"Irreversible" is a film almost too intense to handle in one sitting. Yes, it is, at certain points, very explicitly sexual. Yes, it is, at certain points, sickeningly violent. But is it a morally abrupt film? Hell no.
"Irreversible" opens with the end credits and almost seamlessly works backward through the horrific night it is set on. The film is so masterfully shot and edited, that the camerawork is as hypnotising as it is nauseating. It gets gradually less frantic as the film goes on, but the first 20 or 30 minutes are shot as though we are on the brutal comedown of a huge drug binge or we are on the verge of fainting.
People have criticised Gaspar Noe for many things; most superficially, his incredibly graphic and unflinching depiction of rape in this film. For the uninitiated, the rape scene is around 8 or 9 minutes long... it's too much. It's completely and utterly repulsive. We, as a whole audience, want to turn away, we don't want to see as much as we do see. But violence needs to repulse us to be effective, and I'll be damned if it doesn't effect anyone on at least some level. He has also been criticised of being homophobic... oh no, not at all. Some character's may be, but not the director nor the film.
"Irreversible" is a staggering, gritty and real film... but it's necessary. We need films like this to wake up an audience from thinking violence is easy to watch. I would completely understand if someone wouldn't want to see this film, and rightly so; but for those who think they could stomach it, it's definitely not exploitative or done for shock value. It's an amazing film, with an emotional scope larger than anticipated, and the aforementioned scene (plus another infamous scene involving a fire extinguisher) have artistic and psychological merit.
This film gives us the scourge and scum of humanity, and doesn't dress it up or placate us.
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