Irreversible
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I usually never get sickened by rape and violence. This was one movie.
I felt this movie had a lot of inspiration from David Lynch and Kubrik., Maybe I am wrong.
The last scenes of intimacy between marcus and alex was amazing and the actors have done a great job.
This is my first Noe movie and I will keep track from now on.
--darbar
>>By darbar (Saturday, 12 Apr 2003 03:02)
It's a tremendous movie though I don't know if I would recommend it to anyone. The rape (I almost typed rage) scene is difficult to sit through. But I was prepared, unlike the scene in Alien... you know what I'm talking about.
I left the theater in a daze. I drove mellow on the freeway and placidly swept the sidewalk at home. Maybe this is what Aristotle meant when he spoke of the catharsis of art. And, by the way, I hope it was Tenia who got his head bashed in.
>>By gman (Saturday, 19 Apr 2003 22:56)
Noe's movie can be considered a masterpiece since it represents the frech culture.i believe that he wants us to become familliar with the frech society-violence,drugs,aggression,sex.This is the main reason the guy in the unferground ignores the rape,he just doent care about the incident. The very first scene id indeed the guy from noe's previous movie and pier in jail,each one for his own reason-the old guy for raping his daughter and pier for killing tenia's friend.
>>By charis-cyprus (Thursday, 24 Apr 2003 11:33)
Lucid, the drug Tenia was sniffing was I think poppers... I'm living in London and I've seen a guy sniffing it long time ago, once only, I don't think the drug is very popular here...
As for the movie, if I knew how disturbing it would be, I would've never gone to the cinema...
>>By Maggy (Monday, 12 May 2003 14:45)
Many people are used to see very light or gun shooting movies, with a lot of fire, explosions and dead bodies all arround, Art is transgression. Art is moving the limits. Art implies a dialectic relationship with the artist (painter, sculpture, movie director, etc. where the relationship from the artist is transfered to the viewer, and makes him/her think, and maybe modify or discover something new within itself, thus learning to enjoy a new part of oneself.
Some critics (although I respect them) reminds me of the enquisition. Let's have an open mind, and although sometimes we suffer, after one goes through it you can understand better life itself. Understanding violence, and the part of it we all have would make a better world to live in. Bravo, Noe.
Carlos
>>By carlos abreu (Thursday, 22 May 2003 18:47)
I just saw the movie. I think the concept is strong, and also that this is the kind of movie that cannot be watched by anyone. I don't justify any kind of violence, i don't like war movies, but when the director present a long scene of rape he's not showing the act, he's been realistic. it could have been shorter? Sure, but i think he tried to give that act all the weight he could, to make us feel it, hate it and be sick, like if we watched the news, not a fictional act in a movie. We are so sick and tired to watch people get killed in movies that we don't even blink, cuz we know it's fiction, i think that's what the director tried to avoid.
But, i have to ask: At the end Alex appears, but she touches her belly like if she was preagnent (and the poster behind her has a baby), but the movie was backwards.... so i got confuse. Could anyone explain?
>>By Nimlyel (Tuesday, 17 Jun 2003 06:57)
I think the passerby in the "passage" when Alex was being raped knew exactly what was happening, he just didn't want to get involved. And it was The Tenia's friend who was killed. When asked if he knew Tenia, he said yes. He never said he was The Tenia.
>>By Mercy (Monday, 23 Jun 2003 04:24)
Oh, and the reason The Tenia kicked the shit out of Alex was because she was so "beautiful". He made a comment about how she was so much better than the rest of "society" and that is probably why he mangled her face.
>>By Mercy (Monday, 23 Jun 2003 04:32)
I was really disappointed with the movie at first. I was lead to believe it was going to be disturbing and it was a big let down. When I walked out of the theater I just thought it was bullshit. But now, the next day, I have been thinking about it, and I've grown fond of it. It is actually one of the most fun movies I've seen in a while. I just wish I could see it when I was really stoned, that way the gimmicky camera work, droning music, and general confusion would probably be more amazing than annoying. (Not to mention that flashing at the very end, which was almost the best part of the movie.)
