Frequently topping lists of the most controversial movies of all time, Gaspar Noé’s Irreversible (2002) proves to be a film that actually deserves its tag. Films are all too often labelled as shocking in a bid to drum up controversy and put bums on seats when in actual fact they just sound worse than they actually are. (Whilst all having their moments, A Serbian Film, Antichrist and Ichi the Killer fall smack bang into this category). Irreversible proves to be deeply upsetting, difficult to watch, and actually shocking whilst all the while actually having something to say. This isn’t shock for the sake of shock.
The film follows couple Alex (Monica Bellucci), her boyfriend Marcus (Vincent Cassel) her ex Pierre (Albert Dupontel) on a night out. After an argument with Marcus, Alex leaves a party alone and is brutally raped and beaten in an underpass. The act of violence breeds more violence when Marcus and Pierre then head out to find the rapist and get revenge. Crucially the film is told in a reverse order like Memento and 5x2 and opens with the brutal act of vengeance, giving the film a mood and tone that gradually shifts the characters from hell to heaven, starting with violence and ending with a romantic bedroom scenario.
Newsweek reported that this was the most walked out movie of the year. The first half hour of the film has a background noise with a frequency of 28Hz (low frequency, almost inaudible), similar to the noise produced by an earthquake. It causes nausea, sickness and vertigo and added to apparently achieve these reactions. 200 walked out of the Cannes screening while three had to be carried. It’s clear to see why. If you stay past the brutal act of violence at the start of the film then the 9-minute rape sequence proves just as difficult to sit through. And so they should be. Through these sequences Noé brings up the point that if we’re complaining that the rape scene is too horrible and the violence too disgusting, it says more about what we’re used to as an audience than it does about Noé’s decision to include them. Irreversible is a film that confronts the audience head on and challenges them to think about what we accept on the cinema screen and why.
Aside from the controversy, Noé’s trademark visuals continue to dazzle. Just as his camera floated around Japan and in and out of everything and anyone in sight in his latest, the mesmerising Enter the Void (2010), in Irreversible the camera has just as much personality. It frantically bounces around, desperate to follow the action with images spinning into a disorientating blur when travelling back in time. For a film with content that makes you want to look away, his style can’t help but ruthlessly grip your gaze.
Irreversible is a must see film that truly shocks but only to make you think. By showing events in reverse order, Noé forces you to assess the gross acts in the film in a context that attempts to prove that violence only breeds violence. Alongside Enter the Void (I have not yet seen his first film, I Stand Alone (1998)), and Irreversible Gaspar Noé has established himself as one of the most important directors working today and one creating engaging films with a truly unique vision and style. One can only imagine and anticipate what he will produce in his next venture, a segment involving an exorcism in the anthology movie 7 Days in Havana to be released in next year.
For those who see the film and regard it as empty attempt at shock, Roger Ebert has written a useful review that outlines the importance of its reverse order. Check it out here - http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20030314/REVIEWS/303140303/1023
No comments:
Post a Comment