Irreversible

nacho libre

Has anyone here watched this movie? if so what are your thoughts on it?

biko

Did you? What did you think?

madrab

its a very hard movie to watch, still unsure as to what i think of it

Nick_oliveri

Very disturbing, one scene you might want to fast forward a bit! Other than that, its an ok film. In hindsight, not one i would go out of my way to see.

biko

Imo it's a terrible film. Some gruesome stuff there.
Not for the the fainthearted

daveg

2 very gruesome scenes in it. Possible the worst 2 scenes I've ever seen. Do not remember much else about the film which was possibly the film makers intention.

mithrandir

I had heard a few friends talking about it recently so I decided to check it out knowing full well about the two scenes previously mentioned. That didn't come close to preparing me for it though. Probably the most disturbing scenes I've ever seen, the first which hapeens at the very start of the movie.

In case you don't know, this movie plays backwards (sort of like Memento) although in this case each scene is literally played out before the previous scene when normally it would be played immediately after - quite confusing at first but in the end I quite liked it. As for the movie itself, I thought it was ok but the violence completely overwhelms everything else. Only watch it if you think you can forget about it afterwards as it will leave images in your head that you will want to forget, trust me!

Boston

Oh dear god never watch this film.

Running Bing

An extremely effective film imo. The rape is incredibly disturbing and the director does a great job of showing the horror of the act. As for the other infamous scene I often ask myself was it really necessary to dwell so long? Noe does himself no favours here in the debate about wheter the film is exploitative or not. On the whole I would say it is not, the film has a very definite message and does an excellent job of showing the viciousness and horror of the crime as well as the confusion you would feel in the aftermath if this happened to someone you know.


The structure of the film makes it even more effective as well as you dont have any preconceived notions of the characters and it does'nt use the cheap trick of giving you the information we find out about Alex to heighten the horror of the crime. Rape is just shown for what it is and the scene is all the more effective for it.


It is an extremely difficult film to watch and it is certainly not entertaining. If thats what you watch film's for then definately give it a pass. But if you think you are up for it I would definately recommend.

Running Bing

biko wrote:

Imo it's a terrible film. Some gruesome stuff there.
Not for the the fainthearted

Because of the acts shown or the way they were handled by the director?

PeakOutput

daveg wrote:

2 very gruesome scenes in it. Possible the worst 2 scenes I've ever seen. Do not remember much else about the film which was possibly the film makers intention.

hmmm interesting i consider myself quite desensitised when it comes to things like this.....sounds like a challenge.....is this in the cinema or dvd or what????

ballroom blitz

I liked this film apart from the two scenes mentioned above. Still I dont think I'd watch it again. Its definitely not a film for everyone but if you are into good acting/directing and unusual films its worth a look. Its on DVD.

Running Bing

PeakOutput wrote:

hmmm interesting i consider myself quite desensitised when it comes to things like this.....sounds like a challenge.....is this in the cinema or dvd or what????

If you watch any film becuase you think it will be a "challenge" you will likely just be disappointed. The violent scene is visually disturbing but the main rape scene is more psychologically disturbing.

This is not an exploitation film, this is a serious film, with a serious message. Imo it should not be trivialised by people who have been "desensitised" looking for a "challenege".

Boston

PeakOutput wrote:

hmmm interesting i consider myself quite desensitised when it comes to things like this.....sounds like a challenge.....is this in the cinema or dvd or what????

I think the fact that both scenes go on for so long, and their both completely in focus and on camera is the problem. You see a lot of very quick, very graphic, violence in main stream cinema, nothing like this. Also the nature of the film (Seeing the results before the event) means you know something terrible is coming before it happens.

nacho libre

biko wrote:

Did you? What did you think?

quit it. I asked first.;)

J.R.HARTLEY

PeakOutput wrote:

hmmm interesting i consider myself quite desensitised when it comes to things like this.....sounds like a challenge.....is this in the cinema or dvd or what????

its dvd, i'd have considered myself desensitised too however i was left with chills up and down my spine from those two scenes especially, more than quite disturbing

r3nu4l

I personally loved this film. The ending (start of the couples day) is quite tragic when you discover the secret she is holding. For me there is nothing titillating about the rape scene, it is brutal, vicious and terrible in a way that really should be shown on film.

