It’s easy to reduce Irreversible down to a single phrase: “that movie.” It’s “that movie” that made audiences leave theaters in disgust, “that movie” with one of the most sickening depictions of sexual assault put to film, “that movie” you’ll likely never want to see again. It was even dubbed by esteemed critic Roger Ebert as “a movie so violent and cruel that most people will find it unwatchable.” If you’re willing to push your own boundaries of taste, however, what you’ll find is a film experience that’ll stick with you long after your first viewing, one that purposefully twists what would’ve been a standard revenge story into something a little more profound.
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Originally released in 2002, Gasper Noe’s Irreversible will be returning to theaters with what is known as the “Straight Cut,” or an altered version of the film that rearranges its order of events into something completely different, all while lopping off around eight minutes of footage for pacing. What does this mean, and why should you be excited about it?
What Is Irreversible?
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As an experimental French thriller film, Irreversible tells a simple story in a visually unique way. Two men, Pierre and Marcus, attempt to avenge the sexual assault of their mutual love interest Alex on a traumatic night in Paris. It’s not exactly high-class material. But, it’s less about the story itself and more about how the film presents it that makes Irreversible so compelling.
Irreversible, to put it lightly, is uncomfortable. The film begins with a credit roll that’s just as likely to induce seizures as it is to burn your retinas. As the list of text weaves and bobs out of frame as if it were on a pendulum, the film’s cinematography assaults your senses. There’s rarely a moment where the camera stops to take a breath, as it’s constantly shifting, spinning, and twirling in an endless series of continuous shots. It’s a reflection of the tension and paranoia that’s strewn throughout the film’s first half, an effect that only ever stabilizes to highlight the film’s most intense moments.
There’s an elephant in the room that needs to be addressed: most of Irreversible’s controversy stems from the nine-minute-long sexual assault scene. It’s a single, unbroken shot, with the entire ordeal taking up the center of the frame. It’s one of the few times the camera is completely still, forcing you to sit there and agonizingly witness the traumatic event. This, combined with a slightly-less heinous scene involving a man’s head, a fire extinguisher, and a BDSM nightclub, prompted a wave of outrage during the film’s initial release.
What Is the Straight Cut?
The other most noteworthy aspect of Irreversible is that, like Christopher Nolan’s Memento, its story is told in reverse-chronological order. Instead of the film building up to its most explosive and infamous moments, they occur first and foremost, leaving the audience to ruminate on them. Instead of anticipating each character turning into vengeance-seeking vigilantes, the film’s intensity gradually ramps down into a handful of friendly exchanges at a party. It paints each character with a tragic, dramatic irony, pitying the trio instead of glamorizing the violence they endure and dish out.
The “Straight Cut” aims to recontextualize the film by placing its events back into chronological order. What this means is that, instead of the film starting with its conclusion, it’ll instead begin at the “end” of the original cut and play out in order from there. It’s hard to think of any other film that could pull that off, but seeing as how Irreversible was already structured in an unconventional way, turning it into something more traditional would be fascinating to see.
Why You Should Be Excited
The “Straight Cut” will likely have a significant impact on the viewing experience of Irreversible. Part of the appeal of the original cut was that the film started so grotesquely and gradually shifted into something completely different. It’s a subversion of the typical revenge-thriller, where a perfect life or new opportunity is thrown into jeopardy. By rearranging the events of the film into regular, chronological order, we could see a few different things happen.
It’s possible that Irreversible could turn into the very same revenge-thriller that it subverted, a shocking film that aims to do little more than display the same vicious vulgarity it purposefully shoved aside in its original edit.
But at the same time, would it not lend more weight to the film’s horrific finale? The climax of Irreversible’s story takes place in a BDSM nightclub drenched in neon-red light and thick shadows over every square inch, with Pierre and Marcus seemingly diving into Hell as they attempt to find Alex’s assailant. It concludes a night where the duo become more and more vitriolic during their hunt, devolving into committing violent outbursts that, inadvertently, lead to their mutual demise. It doesn’t help that throughout the climax, should you have the right audio equipment, a low-frequency tone plays throughout. It’s barely perceptible but has been shown to induce feelings of anxiety and physical distress. Being unaware of what’s to come — or, conversely, having full knowledge of it if you’ve seen the original edit — will likely make that experience all the more harrowing.
While Noe has stated that the original edit of Irreversible is the definitive version, it’s still an opportunity to experience it in a theatrical setting, where you’d likely get the full effect of Noe’s filmmaking. It must be said that Irreversible will not be a film everyone will enjoy. But, should you venture out to see it, you won’t forget it anytime soon — for better or for worse.
Irreversible: Straight Cut will have limited availability in US theaters starting on February 10. Bloody Disgusting reports that additional screenings are to be announced.
