, I have grown tired. Experiencial cinema.
Even now, this review looks more like a capsule than a review. Let me try and summarize my feelings.
Sometimes violence isn't gratiutous. Sometimes sex isn't for titilation. This movie is sometimes.
From the violent end in the gay club, to the delicate beginning in the park, the movie sticks to its guns, and I respect it for that. The actors inhabit each scene, and make it real. The movie never blinks.
I don't agree with the theory that times destroys everything, but I do agree that this movie is a good example of the effect of unrestrained actions.
Though I will admit this review is lacking, I am done.
I give it 3.5 out of 4.
warning: this movie has scenes of graphic violence, explicit sex, and extended rape |
