Irréversible (2002)

User Rating:

7.3/10   

Director:

Gaspar Noé

Writer:

Gaspar Noé (writer)

Release Date:

22 May 2002 (France)

Genre:

Crime | Drama | Mystery | Thriller

Tagline:

Le temps détruit tout - Time destroys everything

Plot:

Events over the course of one traumatic night in Paris unfold in reverse-chronological order as the...

Plot Keywords:

Revenge | Rapist | Night | Attraction | Kissing

Awards:

2 wins & 5 nominations

Cast

Monica Bellucci	...	Alex
Vincent Cassel	...	Marcus
Albert Dupontel	...	Pierre
Jo Prestia	...	Le Tenia
Philippe Nahon	...	Philippe
Stéphane Drouot	...	Stéphane
Jean-Louis Costes	...	Fistman
Michel Gondoin	...	Mick
Mourad Khima	...	Mourad
Hellal	...	Layde
Nato	...	Commissaire
Fesche	...	Chauffeur Taxi
Jara-Millo	...	Concha
Le Quellec	...	Inspecteur
Giami	...	Isabelle

Also Known As:

Irreversible (USA)

Runtime:

97 min | Canada:99 min (Toronto International Film Festival)

Country:

France

Language:

French | Spanish | Italian | English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

DTS | Dolby Digital

Certification:

Portugal:M/18 | Argentina:18 | Peru:18 | Brazil:18 | Iceland:16 | Canada:18+ (Québec) | Canada:R (Alberta/British Columbia/Manitoba/Nova Scotia/Ontario) | Australia:R | Austria:18 | Denmark:15 | Finland:K-18 | France:-16 | Germany:18 | Hong Kong:III (cut) | Ireland:18 | Italy:VM18 | Japan:R-18 | Netherlands:16 | New Zealand:(Banned) (video rating) | New Zealand:R18 (film festival rating) | Norway:18 | Singapore:R(A) (original rating) | Singapore:R21 (re-rating) | South Korea:18 (cut) | Spain:18 | UK:18

Filming Locations:

Buttes Chaumont, Paris 19, Paris, France

Company:

120 Films

Trivia:

The entire film was shot on Super 16, telecined to high-def video for color tweaking and editing, and then exported to Super 35. For many of the handheld shots, the director used the smallest existing 16mm camera, the Minima.

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: When Alex rolls over onto her back while lying in bed with Marcus, a pillow beside her head is pulled out of the lower left frame, clearly by some crew member, so as not to obscure her face.

Quotes:

[On getting revenge for Alex]
Mourad: This is a man's business. No pussies allowed.

Movie Connections:

Spoofed in "Family Guy: Peter's Daughter (#6.7)" (2007)

Soundtrack:

Symphony No. 7 in A Major op. 92

Makes an irreversible feeling...

Cinema is a multifaceted medium, with its limits extending in various dimensions…What I felt after watching Irreversible is, this movie is staged at the edge of one of the possible dimensions. I don't think another movie can be crueler. I was warned enough by the information I got from IMDb and I was determined to finish it what ever comes. The spinning camera work and the intentionally added noise made me literally sick, (may be because I am sensitive) but I persisted to continue. I read so many threads here in IMDb saying many people turned on watching the rape. To me, it seemed unattractively cruel, and I don't know whether it is close to reality as I have never witnessed or experienced a rape. But my conscience tells me, it is the worst thing a man can do. What more, I could not continue without a break. The entire story is told backwards, and if you see it from the end, in the reverse order, the murder at the Rectum is a real slap on the face, for who all turned on watching the rape.

I haven't seen another movie by Casper Noe, but this one was very powerful indeed. This will make you hate the heinous crime like a rape or a murder, even more intensely as you do now. I remember seeing a movie by Hitchcock, The torn Curtain, in which he shot a murder scene, to show how difficult it is and how cruel you need to be to murder another human being. Irreversible evokes a same feeling; it tells you how cruel you need to be, to be so.

I appreciate the intention. But, I don't agree, presenting all the graphic details as the only way to evoke a similar emotion or feeling. I will mention another movie here, Bhoothakkannadi (eye lens), a movie made in Malayalam, my mother tongue. It was so powerful and it evoked a similar feeling in me, against humiliation and crimes like rape without delineating all those cruelty in detail. Irreversible, in a sense, diminish your soul rather than ameliorating it, what an art form is really meant to do. It even made me to hate the entire medium of cinema for a few days, and I recovered because I have an immutable faith in the potential of cinema. This is not a film to enjoy. You may not like this. I don't like this movie. But still I say it is powerful, as it says something very clearly.