I must begin this review with an admission that my knowledge of French cinema is not extensive. I've watched and enjoyed Patrice Leconte's L'Homme Du Train, and the sequence of Jean de Florette and Manon des Sources, all of which I have no hesitation in recommending to you. These are films that I happened to catch on TV at some point or another though, and not films I actively sought out because I heard they were worth watching. Irreversible, however, is a film I sought out, largely because whenever I hear of a film that has generated the kind of uproar and controversy that this did, I try to make a point of seeing it to find out what all the fuss was about. Having watched it, I'm presented with a small dilemma. Irreversible is undoubtedly an important, excellently-made film, but can I recommend it to you? It's a tricky question.

Directed by Argentine-born, French-based enfant-terrible director Gasper Noye, this might just be the most mentally disturbing and emotionally wrenching film I have seen. When it was unleashed upon the Cannes film festival in 2002, audience reaction ranged from outraged shock, to vomiting and fainting, to mass walkouts. It is, to say the least, not a film that invites indifference. It features scenes of sickeningly intense violence, prolonged sexual assualt, and, in its opening twenty minutes, camera work seemingly co-ordinated by a glue-sniffing Dali fan. It's also thoroughly depressing, and even distressing to watch. As a film experience, it is not one which will give much pleasure or entertainment, if any. Nevertheless, it is a film which, should you be of a strong constitution and not easily offended, I would have to recommend, as it provides a narcotically visceral hit, the like of which you will be hard pressed to find elsewhere.

The film is, in one sense, a straightforward tale of violence perpetrated and revenge taken, except that it is not straightforward at all. The storyline is simple and uncluttered, following the events of one evening in the lives of three people, but they are presented, as per Memento, in reverse. Hence, the film begins at its climax, and each scene thereafter takes us further back in the evening to show us the preceding events. It's an intriguing device clearly designed to throw the film's explicitly stated theme ("Le temps detruit tout" - time destroys everything) into sharp focus, in which, it has to be said, it succeeds.

Following a brief and ever-so-French existential exchange in a tenemant bedroom between an old man and a companion, the film begins with two men being taken out of a male S & M gay club, charmingly named The Rectum, by the police. One of them, Pierre (Albert Dupontel), is in handcuffs, while the other, Marcus (Vincent Cassel) is lying unconscious on a stretcher with his arm in a sling. It transpires that earlier in the evening, Marcus has barged into this club full of fury and unrestrained aggression, followed by a despairing Pierre who tries in vain to restrain him, searching for a man named "the Tenia" (French for tapeworm).

During a series of literally nauseating camera pans and tracks, we follow them down through the various subterrenean levels of the dingy club, surrounded by men in various states of undress and fetish gear, and assorted moans and groans, until Marcus confronts the man whom he believes to be the Tenia. There then follows quite the most shocking and vicious scene of violence you're ever likely to see, complete with crunchingly realistic sound effects, which is mercilessly focussed upon by the camera for your viewing pleasure. If you haven't switched off by this point, congratulations, but don't think you can relax yet, because the worst is by no means over.

Earlier in the evening, Pierre and Marcus had attended a party accompanied by Marcus's girlfriend, Alex (Monica Bellucci), who had also once dated Pierre. After an explicitly frank but lighthearted conversation about sex on a tube train, Marcus embarrasses both Alex and Pierre at the party by overindulging in cocaine and behaving like a child, whereupon Alex decides to leave and walk home. Taking a short cut through a pedestrian underpass, she is brutally raped, beaten and left for dead by a man who, we see, is the Tenia present in the gay club during the opening scenes. From this point, the film concerns itself with scenes of Alex and Marcus's domestic home life, as they sleepily awake in their apartment and prepare for their evening.

