Irreversible

Theatrical Release Date: 2003 03 07 (USA - Limited)

UPC: 658149815926

Studio: Lions Gate

MPAA Rating: NR   Contains:[Graphic Violence, Nudity, Strong Sexual Content, Rape & Sexual Abuse, Not For Children, Substance Abuse, Gore]

Summary: Gaspar No?'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. ~ Perry Seibert, Rovi

Category: Drama

Awards: Film Presented – Telluride Film Festival

Features: ccTrailer
Deleted scenes
French teasers
The making of the special effects

Irreversible

Format: Digital Video Disc (DVD)

Release Date: 08/05/2003

Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1 Cinemascope

Audio: DD5.1 Dolby Digital 5.1, DD2 Dolby Digital Stereo

Runtime: 97 Minutes

Sides: 1

Number of Discs: 1

Language(s) French

Subtitles: English,Spanish

Chapters: Side #1 --
1. --:-- [3:04]
2. 03:59 [9:12]
3. 03:11 [12:15]
4. 03:07 [:30]
5. 03:03 [2:04]
6. 02:58 [2:41]
7. 02:57 [4:31]
8. 02:14 [4:59]
9. 01:43 [1:38]
10. 01:09 [13:04]
11. 00:57 [12:20]
12. 22:35 [9:03]
13. 21:22 [14:04]
14. 20:01 [:41]
15. 19:27 [2:16]
16. 88:88 [1:07]

Michael Hastings

Formally audacious, stylistically sound, and stomach-sickeningly grisly, Gaspar No?'s stateside breakthrough is unarguably the work of a filmmaker with technique to spare. Whether or not this year's Gallic enfant terrible has anything to contribute to cinema other than skillful button-pushing, however, remains to be seen. Irreversible's facile tale of a once-idyllic couple caught in a torpor of rape, drugs, and retribution is loaded with easy ironies and horror-flick set pieces. No?'s technical gymnastics keep it undeniably compelling: Shot in fluid, color-saturated, whirling-dervish long takes, edited in reverse, and given a throbbing, hypnotic sound design from Daft Punk's Thomas Bangalter, Irreversible's deft moves don't allow the viewer a second to ponder some of the script's more implausible, trumped-up conceits. An early-film cab-ride in which our anti-heroes assault a foreigner, for instance, serves as little more than an intentionally disorienting emotional red herring. Likewise, copious screen time is allotted to setting up the three lead characters' dynamic, which is of little use to No? other than to upset audience expectations. And it's more than a little disingenuous that Monica Bellucci's much-discussed rape scene happens to be the only sequence shot with a steady camera. No? purportedly relished the severe reactions provoked by screenings of Irreversible -- walk-outs, cat calls, and the like -- which would only make sense for a person whose ultimate goal is to create the cinematic equivalent of car-wreck gawking. ~ Michael Hastings, Rovi

Cast and Crew: Stephane Drouot  Actor 
Mourad Khima  Actor 
Jean-Louis Costes  Actor 
Gaspar Noé  Actor 
Richard Grandpierre  Producer 
Christophe Rossignon  Producer 
Gaspar Noé  Director 
Gaspar Noé  Screenwriter 
Thomas Bangalter  Composer (Music Score) 
Monica Bellucci  Actor 
Vincent Cassel  Actor 
Albert Dupontel  Actor 
Philippe Nahon  Actor 
Jo Prestia  Actor 

Country: France