Reviews of the film "Irreversibility" can be found the most controversial, because this is one of the most famous and scandalous works of the cult French director Gaspard Noet. The dramatic thriller was released in 2002. The main roles in it were played by Monica Bellucci, Albert Dupontel, Vincent Cassel.
About the picture
Among the positive and negative reviews of the film "Irreversibility" it is always difficult to establish the truth, to understand why this picture is really good? Or this is a work done for the sake of scandal and shocking the public.
It is interesting that the tape is built as unusual as possible, the actions in it unfold in the reverse chronological order. Its premiere took place in the main competition of the Cannes Film Festival, which was already the 55th in a row. It was not possible to defeat the work of Gaspard Noe, the historical drama Roman Polanski's The Pianist was recognized as the best then.
Moreover, the French picture shocked many viewers so much that about two hundred and fifty people defiantly left the room without having finished watching it. Some of them even needed medical attention, they were so shocked by what they saw on the screen.
After this scandalous premiere, many remembered the words of the press secretary of the city fire department Gerard Kurtel, who admitted that this has never happened at the Cannes Film Festival for a quarter century of his service. It turned out to be unbearable to watch individual scenes even for professionals, said the fireman, who has to deal with pain and suffering almost daily.
During the rape and murder scenes, which are shown in great detail, twelve people lost their feelings in the hall at once. This is one of the first and most vivid reviews of the movie "Irreversibility", and made by non-professionals.
Critics themselves gave the film a very mixed assessment. Those who remained in the hall until the very end, as a result, applauded standing to its creators.
Technical features
It is worth recognizing that after such an unexpected and provocative debut in Cannes, increased interest around the world was riveted to the picture. Reviews about the plot of the film "Irreversibility" of 2002 often turned out to be so opposite that many viewers preferred to personally see the picture in order to give it an individual assessment.
The tape consists of thirteen episodes of various timing, which are mounted in reverse chronological order. It is interesting that each of the episodes was shot without mounting glues inside, which creates a realistic effect of presence, which is why what is happening on the screen is perceived more sharply and naturally.
Work with camera
In most cases, episodes are mounted through blackouts. This creates the illusion of the continuity of the whole action, even despite the reverse chronology present.
The camera of the operator is constantly in motion. At the same time, it stops only once. In the rape scene, she finds herself at the floor level. To give an additional effect of non-linearity of what is happening on the screen, the credits are shown at the very beginning of the 2002 film Irreversibility.
Plot
Briefly retelling the film in chronological order, it begins with the phrase "Time destroys everything." All the action takes place in only one day. The main character, named Alex, played by Monica Bellucci, tells her husband Marcus (actor - Vincent Cassel) about a strange dream. Last night she dreamed that she was walking along a red corridor, which at the very end was divided into two parts.
She later does a test and finds out that she is pregnant. Together with Marcus and her ex-husband Pierre (actor - Albert Dupontel) Alex goes to a party. During the holiday, she has a conflict with her husband, she goes home alone, but never gets to her apartment.
Caught in an empty underground passage in which red lamps flicker along the walls, an unknown assaults her. A sadistic homosexual brutally beats and rapes her.
Pierre and Marcus decide to take revenge on the criminal on their own, without contacting the police. They question the representatives of the local bottom of society until they find a rapist in a gay club. But by mistake, they confuse him with another gay, who is much stronger than Marcus. Hardly having raped the husband of the main character, he breaks his arm. At the last moment, Pierre manages to intervene in the situation. He manages to hit the opponent with a fire extinguisher on the head, breaking his face of the skull. A man dies, and a real criminal is nearby all this time. He stands on the right side of the fighting men.
Marcus goes to the hospital after this incident, and Pierre is detained by police on murder charges.
Denouement
In the next scene, the viewer watches the conversation of two men. One of them admits that he was arrested due to having sex with his own daughter. Then they complain about the street noise, which, in their opinion, is heard from a gay club located nearby.
In the last episode of the picture, which is the first in the chronology of the film itself, viewers see a pregnant Alex who falls asleep in the middle of a sunny summer day. It is likely that all the events that occurred were only her nightmare, but in reality did not occur. In the final scene, she reads Irishman John Dunn's philosophical treatise, “An Experiment with Time,” and then in the elevator retells the thoughts she learned from there.
Rape scene
It is believed that the scenes of violence in the film "Irreversibility" made a name for the director Gaspar Noe. Many were struck by the frankness and naturalism with which the rape of the main character in the underpass was removed.
The viewer observes the 10-minute timing of this monstrous action without gluing, from a static camera, in all terrible details. In addition to anal rape and beating a woman, the viewer is shocked by a passerby in the background, who immediately runs away, not even trying to help the heroine.
Another scene from the movie Irreversibility, striking with cruelty and naturalism, is a murder. He is committed by a friend of a raped heroine at the rectum gay club. He hits the opponent with a fire extinguisher on the head, literally spreading his face on the floor while the rest of the visitors are watching the execution.
