Irreversible begins with an old man sat in a room (Philippe Nahon of Seul Contre Tous) telling another man that "time destroys all things" and that he slept with his daughter, while outside we can hear a commotion. This is the start of the back-to-front story, which goes from frenzy, chaos, violence, then finally concludes with peace and tranquillity. The main three characters are Marcus (Vincent Cassel), his partner, Alex (Monica Bellucci), and her ex, Pierre (Albert Dupontel). The first time we see Marcus and Pierre they are frantically searching a gay club called The Rectum for a man called Le Tenia, who they believe raped and badly beat Alex. They come across two men in a doorway in the club, one of whom Marcus thinks is Le Tenia. He fights one of the men, who then breaks Marcus' arm and is about to rape him. The next sequence is an amazing attack, and one of the most realistic killings I have ever seen in a film. Pierre intervenes with a fire-extinguisher and proceeds to the ram the butt of the object into the man's face no less than twenty-three times. It is very effective. What is also ironic is the man who is killed isn't the man who raped Alex - it was the other man in the doorway. But the most controversial scene is the vicious rape and assault of Alex. She is trying to cross the road and is ironically told by a woman to use the underpass because it's safer. It is a distressing scene and it is more traumatic for the spectator than the ones in Straw Dogs and I Spit on Your Grave because the camera never moves. It is perched very low on a tripod and stays there. We can't escape the ordeal on screen. After this we witness the events leading up to a party, sexual talk between the trio, and the love between Marcus and Alex. It is a skillfully made film. I also liked the music. I'm glad I watched it.
Review of Irreversible
