On Frank and Marq's recommendation, I checked out Irreversible. The following assumes that the reader has already seen Irreversible or doesn't care one way or another. This is a discussion of the movie and will be spoiler fraught.
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DISCLAIMER:
I am not an art student. I do not want to be an art student. I do not pretend to be an art student. I am a guy. I have technical degrees and a technical job. I am your Average White Suburbanite Slob. I like football (kinda) and baseball and books about war. I have a three bedroom house and a couple of cars. I have a couple of kids and would rather play with them than appreciate art for art's sake.
Since they're not here, I guess I'll take my shot at appreciating this film.
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This movie has a very simple plot, or, better described as "story arc", I imagine. Animalistic Markus is dating Alex (Monica Belluci) who get together with Alex's "cerebral" ex-boyfriend, Pierre. They go to a party where the couple get into a fight and Alex goes home. In an underpass, she is brutally raped and beaten. When Markus and Pierre find out what happened, they are approached by two men claiming to have a lead on the perpetrator, and inducing them in their shocked and volatile state on a revenge mission. After a brief chase, they track down the man, El Tenia, to a homosexual sex parlor called El Rectum. Markus approaches El Tenia and is defeated, and then sneakier Pierre kills El Tenia with a fire extinguisher to the head.
The film is shown backwards, scene by scene, ala Memento, to further illustrate the "irreversible" nature of the story.
The film opens with "cerebral" Pierre in a prison cell, sharing a couple anecdotes with his fat, naked cell-mate. No introductions. No nothing. The viewer is lost.
The easiest thing to do is discuss the graphical nature of the movie, so I'll get that out of the way: this film is a fucking brutal assault upon the viewer, and is obviously intended to be that way in an attempt to shock the viewer "irreversibly". The opening scene shows Markus and Pierre walking through a horror show of homosexual sexual deviance. Perhaps this belies an unrecogniz,ed deep-seated unease with homosexuality; perhaps many homosexuals would agree with me by labelling it "deviant". Perhaps, in a counter-twist, by me even
thinking what goes on in El Rectum
may not be deviant, shows an
even deeper deep-seated, unrecognized uneasiness with homosexuality. You can draw your own conclusions.
Anyway, this Average White Suburbanite Slob was pretty grossed out during the mind-numbing minutes (felt like hours) spent probing El Rectum and seeing snippets of homosexual acts. Seeing a leather-clad man chase Markus screaming, "Fist me!" is not only disgusting, but disturbing. My lack of open-mindedness is vindicated - this was clearly the intent.
Markus gets his arm broken with a grisly snap. Disturbing. Thankfully, it was quick.
The death of El Tenia is particularly brutal. I'm saving the cinematography for later, but the jump cuts of fire extinguisher meeting skull, accompanied with the crunch of bone and makeup makes the word "grisly" seem wholly inadequate. Ghastly, hideous and sickening.
And mother-fucking
long. Torture to watch.
Markus is wheeled out on a stretcher and Pierre is booked by the cops. End scene.
I could go through a scene-by-scene replay, but I'm going ot skip.
A quick cab ride.
A questioning of hookers - until the viewers are allowed to see they're in a homosexual district. One very convincing tranny points them to El Rectum and El Tenia.
The Rape. Long, brutal and realistic, I imagine. I'd go on, but I think I spent my disgust describing El Rectum. I'm tapped. To see the violation of Alex is so disturbing. While I could watch, flichingly the death of El Tenia, there are times I could not watch this rape. It's not even that graphic - there's no visible penetration - it's just the realistic depiction of the indignity, horror, violence and destruction of the act of rape that makes it unwatchable to me.
When I think of words to use, I often imagine something happening and then try to describe it. Imagine a tight, newly sprouted tulip flower. Now imagine destroying it by ripping out the petals, tearing at them. Leaving nothing but a loose cluster of shedded petals attached to the crushed stem. But we're talking humanity. This movie is disturbing.
We're shown the falling out between Markus and Alex, we're shown the romp of animalistic Markus pushing cerebral Pierre through the party, trying to get him to loosen up with drugs and women. Pierre remains steadfastly uncomfortable throughout the party.
We're shown a subway ride to the party, with Markus, Alex and Pierre discussing the sexual differences between Markus and Pierre. Markus has a
je ne sais quoi - an animal lust in bed, whereas Pierre is too focused on pleasing a woman, which is a turn-off. According to Alex, Pierre needs to enjoy sex for himself, in order to allow he to enjoy it. We are shown that Alex has a very comfortable association with sex, and is unafraid.
We're shown Markus and Alex in a bedroom discussion, naked on the bed languidly playful. Alex discussed a dream she had where she's in a red tunnel that gets broken in two.
We're shown Alex taking a pregnancy test, and finding out she's pregnant.
We're shown Alex reading her psychology book on dream interpretaion on a blanket in a park on a vibrantly green expanse of lawn. This closing scene, the beginning of the story, is the only shot of vibrant color we've gotten this whole time.
I recently broke my toe - I'd rather do it again than watch this movie again. Which probably one of the greatest compliments Noe could garner.
The cinematography. Orson Welles couldn't pull this off. Each scene is virtually unbroken. Start to finish - one take. It is brutal, unfliching and raw. It gives each scene an organic realism that is lacking in modern movies. We see life from our own viewpoint, it never changes. But, in the art of moviemaking, we're constantly shown new viewpoints. Hell, how many cuts are there in a single music video? We're accustomed to the non-linear pattern a simple discussion creates on film - three shots: two; one over each shoulder and one far enough back to encompass both speakers. We're inherently disassociated.
By Noe choosing to film each scene in one take, that customary disassociation is gone, and in it's familiar place is
pronounced association! We are there for the ride.
The film is in color, but it could easily be in black and white. The everyday vibrancy is dampened by night shots, distorted by florescent lighted yellowed scenes, the hazy dinginess of the party, the dank blackness of El Rectum. While Alex remarks of a red tunnel dream, I don't remember how the underpass of her rape scene was lit. I seem to remember a yellow, sodium lamp lit scene, but I could be wrong.
This film is as Irreversible as it's name. It's a dirty, greasy movie. It's a violation of the viewer, from the opening shots of El Rectum, complete with dizzying swirls of the camera to the closing dizzying swirl of the camera on a running sprinkler with children running on the lush grass. Even the credits are shown running up the screen at the beginning of the movie. The title "Irreversible" is shown backwards and reversed, spinning, but with each spin it remains reversed. Get it? Huddla huddla.
While this movie is a like a reprehensible touch from a shriveled priest, it has plenty of discussion fodder. Just writing this has helped me put this film in it's place. I
despised watching this film, but I like having seen it. How's that for weird?
As for Frank's
owning this movie... I dunno. Renting this movie is one thing - owning is something else entirely. I have no idea what more could be gleaned from watching this movie. Certainly nothing worth the violation of having to sit through it again. I'd rather walk through
Dorchester dressed like Hitler. If I ever bought this movie, it would be like owning a snuff film without the moral baggage. Not my cup of Average White Suburbanite Maxwell House any way you pour it.
So, there you have it. My thoughts, as roughed out in post format off the top of my head. I feel I have more to say, but can't structure it, right now. Hopefully, further discussion will produce more.