As for the fire extinguisher scene, the camera work and lighting is very effective in inducing a sense of claustrophobia and dizziness but what really added to it was the 28 Hz frequency that induces feelings of nausea.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0290673/trivia

IMDB wrote:

The first 30 minutes of the film has a background noise with a frequency of 28Hz (low frequency, almost inaudible), similar to the noise produced by an earthquake. In humans, it causes nausea, sickness and vertigo. It was the main cause of people walking out of the theaters during the first part of the film in places like Cannes and San Sebastian. In fact, it was added with the purpose of getting this reaction.

I thought the acting and directing was typical of French film and all the better for it. I can't imagine a Hollywood version would have been half as powerful.

PeakOutput

Babybing wrote:

If you watch any film becuase you think it will be a "challenge" you will likely just be disappointed. The violent scene is visually disturbing but the main rape scene is more psychologically disturbing.

This is not an exploitation film, this is a serious film, with a serious message. Imo it should not be trivialised by people who have been "desensitised" looking for a "challenege".

love the smarmy remarks after asking a straight forward quetion i have no idea what the film is about and have never heard of it before alot of people here have said its good and that it is very violent........i now want to see it, is that a problem?????

ill worry about the films message afterwords as you should imo

nacho libre

just a note about the film- i watched it last night- does someone enter the tunnel and walk back out upon seeing the rape.
I think that the rape scene should be shown to anyone who tries to trivialise rape or use nauseating euphemisms(?) like "surprise sex".

It was difficult to watch the drawn out rape scene and i guess that was the intention of the director in making it so long.
I also thought the way it went in reverse chronolgical order made the ending even more poignant. Is it a comment on how your fate is unavoidable? Also about the vicissitudes of life?

r3nu4l

nacho libre wrote:

just a note about the film- i watched it last night- does someone enter the tunnel and walk back out upon seeing the rape?

Yes. I suppose that it's a comment on all of those people who bury their heads in the sand when they come across something they don't want to see. It's exactly the kind of thing you could see happening.

columok

I think Irreversible is a wonderful film. It completely rips apart the usual audience satisfaction in a typical revenge movie by isolating the revenge from the rape and revealing the brutality of both as despicable acts of violence. I felt the film's ending is beautiful and really heightens the tension between it's beginning and end. A tough film but ultimately rewarding. I think Noe undersells himself by describing it as an exploitation film as it feels like so much more. Fantastic soundtrack with the use of beethoven at the end being particularily apt.

311

Can't believe theres a thread about this film ,I ordered it myself after someone mentioned it here.
It's probably the only movie ,I'll never watch a second time.Not because it's crap ,but because it's so real ,you don't want it to happen again.

ianmc38

Irreversible is awful. Not because of the 2 controversial scenes, it's just a terrible terrible movie.

Anima

I thought it was a good movie. Very deep and sometimes hard to watch, especially the sub bass for the first 30 mins. I found that very nauseating and it suited the scenes perfectly.

The fire extinguisher scene threw me off at first as I didn't expect it but after realising what the guy had done later on in the movie, you don't feel as bad. Personnally the bit where that guys arm gets bent the other way seemed more disgusting at the time.

The rape scene is 20 mins long and very disturbing. The sounds especially are truly terrifying. Extremely realistic. I can only imagine the sound team creating the audio track for that scene, "Needs more FAP!".

Also the fact that she lost the child as well was pretty horrible. All in all a very sad movie.

TerrorFirmer

Anima wrote:

The fire extinguisher scene threw me off at first as I didn't expect it but after realising what the guy had done later on in the movie, you don't feel as bad.

The whole point is that he kills the wrong guy. The person that is killed in the club isn't La Tenia at all....

Good movie though. Personally, I found it a bit boring in spots,though the way in which the film was made definitely gets you rethinking the entire notion of violence and those behind it.

daveg

Anima wrote:

I thought it was a good movie. Very deep and sometimes hard to watch, especially the sub bass for the first 30 mins. I found that very nauseating and it suited the scenes perfectly.

The fire extinguisher scene threw me off at first as I didn't expect it but after realising what the guy had done later on in the movie, you don't feel as bad. Personnally the bit where that guys arm gets bent the other way seemed more disgusting at the time.

