“Irréversible” - Lawder DeSantis
Picture from FlixList.com
When “Irreversible” premiered at the 2003 Cannes film festival, 200 of the 2,400 people attending the screening walked out of the theater due to the film’s graphic nature. 17 years later, “Irreversible” has been labeled as one of the most gruesome and unsettling films to ever grace the silver screen, somewhat of an unwatchable cult classic. Hailed as both a masterpiece and an abomination, it is certainly one of the most polarizing films ever released. Many claim that the movie is wretched pornography due to the extreme cruelty and barbarity presented throughout the runtime. But that, from my perspective, is the point. Irreversible thrives off of how indigestible it is, furthering its goal of portraying the crime of rape as vivid and revolting as possible, molding a powerful opposition to sexual assault. It proved not that it was a failure when hundreds walked out of the theatre, but rather an effective success.
The story is simple enough: A woman becomes the victim of a violent rape, leading to her boyfriend and ex-lover tracking down the assailant and exacting revenge. A basic enough story completely flipped on its head by director Gasper Noé's trademark style. Instead of being told chronologically, the film is told in reverse, opening with the aftermath of the protagonist's revenge as opposed to ending with it. This gimmick of reverse chronology is anything but, instead existing as the core of the film’s identity.
A chronological telling of this story would crescendo into its most violent and sexual sequence, acting as some sort of deranged and exploitative payoff to the rape scene, and thus disservice the greater message. Instead, “Irreversible” opens with its most violent scenes, and backpedals to before the characters have been affected by the horrifying rape. As an audience, we have already witnessed a woman, who we know nothing about, fall victim to a tragic assault, and as we regress farther and farther back in the story’s timeline, this woman is given a character. We see her dancing at a party, sharing intimate moments with her lover, elaborated upon, given depth. The already merciless and unforgettable rape scene is made even worse as we see this woman’s life that was ruined, torn apart and broken beyond repair. As an audience, we are left to ponder about the effects of the rape beyond the physical, and what could have been for this woman.
You're as powerless to the disgusting act as she is, forced to endure it as an audience member -- and the film's end leaves you with an exhaustive understanding of the treachery. It's hard for many, especially males, to empathize with sexual assault victims, but the unrelenting authenticity opens a window into that dark experience. The unpleasantness and brutality leave the audience no choice but to never look at the crime of rape the same again, instilling a new and powerful rejection of the crime’s apologists and an equally powerful empathy for the victims.
For some, “Irreversible” is an agonizing reminder of sexual assault, and for others, it comes as a shocking revelation. But no matter how you perceive the film, the claim that “Irreversible” is nothing more than gore porn can’t be farther from the truth.
