Irreversible (2002)

"Time destroys everything."

If approached by a man who informs you that he can tell you of your future would you want him to go on? Are we happy to live our lives not knowing what lurks around the corner or would we prefer to know? Decide for yourself.

Irreversible tells the chronological story of a couple, Marcus (Vincent Cassel) and Alex (Monica Bellucci) and their best friend and Alex's ex-partner Pierre (Albert Dupontel). Marcus and Alex are deeply in love. Alex has just found out that she is pregnant and Marcus is clearly delighted at the prospect. The two are the epitome of happiness. The trio are spending the night at a house party. Whilst there, Marcus high on drugs, and probably drunk as well, acts very flirtatiously with other women, much to the distaste of Alex who informs him that she is leaving the party and intends to take a taxi home. After struggling to cross a busy road she is told by a passer-by to take the underground passageway, which she does. Whilst beneath the road, Alex is brutally raped and beaten for a lengthy nine minutes. A while later, Marcus discovers her body being wheeled onto the back of an ambulance and is informed by the paramedic that Alex is in a coma. Incensed, Marcus and Pierre are led on a revenge quest to find the perpetrator, which eventually leads the pair to a gay bar called The Rectum.

However, where Irreversible differs from most films is that, like Christopher Nolan's Memento, it tells this story in reverse chronological order. The first 45 minutes of Gasper Noe's highly controversial 2002 effort are tough going and many film-goers won't make it past them. Everything you can think of that is often deemed morally repugnant is included here; explicit homosexual language and content, racism, savage and brutal violence and more which culminates in the punishing unbroken, nine minute long rape scene which is unbearable to watch. Noe refuses to take his camera away from the attack, subjecting the viewer to nine of the longest minutes you are likely to ever sit through. Heads have to be turned away, eyes have to be closed but still, the sound of Alex screaming at the top of her lungs and the aggressive tone of the rapist's voice as he asks her to call him 'Daddy' refuse to go away. And all this occurs after we have already sat through another static shot focused on Pierre as he beats a man who he thinks is the rapist, several times over the head with a fire extinguisher.

The rest of the film which tells the beginning of the film chronologically actually make for pleasant viewing. The scenes on the Metro make for some light-hearted, even humorous moments as Pierre tries to figure out why Alex didn't rate him in bed. At the very end (the beginning) we see Marcus and Alex at their most comfortable which each other. The chemistry is excellent, unsurprisingly so seeing as the pair were married in real life (and still are).

I began my review by raising a relevant question regarding whether we would like to be able to know our futures and I think this is a major reason why Noe decided to reverse the chronology like he does. This isn't a film that aims to show us the happiness and then shock us into seeing everything fall apart for the pair. The shocks come at the very start, before we really even feel anything for the characters. In actual fact, Marcus is the first character that we see being overtly violent, yet he is not the evil here.

By getting the shocks 'out of the way' so to speak, Noe gives us time to reflect on what has happened (or what will eventually come to happen). For example, at the party, Alex now comes across as vulnerable, in a way that she wouldn't have done had the film played out in order. Her perfect body and revealing dress have us wishing it was otherwise. Some of the conversations hint at things that are yet to come and the colour of red on the wall of the house from the party that we see just before Alex leaves act as a warning of what is about to take place.

If you can overlook the film's brutality, on a technical level the film is very impressive. The swirling cameras and pulsating sound effects create a tense atmosphere which brilliantly illustrates the chaos surrounding the search for the rapist undertaken by Marcus and Pierre. The conversations are mostly improvised, heightening the sense of realism. The twelve or thirteen scenes that make up the film are all shot in a single take each (even if clever editing helps to make it this way).

I'm unsure on it's rewatchability and whether it will be as affective second time around, once you are already familiar with how it unfolds. Regardless, this is an impressive film and an original one at that. It's a film that aims to show just how thin of a thread happiness hangs on and how quickly that thread can be broken and lives altered forever and it's quite unsettling to see quickly Gasper Noe thinks that can happen.


Rating: 8.5/10