Movie Review : Irreversible

Enough people have talked about THOSE scenes, so I'm not going to add anything apart from agreeing that they were extremely violent, very painful to watch, and in fact at times I did have to look away from the screen because I could not take it.

Okay, with that taken care of, we can now concentrate on the rest of the film. Overall, I thought the film was pretty well made. It was not an enjoyable film at all (you have to be pretty weird to actually have fun watching this film), but it was a very poignant, emotional film.

I'm going to assume you have clicked on some of those links, so you know who the characters are.

This first half of the movie is sheer hell. The camera twist and turns in unpredictable ways. If you dont get totally dizzy, you will at least get a feeling of nausea. It starts off with a scene with two men searching a gay S&M club for a guy called 'The tapeworm'. Here the sound effects really get going with a heavy growling soundtrack, and by now you will be positively sick. Which is just as well, because its followed by that violent murder scene. The next scene shows these guys searching for this club, and we soon realise that the movie is going backwards from end to start. Soon enough, you are sick of the camera, and wish it would stabilize, which it does, and you quickly regret it, because you are left to see the 9 minute long rape scene. Like I said, I wont say much about this scene because everyone else has commented enough. See the links at the start of this post.

Once thats over, the camera settles down, and the story quickly turns from violent to touching. We see life as it was before it disintegrated. We see everyone talking in the subway on the way to the party. And, in probably one of the most touching scenes, we see Alex find out that she is pregnant. In the back of our mind, we already know how things are going to end, and that makes this scene all the more heart wrenching. The stark contrast between the two halves of the movie create even more emotional discord in the viewer. The only jarring thing in the whole movie was the ending, where there is a strobing light that quickly increases in frequency. I felt like my head was about to explode. I have no idea why that was included.

The camera work and cinematography was good. You could easily get the feeling of calm or unrest just by viewing the movements of the camera. The dialogue, though banal at times, was also very natural in some areas. The conversation in the subway in particular had a great, believable flow to it. The acting was exceptional. All three actors were very natural. In particular, the lovemaking scene at the end was so relaxed and even paced like I have never seen in a movie before. At times you could almost feel as if you were inside the movie. The sound was great too. From the industrial growls during the start to the calm soothing music at the end, the music talked to you and set the mood excellently.

All in all, this movie was well made. You wont enjoy it, but you will be satisfied. You wont laugh, and you will cry. But if you can handle it, it will be an experience you might never get at a cinema theatre. And like it or hate it, you will never forget it.