The scene at the Rectum was my favorite part of the movie. Although I didn't care much for the rape scene -- I thought it dragged on too much, and was mishandled so that it seemed more like a farce than a tragedy -- it did have one of a few laugh-out-loud-funny parts of the movie when the Tenia says something like "I don't usually enjoy this, but it's not bad is it?" I didn't actually laugh out loud because the atmosphere in the theatre was kind of weird and I didn't think people could handle it. What was also funny were the people who came to the movie just to make a show of leaving the theater in disgust.
If you haven't seen this movie, and you're trying to decide, I highly recommend it if you're in the mood for something unusual or a good comedy. Don't believe anything you hear about it being disturbing or shocking or anything like that.
Don't get me wrong, I don't think rape or violence are funny, I just think the movie is funny. I couldn't take the movie seriously at all so at first I felt cheated, but then when I factored out the expectations that were caused by the press, I was able to appreciate the film in it's own right, for what it is: an unusual, hour-and-a-half long investment in a couple of subtly, but pointedly, funny moments the likes of which you won't find in many films.
It's gratuitous and gimmicky, and it's not a very good film, except that it ends up being rather entertaining. It gets more and more boring as it nears the end, the only consolation being that you get to see quite a bit of the rather attractive leading lady near the end.
The fact that it was in French heightened my enjoyment of the film for some reason, but interestingly I find myself remembering the movie as if the characters had spoken English.
There are a couple of lessons that can be learned from the film, but I'll save that for another post.
See it! You won't be disappointed if you don't cling to expectations based on the press and enjoy it for what it is, and something this controversial doesn't come around that often.
>>By Harper (Tuesday, 1 Jul 2003 03:26)
I don't think that one of the men at the beginning of the film was Pierre (though my girlfriend does..) - he just doesn't look like him. Besides, that conversation happens right after the murder in the Rectum takes place.
I think that what the naked bald guy says is very relevant to the film's story: he says "time destroys everything", and his friend says to him that "the devil is in each and every one of us" and that "there is no wrong or right, there are only facts."
personally I was shocked by the movie and I don't think that the categories of "good" or "bad" can apply to it. But I do think that it is a sort of moral duty to watch this film so that we can get the best approximation to what a horrible thing a rape is - that's very important.
>>By Guy (Sunday, 6 Jul 2003 22:48)
I'm going to try and clear up some queries.
1) The initial conversation at the start between the old naked man and another random person is, while not directly affecting the plot, relevant to the theme. The old man is indeed a character from Noe's previous film.
2) This conversation occurs before the ambulance van arrives, there is no "backwards cut" between the old man and the club, he lives above or near it and hears the ambulance and police vans as they arrive.
3) If you pay attention to detail you'll notice that the person that gets his skull smashed in is a rather well built individual wearing a black shirt with no otherwise distinguishing characteristics. However, in the rape scene, the "pimp / murderous rapist" is wearing a gold shirt beneath his brown jacket. You will also notice that he has a rather peculiar nose that seems to descend straight from his forehead, similar to a boxer who has had his nose beaten in a few too many times.
In the Rectum scene you notice that the man on the right is wearing an unbuttoned gold shirt and sports the same distinctive nose, but it is his friend that eventually gets his skull destroyed.
If a larger proportion of reviewers actually took note of that last fact I don't believe they would be so quick to write the film off as formulaic in any way. It contributes greatly to the "one thing prompts the next" / causality thematic elements and the impossibility of defining one "correct" justice.
>>By Emamio (Saturday, 19 Jul 2003 05:30)
Another Detail:
Le Tenia smiles after watching his compatriot's skull crushing.
>>By Emamio (Saturday, 19 Jul 2003 05:42)
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