Irreversible

[Kev Owens]

Watched Irreversible for the first time last night...

jesus...

...this is the most shocking film I've ever seen. I felt the need to say that because I'm still thinking about now. It seems made to be difficult to watch, I can't really say any more, but see it. And I'm interested to know what anyone else thinks who has seen it.

<font color="#a62a2a" size="1">[ November 29, 2004 07:59 AM: Message edited by: Kev O. ]</font>

[jb_617]

I saw that film last year sometime. Yeah, shocking is right on. But also, very, very good in my opinion.


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I got my first Christmas card on Saturday. It's November for crying out loud!

[twister!]

I haven't seen it but a friend of mine did when it came out - he said it was very good although he said he almost walked out after the first ten minutes and he's one of the least shockable people I know.

I didn't really fancy it from what I'd read about it.

[Kev Owens]

I just don't know what to make of it. I was impressed by the realism through the long takes, the acting, the dark world the film creates...

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The rape scene... ok, as the revenge scene has been shown first to try and attain some balance this scene is as if not more brutal than that infamous fire extinguisher scene. But in my entire life of watching films this is first time that I've really thought 'that's too much'. I can't believe I feel so strongly about it, and perhaps that's the point, but I just wanted to know if other people felt as strongly about it. OK, people see something like this and declare it as a masterpiece (Jonathan Ross stand up) but is there any point to it or is it just a pretentious movie that lives on the shock value?

[twister!]

That's exactly what I thought when I read about it and is why I didn't go to see it.

[eidde]

yeah SPOILERS below maybe


Its pretty gimmicky I suppose in hindsight - maybe 3 gimmicks in all, that make up the whole film:
1 - all the scenes play out in reverse order
2 - each single scene is shot with one long take
3 - the truly awful rape scene
Id say I was as shocked as you were, and Ive seen a lot of 'shocking' movies, just proves that there is always another boundary to cross...
But I thought it works as a movie really well, in someways its a shame its so shocking, because thats all a lot of people may get from it and not see anything else.
Technically its a brilliant acheivement. As the story unfolds (Or rather folds) you get such a sinking feeling - watching happy innocent scenes, with the knowledge of foresight (if you like) knowing how this bubble is going to break. I found the 'final' scene in the film tear jerking, because its the start of the story and they have no idea what is going to happen to them. So that whole reverse idea works really well at playing emotions.
The scenes in the club at the beginning are brilliant, it looks like a scene from hell, I found that club really convincing and the whole fire extinguisher thing a pretty minor moment actually.
The single shot stuff flows really well it makes the film seem seemless, I suppose you get that documentary-ish feeling of being an observer but also it feels like you are there with them, accompanying them on there mission. Only since everyone in the film is living time backwards it emphasises the empathy you may have with the characters....

Anyway, yep I agree, pretty shocking, I dont know if its a masterpeice, the rape scene unbalanced the movie a little for me. Its 10 minutes long! Kind of overshadows a lot of the acheivement in my mind.

Still.....

[miker]

I haven't seen Irreversible, but perhaps Memento is of a similar vein and less shocking? Certainly Memento is another film that plays in reverse and is a great achievement in story design IMO.

[TJ_the_director]

I own a copy of "Irreversable".

these are my thoughts:

I liked the gritty "look" and light setups. Big thumbs up to whoever did this.

The rape scene was interesting but an overkill IMO.

This movie IMO was ruined by the firehosing effect with the camera. It was a bold idea that did not work. I wanted to hit the director over the head with a tripod. [img]eek.gif[/img]

If the director had used a tripod the editor may have been able to put together a GREAT film with the footage they shot. Firehosing ruined everything.

(Still, the film may be worth a looksie to forumalate your own opinion of that technique.)

[deanl]

Hey there.

I also think they.. "cheated" with the use of sound in this flick. At the start when they constantly play that low frequency drone that friggin riot police use to make crowds of people feel sick.

I kinda felt it was a cheap trick to force the audience to feel something that to be honest, the visuals alone should have been able to do.

But film is about sound and pictures so I guess it's a valid tool.

I would say the best thing about the flick was the blending of cgi and prosthetics. It was pretty much flawless.

Story was of course generic crap we've seen a million times.

But they told it in an interesting way I guess.


Despin out.

[assyrix]

Pretty bad. Meanest moment (i.e. when a whole host of people got up and left the cinema hastily) was the pimp kicking the shit out of Alex after having fucked her up the ringer. Not as bad as Salo, though, but way better made.

I was quite intrigued - reversing the chronology actually resulted in a happy ending for the film. Nifty.