Irreversible

Why do people bother to do such disturbing movies? Isn't movies made for the purpose of entertainment? I think that would be a stupid statement to make. Books aren't edited just for entertainment, paintings aren't done for the sole purpose of entertainment, then... why would movies be filmed looking for that goal? I think we can never get used to violence, but movies make it look cool and unrealistic-realistic –if that makes sense. Even movie's fake blood will look real to us compared to real blood, which is more like red paint mixed with water. But we would be terrorized if someone would aim a gun at us. We're not getting used to it.

Irreversible is a bold statement against rape, but also a great study on primal conduct in an age when things are so calculated and 'civilized'. The fact that the most brain-driven of the two guys (Pierre) is the one that smashes the 'killer's' head, is a clear example of the path that Noé wants to show us. We are violent, even when there's no need for it. Our world is violent, and that violence is not only waiting for us around the corner, but waiting for us from the inside, waiting to burst with all of it's hatred like we never even thought. A dream can be turned into a nightmare in a matter of seconds, due to the most stupid thing we can think of.

La Tenia didn't attack Alex because she was so damn sexual and beautiful, but because he hated her and what she represented, and that's the reason behind most crimes. Not money, not sex, but pure hate and a feeling of superiority.

Most movies will portray violence as a poetic thing, even the most intelligent ones. Think about Taxi Driver, one of the most crude films ever. It's violence has style and looks cool, although it's not, and it's very real. The same goes for American History X. In Irreversible, violence is not a camera looking for a cool angle in a fight, a la Fight Club, but a smell, a scream, a glimpse of something horrible that is still there when you're so stupid to dare to open your eyes. There's no escape once hell breaks loose, and you can't go to hide under your mother's skirt and wait until it's gone. Nooo, it will go after you like a rabid dog, and you will suffer.

Yeah, Irreversible's got two of the most horrific scenes ever depicted in a film, but also one of the most beautiful love moments –Alex and Marcus in the bed, sharing spit and words of love, as most of us do when we truly love someone. This movie, for all it's cruel and merciless punches, never makes you say: "Man, that was cool." It will leave you feeling ashamed of having the same nature inside you. It's a beautiful film for all the bravery it took to make it.