The rape scene is 20 mins long and very disturbing. The sounds especially are truly terrifying. Extremely realistic. I can only imagine the sound team creating the audio track for that scene, "Needs more FAP!".

Also the fact that she lost the child as well was pretty horrible. All in all a very sad movie.

You ought to use some spoilers there.

Anima

The whole point is that he kills the wrong guy. The person that is killed in the club isn't La Tenia at all....

Really? Didn't remember that at all..

Running Bing

Anima wrote:

Really? Didn't remember that at all..

***Here be some small(ish) spoliers***










Yeah, you even see La Tenia in the scene with a smirk across his face as the guy is getting bashed:mad:


Didnt notice that at all the first time I saw that movie. That opening sequence is so disorientating it is really hard to pay very close attention and even then the guy is hard to recognise.


Thats the one thing that I thought was poor in the film. That point would seem to me to be to be very important but it is not made very clear. Maybe it was just me though:p

Boston

Well its the first thing you see. If it was clear fro mthe start it would kinda mess up the film.

nacho libre

_Brian_ wrote:

Can't believe theres a thread about this film ,I ordered it myself after someone mentioned it here.
It's probably the only movie ,I'll never watch a second time.Not because it's crap ,but because it's so real ,you don't want it to happen again.

why shouldn't there be a thread about it? the film served its function from my perspective if your reaction is the experience of most people who watch it. though, it was a bit frustrating the right guy didn't get his comeuppance but then i suppose that's exactly the point the writer was trying to make.

about the frenetic camera work in the beginning of the movie; i think it is meant to convey the dangerous state of mind of her husband, and it helps to illustrate the chaos that occurs when someone is such a state.

r3nu4l

nacho libre wrote:

about the frenetic camera work in the beginning of the movie; i think it is meant to convey the dangerous state of mind of her husband, and it helps to illustrate the chaos that occurs when someone is such a state.

Yes, the camera work simulates the prevelant reckless anger (and alcohol involvement?) and the use of the colour red in the club indicates blind rage.

The camera work and the 28 Hz frequency helps to induce the nausea that sets the tone for what is a pretty nauseating subject.

nacho libre

r3nu4l wrote:

Yes, the camera work simulates the prevelant reckless anger (and alcohol involvement?) and the use of the colour red in the club indicates blind rage.

The camera work and the 28 Hz frequency helps to induce the nausea that sets the tone for what is a pretty nauseating subject.

I didn't spot that about the colour of the club at all. That's very clever of you to spot it and for the director to do it in the first place.

r3nu4l

Clever? Me? Thanks On the other hand some people might say "you're reading too much into it sh*thead, just watch the film!"

This film has been around a few years now I'm surprised it's only getting a good discussion now. Still, better late than never!

TerrorFirmer

While I don't think there's been any mentionable thread on it before, it has been discussed fairly in depth in other threads....remember talking about it many months ago, at least, and I'm sure that wasn't the first time it had been discussed either! Someone even said they went to see it on a first date...talk about a mood setter. :eek:

Jonesy3110

One word : Yaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaawn

I should probably expand actually,

Irreversable: A movie about a man who kills the guy who raped his girlfriend. Done backwards. 20 of the 97 minutes is a single rape scene. Thats it.

People say Omg amazing movie!! But it's not. The only reason people go on about is because its soooo disturbing. But it's not. So I go back to my original statement: Yaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaawn

311

nacho libre wrote:

why shouldn't there be a thread about it?

Woh there ,easy boy.

I think a thread in a public forum about such a violent movie,is a bit inconsiderate to all it's users.

ixoy

_Brian_ wrote:

Woh there ,easy boy.

I think a thread in a public forum about such a violent movie,is a bit inconsiderate to all it's users.

You're kidding right? It's not inconsiderate, it's perfectly within the bounds of the charter. I've no problem with it being here and would only start frowning if people went into graphic details about the scenes - which they haven't.

"Won't somebody please think of the children!" doesn't apply in this case.

mal1

Bought the irreversible dvd a while ago but only got to watch it tonight. Hard to find words to describe it....i would probably say that it's memorable.

Won't be watching it again for a while but I do agree fully with portraying violence in such a gruesome manner. As it says in the film notes, the violence in irreversible is not a spectacle but rather an ordeal.