Irreversible

For those that liked "Memento' and "Mulholland Drive", there's another time traversing movie that tests audiences. The rape scene inside the film made film goers in the Cannes film festival walk out in droves. But for those who can hang in for the entire film, it's actually a very satisfying experience and an important artistic statement using two of France' s most impressive actors.

Vincent Cassel and Monica Bellucci are consider two of the world's most beautiful people. Monica plays a woman (Alex) who gets raped in a Paris underpass, and Cassel plays her boyfriend (Marcus) who goes on tear trying to find the culprit. This contrast functions against the following (reverse chronological) party scenes showing irresponsible behavior within a social context.

Marcus may have feelings of guilt allowing Alex to leave the party alone. His basic protection instincts have been challenged. The sight of Alex's body on the stretcher shatters his innocence experience forever. The drugged up and pharmaceutically carefree little boy transforms into a brutal, single minded man. But why doesn't this feeling carry into what happens between Alex and he before the rape? Why does it take a tragedy of violence to bring these feelings to the fore?

This film was nominated for the Cannes Golden Palm in 2002. The director of this film, Gaspar Noe, has been sharply criticized for utilizing the rape scene to attract attention for an otherwise undeserving project. But the rape scene must excite the audience's anger to drive understanding of what happens next. Unfortunately, many critics reviewed the scene as being too fantastical and too graphic at the same time.

The staging of the 'Irreversible" rape cinematically has been challenged by almost every international film critic in vilifying terms. The film reviews for Irreversible were punctuated by angry denunciations and flat-out claims of movie exploitation. But for those who can stomach extreme graphic violence, there is a film layered underneath the violence that provokes contemplative ideas.