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Originally Posted by Lex M
I'd love to wholeheartedly throw my support behind Marq and Frank in this thread, because I think IRREVERSIBLE is brilliant on a visceral level and one of the few recent films that I can't get out of my mind.... but I don't think Noe is beyond reproach here. I wish I could link you to it, but registration is required, but LA TIMES critic Manohla Dargis did a splendid review of the film in which she dubbed Noe's half-baked nihilism "Nietszche for Numbskulls," or something to that tune. And I can't really disagree....I mean, "Time changes everything"???? "TIME CHANGES EVERYTHING"?????
Seriously, I'd think folks with as fine-tuned a bullshit detector as Frank, Marq, and orf would throw a giant-sized beverage at the screen and hit the floor rolling with laughter at such a naive, obvious notion. It's akin to David Lynch walking into frame during one of Frank Booth's tirades and declaring, "Bad People Do Bad Things!!!!" then disappearing from frame, a la Keenan Ivory Wayans' absurdist "MESSAGE!" appearances in DON'T BE A MENACE...
I can't help but think Noe is thinking he's being a lot more profound than he is, even if his technical skills and penchant for grueling imagery is certainly astounding. The movie's basic point is kind of a "No shit, Sherlock," and while we can certainly empathize with the characters, the dime-store wisdom their tale is supporting comes through as more than a bit obvious. It's to Noe's and the actor's credit that the movie stands well enough and is involving on its on, but the director's look-at-me asides -- the reversed credits, the totally unrelated side moments such as the beginning with the old men, the roaring bed of noise over strobe image at the end -- smack of a would-be "edgy" bully trying a little too hard to rub our noses in contrived unpleasantness.
I realize my above points are hardly original, but anyone with access to the LA TIMES, LA WEEKLY, or SLANT MAGAZINE reviews ought to give them a quick perusal for some nice readings of the film's and Noe's frustraing mix of visceral skill and weakness for snide pontification.
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Come on, Lex, there are plenty of great movies with one great big obvious bludgeoning point (the entire Oliver Stone catalogue, for instance... well, his great ones, anyway). Worse still, there are plenty of movies that try to have such a point but lose the meaning in a lot of muddle and are praised regardless ('American Beauty'... can you believe people once found that movie
profound?).
Yes, the 'Time Destroys Everything' mantra is a bit overbaked (I seem to remember posting something to that effect when this was first released... yeah, she's pregnant, life is cruel,
we got it), and I usually cringe at art-house tricks like backwards credits, but such flourishes and oppressive obviousness are a staple of modern Euro-shock cinema, and for a film as powerful as 'Irreversible', I'm a bit more forgiving.