It is the now notorious rape scene which is the key to the movie, and its most challenging scene. Noe's intent is clearly to demonstrate what an unbearable and savage act rape is, without sugar-coating it with any cutaways or tasteful angles, or using it simply as a plot device as it so often is with your average Hollywood revenge tale or garden-variety soap opera. To this end, the rape scene is filmed in one long continuous take, and lasts a truly harrowing nine minutes. It is, arguably, unnecessary - Surely three or four minutes would have made the point? - but it is also a brave and unremittingly realistic scene of unparalled savagery.

Although the instances of violence in the movie's first half provide the knockout punches, it is perhaps the casual domestic bliss seen between Alex and Marcus in the second half which have greater emotional resonance. As they pad around their flat naked, entirely comfortable and happy with one another, it is not just the realisation that Alex and Marcus are going to lose all they hold precious to them, it is the fact that they already have, and we have witnessed it. The "time destroys everything" motif is doubly effective when applied to the backward structure of this story. The camera work in the opening S & M club scenes spirals and twists chaotically, and does strange things to your stomach, aided by a bizarre low-frequency sound effect, giving the impression of a descent into hell and total chaos. As the movie progresses, the camera steadies and calms, and the sounds quieten, until the closing scenes become almost idyllic. The contentment and happiness felt by Alex and Marcus is not something the audience is permitted to share in or smile at - It is instead the most tragic and wrenching element of the film, as our knowledge of its inevitable destruction overshadows everything and allows for no possibilty of a happy ending.

The film also puts the case that although time can't be reversed and chance sometimes deals us the cruellest of hands for no reason, our own actions can be just as important in determining the course of our future. In this case, Marcus allows his ugliest and most animal instincts to overwhelm his better nature in his desire for revenge, and is effectively destroyed by it, his ill-thought out desire for confrontation ending in disaster for both himself and his friend, Pierre. He refuses to listen to Pierre when he tells him "You're behaving like an animal! Even animals don't seek revenge", and that what he is doing amounts to "B-movie crap", and responds with a furious "It's my right!" The ugliest of his male traits rise to the surface, and he does not even accompany Alex to the hospital - His first thought is of revenge and reclaiming male pride.

It's rather a shame that for such an unsentimental and convention-bending film, Noe has to throw in a shamelessly manipulative plot twist near the end (or beginning, depending on how you look at it), almost as if he thought the audience needed another kick while they were down to remind them of the tragedy that has just transpired, despite the fact he has spent the best part of 90 minutes knocking the emotional crap out of them. It arrives with crushing predictability, and has no place in a film that, for the most part, keeps your knuckles white.

From a purely technical standpoint, the film is superb. The digital camera work is quite remarkable, particularly in the first twenty minutes, and also in the final five minutes. The largely-improvised acting from all concerned is of award-winning stature, particularly Vincent Cassel's slide into ugly desperation, and Monica Bellucci's utterly realistic reaction to an unimaginable horror. There is a refreshing lack of special effects or incidental music, and the surrounding extras deserve credit for brave and risky performances.

There was, needless to say, quite a fuss kicked up over Irreversible upon its release. There's no doubt that the graphic nature of the sexual assault and nightclub scenes will offend and disturb many, but Irreversible is in no way an exploitation flick, and certainly does not deserve to be ranked with irredeemable bollocks like I Spit On Your Grave. There is nothing titillating here, nor is anything eroticised. It's a serious piece of work, superbly made, with important things to say, and should be viewed as such.

It is, however, a film which assaults the senses, scoops out your insides and leaves a heavy feeling of sickness that will stay with you long after you have switched off the TV. If you think you're a battle-hardened movie watcher, accustomed to all manner of shock tactics, violence and human brutality, Irreversible will find you out as you sip your mineral water and stretch out on your couch. Put simply: Don't watch this unless you're prepared to be shocked senseless and emotionally filleted.

DVD Extras: Trailer

Recommended:
Yes

Viewing Format: DVD
Video Occasion: Fit for Friday Evening
Suitability For Children: Not suitable for Children of any age