Irreversible

This film is absolutely amazing, not in a sense that you will want to watch it over and over again because you probably won't want to watch it again in a very long time, but more in a sense that it makes you face the reality of your own feelings. I have seen twisted movies, and I do not feel this is one of them. You start by being absolutely disgusted by a scene, thinking : ' how can you do that to someone??? ' yet by the end of the movie, you simply want to watch that scene again and enjoy it... Basically, anyone is capable of anything when your loved ones are hurt, and that is the basic truth of human nature.

A fantastic film, very well shot and nicely put together. Cassel's performance is fantastic. The description of the film given here is a plot spoiler as far as i'm concerned. please alter this for the sake of people who are yet to see it.

Gaspar Noé’s account of one evening that spirals horrifically out of control for one young couple is a very difficult film to sit through. As an exercise in bravado and courageous film-making, it’s a great showcase for Noé but it’s also frequently unbearable, opening with a distressingly graphic murder. And then at the midpoint we have Monica Bellucci’s rape scene which is almost impossible to endure and makes “I Spit on Your Grave” look like a picnic. And then out of this agonizing horror – and thanks to its reverse story-telling – there comes a glimmer of hope. Very hard to categorize, it undoubtedly is an important piece. But it’s also the kind of film you’d never want to see more than once.

Some films are made to make you feel uncomfortable about the human condition, like Martyrs, or almost anything by Lars Von Trier. Irreversible is a title that refers not just to the fact that the story is told in reverse, but predominantly the harrowing, irreversible devastation that rape visits upon people's lives.

Much has been made about the lengthy rape scene and the murder at the club - however, these scenes, as hard to watch as they are (and they are), are not necessarily the stand-out scenes.

Not wishing to ruin the experience with spoilers, Noe's camera and sound work tells as much of the story as the script and the actors do. At the climax of the tragedy (which is, of course, where we start), the camera work is nauseously erratic, the sound a cacophonous, confusing assault on the ears, that makes the beating we witness even more difficult to bear than it would be if more conventionally shot.

As we go back to times before the rape ordeal, the style and aesthetics of the film become much more serene - we learn much more about the characters, their relationships, come to understand just why certain characters appeared to be - no, actually, they are - utter monsters at the start of the film. And yet, there is now understanding (if not empathy, sympathy).

The horrific beauty of this film lies in it's conclusion, which is an ideal of calm, content happiness. The fact that we know how this perfect bliss is going to turn out, whilst the characters are utterly ignorant of the horror that lies before them, is the film's genius.

Please be aware, brilliant though this film is, it is not easy to watch, and it will not make you feel warm and squishy inside about human beings. Not by a very, very long shot.