will you go see Irreversible in the cinema?

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I don't think I will even though I am curious about the film and I think the director's, involved actors' - and indeed many film critics' justification/explanation of the disturbing elements of the film (9 minute fixed-camera rape/assault scene chiefly) is reasonable. I'm not sure how bad it really is but based on what I've heard it sounds like one of the most genuinely disturbing things to have been allowed onto celluloid (prompting possibly the biggest number of early 'walkouts' ever at Cannes last year). So basically I am wussing out...and I'm wondering if it would be stupid to watch the film on video/DVD/mpeg but skip the majority of the most brutal scene(s)...surely these things can be left more to the imagination without sacrificing your true understanding of the film and its intentions? I'm certainly more interested in the overall concept of the film and the way it is presented (events in reverse, so the end is a happy couple blissfully unaware that the poor woman will be raped and killed and her fiance will avenge her death at the 'beginning')...

what do you think?

― stevem (blueski), Wednesday, 8 January 2003 22:42 (twenty-two years ago)

I think the idea of the story being in reverse sounds pretty interesting. Agree on the rape scene though, I'd rather watch it on DVD video as I'm likely to wuss out and want to skip it.

It would be interesting to know if the scene adds anything to the film or is generally just exploitative, only read on preview which I can vaguely remember. Has anyone seen it who can say?

― fractal (fractal), Wednesday, 8 January 2003 22:53 (twenty-two years ago)

the defence for the gratuitous scene is that its pure unadulterated confrontation...the director is inviting you to confront this awful sight without compromise, in order to appreciate the horror and sympathise with the victim on an unprecedented level without actually being the victim yourself. and the reasoning is that this happens in the real world, so it should be presented this way on screen.

i'm fascinated by this viewpoint and this method - i think it will be very powerful, although i'm still not sure whether it will really change the opinions of the audience much, in that we all know that violent rape and murder is terrible so what can we really learn from acting the morbid bystander? the mad headfuck thing is i can imagine watching the scene could instil an awful sense of guilt in the viewer's mind...perhaps this is what caused many people to walk out, rather than the fact it was excessive, savage, gory or whatever.

― stevem (blueski), Thursday, 9 January 2003 00:32 (twenty-two years ago)

Noe's belief that people are basicaly irredeemable fuckwads is practically proven by the fact that the hubbub surrounding the rape scene will certainly spike ticket prices. People will want to see it.

― ryan, Thursday, 9 January 2003 01:54 (twenty-two years ago)

(and by that I basically mean that I agree with you.)

― ryan, Thursday, 9 January 2003 01:58 (twenty-two years ago)

Not that it'll come to the theaters where I live, but in any case, I don't think I'd see it - I tried watching 'Seule contre tous' last year and couldn't finish, not because I'm the squeamish type (I quite liked the previous scandal-causing film @ Cannes, 'Trouble Every Day'), but because Noe's entire.. worldview is just misanthropic to the point where, to me, it's not very interesting at all.
SPOILER alert

I think the woman doesn't die though? And one scene I don't want to see is the assailant's face getting smashed in by a fire extinguisher, which I think happens first. ugh.

― daria g, Thursday, 9 January 2003 03:29 (twenty-two years ago)

two months pass...

Revive, just saw it in with high expectations. The murder scene was the worse for me than the rape scene. But the ending, though nice and idyllic, wasn't enough to justify going through the trauma of the early scenes (the camera work is extremely disorienting, and it alone induced mild panic in me). And one more thing, but SPOILER alert is in order first.

In Ebert's review, he said that the guy that gets killed *wasn't* Le Tenia? Which makes the film ten times more dismal.

― Leee (Leee), Tuesday, 25 March 2003 06:02 (twenty-two years ago)

It was here a year or so ago, and I felt like I maybe oughta see it, but I never get around. Truth is there seems to be a big market for "shockbusters" here (ie movies where the number of people who passed out at the Cannes screening is in the press kit) and they often turn out to be real duds. Irreversible seems like it might be better but I suppose I never really felt in the mood.

― slutsky (slutsky), Tuesday, 25 March 2003 06:16 (twenty-two years ago)

It does not make me a good person to say this, but I might go largely to see the audience's response.

If I see the movie at all (reality seems horrific enough at the moment), I'd rather let it have its full impact (or lack there of) in the theatre than to skip over/talk through/make snacks during the most difficult (perhaps gratuitous?) scenes.

― Ryan McKay (Ryan McKay), Tuesday, 25 March 2003 06:20 (twenty-two years ago)

Oh yeah, forgot to meniton, skipping the scenes is counterproductive to watching it, as they serve as two of the three centerpieces of the film.

― Leee (Leee), Tuesday, 25 March 2003 06:52 (twenty-two years ago)

the camera work is extremely disorienting, and it alone induced mild panic in me

this is a reason in itself to go see the movie, plus the music .... Thomas Bangalter (Daft Punk) created 9 new tracks To these creations he added 4 tracks from the wicked Roule EP's 'Tracks On The Rock' 1 & 2 & 'Spinal Scratch' (unreleased on CD).

and I agree that the murder scene is much worse to swallow than the reape scene

― Jan Geerinck (jahsonic), Tuesday, 25 March 2003 07:25 (twenty-two years ago)

(spoilers)

Yes, it was the wrong man the guy killed at the beginning (or the end)of the film. I guess this was the directors way of saying "revenge is never justified." Apart from this (quite shallow) moral I think the film was kind of pointless. Sure it had a huge visceral impact, but the grossness, the camera style and the "story-going-backwards" gimmick (stolen from Memento) didn't manage hide the fact that there was little of substance here. I liked the director's last film (Seul contre tous/I Stand Alone) more, at least that one had a bit of social commentary in it.

― Tuomas (Tuomas), Tuesday, 25 March 2003 08:46 (twenty-two years ago)

I didn't make it through the murder scene; the flashing lights and pulsating music gave me a combination panic attack/epileptic fit, something I've only experienced twice before, once reading a very graphic description of a ritual piercing and once while watching the movie Alive (the plane crash scene) in a friend's living room. Basically, I identified with the scene to a harrowing degree--that's never happened to me, obv, but contemplating it's horrifying enough. Had to be led out of the theater (it was a couple months ago at a preview screening) by a couple of friends. I was a little embarrassed, but they were like "No, we needed to get out of there too!"

I think Tuomas's "quite shallow moral" nails it.

― M Matos (M Matos), Tuesday, 25 March 2003 09:29 (twenty-two years ago)

I saw Alive when it came out and for some reason I was sitting in the front row. Freaked my shit right out.

― slutsky (slutsky), Tuesday, 25 March 2003 16:54 (twenty-two years ago)

Am I the only person that thinks that Irreversible (and the current trend of ultra-shock cinema) is basically Videodrome brought to life? Meaning that the intent isn't just traditional storytelling or characterization, but to provoke subconscious reactions early and often.

Not making a value judgment for or against, it's just an observation...

― Chris Barrus (xibalba), Tuesday, 25 March 2003 18:56 (twenty-two years ago)

I agree, Chris--and it's not a value judgement on my behalf, either.

― M Matos (M Matos), Tuesday, 25 March 2003 22:13 (twenty-two years ago)

one month passes...

Saw it last night. When Vincent Cassel peed in the sink, I thought "now that's a film that breaks all the taboos". Ruined the film for me.

― Frühlingsmute (Wintermute), Saturday, 24 May 2003 13:23 (twenty-two years ago)

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