Told in reverse chronological order with a weaving, unsteady, and
nauseating camera that gradually stabilizes as we arrive at happier times, we
are shown a blissful relationship gone sour due to drug and alcohol use, then a
brutal, unflinching subway tunnel rape, and the boyfriend's search through the
underbelly of Paris to mete out justice to the perpetrator. Gasper Noe's Irreversible is more of an endurance
test than a movie, both cruel and unrelenting, but effectively and consummately
uses its narrative device (which had to have been ripped off from Memento) to lead us to a surprising meaningful
resolution. Vincent Cassel and Monica Bellucci, married at the time, are
outstanding.
*** out of ****
