IRREVERSIBLE

France, 2002, 99 minutes, Colour.
Monica Bellucci, Vincent Cassel.
Directed by Gaspar Noe.

This is a descent into hell structured as a return to the innocence of Eden. The film begins and ends with the saying :'Time destroys everything'. This means that the film is deeply pessimistic about human nature, human existence and raging cruelty. It is a test-case film of what can be portrayed on screen in terms of sexual violence where we have to ask not 'what is being presented' but 'how is it being presented' and does its context enable it to make points about human behaviour.

With many of the credits written backwards and going skewiff and the title reinforcing the pessimism, we endure 30 minutes of red and black darkness (hellish colours) filmed in continuous swirling motion taking us deep into the caverns of a seedy club as well as the depths of our consciousness. Then we realise that the plot is being played in reverse. Suddenly the camera stops still for a long - prolonged - single take rape scene, one of the most cruel ever seen: man's inhumanity to woman. And, as the plot, reverses, the sadness and grief (and rage) of the situation becomes clear. Gaspar Noe's cinematic skill is shown beyond question in a film that will be too much for many audiences but portrays the dark side of the human condition.

1.The notoriety of the film? Hostile reaction? Its frankness and directness? The work of Gaspar Noe, his other films? Tough, sexuality and violence?

2.The tag-line: “Time destroys and reveals”? Its meaning?

3.The visual impact of the film, the credits, the first thirty minutes, the swirl, the shadow underworld of violence? The reds and blacks? The special effects? The calmer moments, the search in the streets, the police? The film and the moments of tranquillity? The musical score?

4.The rape sequence, lasting for nine minutes, the single shot, the cast (the actors being husband and wife in real-life)? The relationships between a man and a woman? Exploitation, violence? Exploitatively filmed – or appropriately shocking?

5.The title, the irony of the storytelling, told in reverse Irrevocable? Time and experience?

6.The prologue, the men, the explanation, the ugliness – and the philosophy of behaviour?

7.The theme of the descent into Hell, the cry out of the depths? Hope and hopelessness? From Eden and tranquillity into Hell? Children? Joy? Destruction and the consequences?

8.The effect of telling the story in reverse, the credits? The movement from the final ugliness to the initial good? The psychological effect for the audience watching? Information, emotions – and the discovery of the true nature of the characters by the end and then having to reverse the experience to understand what happened to them?

9.The search, the underworld, the rapist, the stage, the bath, the hospital?

10.Marcus, his rage, the search, the transvestite, the talk of orientations, drugs? Freud? The police? The assistants?

11.Alex, her role, model, wife, the descent, the rape and the brutality, death?

12.The glimpses of the party, the people present, behaviour?

13.The travelling from the beginning, ordinariness, ordinary and pleasant people, at home, sexuality and love, the bonds, pregnancy?

14.The test, the children, the Eden-like beginning?

15.The overall effect of the film, divided opinion? Values and meaning – an exploration of the dark side of the human condition?