Irreversible [DVD] [2003] [Region 1] [US Import] [NTSC]

A film about male rage? A savage critique of the penis? A warning about the consequences of revenge? Not in my opinion. It's a film about gratification, lust and depravity, among other things. By some standards (conventional standards if you like) Marcus, Pierre and Alex are very depraved - their drinking, public graphic discussion of sex, Marcus' desire to sodomise Alex, and his drug taking, to cite some examples. Tenia takes it to a whole new level though and really tests the boundaries! It represents (to me anyway) a society in a state of total moral decay, from the more acceptable end of the scale (the party for example), through prostitution, the S+M gay club, to outright brutal rape and torture. We are left to make our own sense of the events and the characters. Noé makes no comment or moral judgement. I thought it interesting that the film company created for the production is called '120'. As in the Marquis de Sade's '120 Days of Sodom'? Surely. Anyone who is familiar with the behaviour and literature of the 18th century French Libertines will see this angle of personal pleasure weighed against the suffering of others, albeit the concept is taken to an extreme here. After the rape scene Tenia lays back and says 'awesome', reinforcing that the experience was an ultimate pleasure for him. An archetypal sadist! Sadly, far worse things than this happen on a daily basis throughout the world. This is a sordid modern tale indeed. I've given it 4 stars (how can you give a movie like this a star rating?) because technically it's very well conceived and shot (as other reviewers have discussed very adequately), but I'm not sure I liked it, my initial reaction was revulsion and disgust (I guess that's good!) but that is changing all the time now as I reflect on this movie... There is an argument that it shows the dehumanising tendency of unbridled lust, desire, vengeance and violence but the film could certainly also can be seen as graphic voyeurism. Sade reinvented for the cinema era???

I have owned this film for several years, but have only watched it once- that seems to be enough for now.

It's just such an assault on the senses, sickening, beautiful and horrible, that a repeat viewing never seems appealing. But this is as it should be, with the subject matter. Hollywood infantilises and casualises sex and violence, numbing us to the realities of these things in the guise of entertainment.

Noe has no truck with this use of cinema as sedative, always wanting to grab the viewer by the throat and show us something that reminds us we are alive. The violence here is convincingly horrible, and the infamous rape scene I found very difficult not to turn away from- and I've watched some fairly extreme films in my time.

If you've been curious enough to look this film up, you owe it to yourself to go ahead and see it. Perhaps just not as a first date movie, though...

After reading a quite a few reviews for this film it seems that there are many that have missed the point completely. I actually saw this film yesterday and honestly I cannot seem to shake it from my mind.Yes its true there are 2 main scenes, that once witnessed will stay with you for a very long time. That being said the few scenes that you see after the the initial violence is just as important to the story as are the controversial ones.
Someone mentioned that the rape scene would be completely unwatchable for a woman which I thought a bit misguided being a woman myself. Yes it is a very difficult scene to sit through but I think any decent,good human being would would feel the same thing regardless of gender. I will say though there is no actual way to prepare for this scene as I tried to do. I remember reading how 'Irreversible' had the worst scene of rape ever depicted on screen and automatically did not believe it as the same had been said for the scene in 'A ClockWork Orange' and also the original 'The last house on the left'. I personally thought that those 'scenes' were very poorly acted and so never actually felt anything for the character or what they were going through and in turn found the scenes completely laughable. This doesn't happen in this film. It completely lives up to the hype surrounding it. You will definitely have an idea of what to expect before the film begins but these ideals will be completely blown away within 20 minutes of watching.

Top marks must go to all actors involved especially Cassel, Bellucci and the guy that plays the part of the 'baddie' La Tenia. He plays his part so well that I don't think that I have ever greeted a character with such disdain and revulsion.
So to sum up if you appreciated all types of films, from the ones that make you laugh out loud, cry or absolutely terrorize the hell out of you, like I do and are always up for trying out something new then watch this movie and then watch it again to truly appreciate it. Then come on here and let us nosey parkers (me) know what you think!
Enjoy:0)