by Perry Seibert
synopsis
Gaspar Noé's Irreversible utilizes the same storytelling technique used by Christopher Nolan in Memento and Harold Pinter in Betrayal. Consisting of about a dozen scenes, all shot in single takes, Irreversible charts a disturbing night in the life of Marcus (Vincent Cassel), but presents the events in reverse chronological order. The audience eventually learns how the beautiful Alex (Cassel's real-life partner Monica Bellucci) is involved. The film opens with a violent altercation at a gay sex club and works backward to explain how and why the violence occurred. The actors improvised the vast majority of the dialogue starting from a four-page story outline. Irreversible was screened in competition at the 2002 Cannes Film Festival.
characteristics
- Out For Revenge
- Woman In Jeopardy
- Abandon All Hope
- Mind Games
- Faltering Friendships
- Uncomfortable Viewing
- Violence
- Rapist
- Sodomy
- Nightclub
- Brutality
- Cabaret
- French [nationality]
- Rape
- Gay-bashing
