When you ask most people the one major aspect that encompasses most children's fiction, most will tell you: "A simplistic story; be it in black-and-white morality, or in an A to B plot structure." Ironically, this definition also describes what critics and viewers both hail as one of the most disturbing movies ever made: Irreversible—and that's why I find the film lacking.
If you know the film's title, then you also know it's one of the (handful) of movies that tells the story backwards. Though there were several lesser known films to do this long before the turn of the century, the one popular example is Memento. The one major difference here is, Memento was essentially just Happy Candy Land Rainforest Rainbow Ride, filled with trite, clean characters, and trite, safe, generic conflicts. When I first started viewing Irreversible, my only thought was: "Dude, this is Memento for adults! Thank God SOMEONE used the telling-the-story-backwards idea with an actually good story." And that's partly true . . .
Irreversible does have some of the rawest, unexplained perverse human behavior every filmed—that is, in the first half hour. Because the movie is reversed, the characters brutal actions aren't explained until the midpoint of the movie, and, until that point, it's downright awesome. You're led to believe the characters are nihilists, causing this mayhem for no reason at all. The gritty environment (Rectum, the hotel, the tunnel) is genuinely gritty—not that cheap gangster shoot-'em-up atmosphere you see in generic crime movies. Then the bad storytelling ax falls and I felt cheated.
After the over-hyped rape scene, the entire movie falls into predictable slasher-revenge-angst plot line; or just downright boring horror. The actions are explained as being revenge for rape (ala The Last House on the Left, I Spit on Your Grave, Straw Dogs, etc., etc.) and the awesomeness of nihilism ends and the cliché storytelling begins. Point blank: the original body of work we're led to believe the movies is, now is revealed as an unoriginal slasher flick. It's like ordering an expensive gourmet Italian pizza, eating a couple bites, and finding out it's really just frozen Save-A-Lot pizza from the local dollar store. And don't even get me started on the so-cliché-I-laughed-out-loud pregnancy test ending . . .
Speaking of the rape scene: it's pretty generic. According to a quick IMDb.com search, there are more than 2,206 movies with a rape plot line, and if I were to do a more advanced search, that number would likely triple. Yes, kids, rape is a disturbing and terrible thing in real life, and I am in no means patronizing the real life event. But, folks, WE'VE SEEN IT IN MOVIES THOUSANDS OF TIMES. What's the big deal? You act as if Irreversible invented the scene or something. It's not any more disturbing or graphic or more weighted than any other rape scene ever filmed.
The cinematography is cute. Spinning cameras, 2001: A Space Odyssey rip-off stylizing and music. I'm sure on a pretentious level this has a deep meaning (time and space and human insight—oh my!—as if we haven't heard that before!), but I'll just take it for face value and call it what it is. Cute cinematography that is both innovative and neat. But calling it "deep" is beyond melodramatic.
So.
Is Irreversible an enjoyable movie? Sure. I guess. It's okay. Watch it on Friday night, go to bed, and, unless you're a pretentious prick, I guarantee you won't remember when you wake up Saturday morning . . . but it killed some time, right?
5/10
If you know the film's title, then you also know it's one of the (handful) of movies that tells the story backwards. Though there were several lesser known films to do this long before the turn of the century, the one popular example is Memento. The one major difference here is, Memento was essentially just Happy Candy Land Rainforest Rainbow Ride, filled with trite, clean characters, and trite, safe, generic conflicts. When I first started viewing Irreversible, my only thought was: "Dude, this is Memento for adults! Thank God SOMEONE used the telling-the-story-backwards idea with an actually good story." And that's partly true . . .
Irreversible does have some of the rawest, unexplained perverse human behavior every filmed—that is, in the first half hour. Because the movie is reversed, the characters brutal actions aren't explained until the midpoint of the movie, and, until that point, it's downright awesome. You're led to believe the characters are nihilists, causing this mayhem for no reason at all. The gritty environment (Rectum, the hotel, the tunnel) is genuinely gritty—not that cheap gangster shoot-'em-up atmosphere you see in generic crime movies. Then the bad storytelling ax falls and I felt cheated.
After the over-hyped rape scene, the entire movie falls into predictable slasher-revenge-angst plot line; or just downright boring horror. The actions are explained as being revenge for rape (ala The Last House on the Left, I Spit on Your Grave, Straw Dogs, etc., etc.) and the awesomeness of nihilism ends and the cliché storytelling begins. Point blank: the original body of work we're led to believe the movies is, now is revealed as an unoriginal slasher flick. It's like ordering an expensive gourmet Italian pizza, eating a couple bites, and finding out it's really just frozen Save-A-Lot pizza from the local dollar store. And don't even get me started on the so-cliché-I-laughed-out-loud pregnancy test ending . . .
Speaking of the rape scene: it's pretty generic. According to a quick IMDb.com search, there are more than 2,206 movies with a rape plot line, and if I were to do a more advanced search, that number would likely triple. Yes, kids, rape is a disturbing and terrible thing in real life, and I am in no means patronizing the real life event. But, folks, WE'VE SEEN IT IN MOVIES THOUSANDS OF TIMES. What's the big deal? You act as if Irreversible invented the scene or something. It's not any more disturbing or graphic or more weighted than any other rape scene ever filmed.
The cinematography is cute. Spinning cameras, 2001: A Space Odyssey rip-off stylizing and music. I'm sure on a pretentious level this has a deep meaning (time and space and human insight—oh my!—as if we haven't heard that before!), but I'll just take it for face value and call it what it is. Cute cinematography that is both innovative and neat. But calling it "deep" is beyond melodramatic.
So.
Is Irreversible an enjoyable movie? Sure. I guess. It's okay. Watch it on Friday night, go to bed, and, unless you're a pretentious prick, I guarantee you won't remember when you wake up Saturday morning . . . but it killed some time, right?
5/10