When filming these two scenes, the director used digital technology. For example, the rapist’s genitals, the blood on Alex’s face, and the crushed skull of a visitor to the rectum gay club were later added to the movie using a computer.
Interesting Facts
The director himself admitted that before filming the film he watched the scene of a real execution. Then he realized that in the cinema he had never seen anything like it, deciding to fix this flaw. Most often, the viewer watches a quick death on the screen, but in reality it is not so easy to take a person’s life. That is why in Irreversibility, the murder takes so long.
Many experts believe that it was the sound design that became one of the main reasons why viewers left the hall for the first half hour. All the initial scenes are accompanied by a low-frequency sound, which vaguely resembles the noise of an earthquake. For many viewers, he caused slight nausea, anxiety, dizziness.
Noe himself became not only a director, but also one of the operators of the picture. In addition, he starred in a cameo. In the club "Rectum" he plays a masturbating client.
Interestingly, at the time of the film, Monica Bellucci was married to Vincent Cassel.
Producer
For French and Argentinean director Noé, who was born in 1963, Irreversibility was the second film of his career. True, his first tape, entitled “One Against All,” released four years earlier, went almost unnoticed, although it received a consolation prize in Cannes.
After the sensational "Irreversibility", he immediately became one of the masters of modern cinema. Since then, Noah has released three more full-length tapes.
In 2009, the dramatic thriller Entrance into the Void was released. This is an attempt to comprehend the reality surrounding us by the method of artistic means. The plot is based on the story of a brother and sister who lost their parents when they were little and now decided to move to Tokyo.
In 2015, the director removes the drama "Love". She has many sex scenes, most of which were improvisation. His latest work at the moment is the drama Ecstasy about graduates of the Academy of Modern Dance who meet at a farewell party when unimaginable chaos begins.
Monica Bellucci
For the Italian actress, this role became one of the most scandalous in her career. The film Irreversibility with Monica Bellucci shocked many of her fans.
It is believed that this was one of her most difficult works due to the prolonged scene of violence and the use of already outdated graphic means. Interestingly, the film "Irreversibility" with Monica Bellucci Noé was shot without the original script. In fact, he was all an improvisation, which also created certain difficulties.
After this role, the actress, many even predicted complete oblivion in the cinema, but this did not happen. After the movie Irreversibility, Bellucci played Maria Magdalene in Mel Gibson’s drama The Passion of Christ, Persephone in the action films of the Wachowski brothers Matrix: Reloaded and Matrix: Revolution, the mirrored fantasy queen Terry Gilliam Brothers Grimm, Lucia Serereki Sam Mendes "007: Spectrum", the bride in the drama of Emir Kusturica "On the Milky Way".
Vincent Cassel
Vincent Cassel in the movie "Irreversibility" plays the husband of the main character. He really was married to Bellucci, the couple broke up in 2013.
Kassel is a famous French actor who made his film debut back in 1991 in the film "Keys to Paradise."
Among his most famous movie roles is the dramatic action movie Jean-Francois Richet, “Enemy of the State No. 1,” in which he played the role of French gangster of the 70s, Jacques Merin, who robbed banks during his career. For filming in this image, he had to gain 20 kg.
In Steven Soderberg’s crime comedy “Ocean’s 12 Friends,” Kassel showed a passion for capoeira.
Albert Dupontel
A friend of the raped heroine in the film is played by another French actor Albert Dupontel. It is he who brutally kills the visitor of the club "Anus" with the help of a fire extinguisher.
He began his career as a stand-up comedian. It was Irreversibility that brought him popularity. After this picture, he began to be regularly invited to various bright roles.
With Audrey Tatu, he played in the historical drama Jean-Pierre Genet "The Long Engagement", was not nominated for the Cesar Award for his work in the films "Zachs Disease" and "Two Days for the Kill."
Impression
Despite the inconsistency of the picture, a lot of positive reviews about the film "Irreversibility".
Many viewers considered the deep meaning in it, although not all considered it grandiose. Life must be protected, since it can scatter in a second, after which nothing can be changed, because time cannot be returned back.
Bellucci's work was highly appreciated. Critics and viewers unanimously in the reviews of the film "Irreversibility" of 2002 recognized that not every actress could fulfill a similar role.
At the same time, few can sincerely advise you to watch this drama, since it is really difficult to watch what is happening on the screen, but still it is a curious masterpiece that deserves a place in the golden fund of world cinema. For many, this tape has become one of the most unforgettable, becoming both an incomparable and disgusting film.
Negative
A lot of negative reviews about the film "Irreversibility" of 2002. The audience and critics, who demonstratively left the hall during the premiere, did not see any sense in the cruelty demonstrated by him.
The main accusations against the director were formulated in the sense that only through naked bodies and scenes of violence did he manage to do a noticeable job. Without them, his film falls apart into components, from which nothing is already impossible to assemble.
For some, it was unreasonable to make such intentional use of naturalism, as well as the absence of smart and relevant thoughts that many simply did not consider. Many viewers felt that the main thing for which the director worked was the desire to cause a state of shock among those who would watch his work.