PLOT: This new cut provides an opportunity to see Gaspar Noé’s potent account of humanity at its worst from multiple perspectives, and the unshakable understanding that time, indeed, reveals all things.
REVIEW: If you’re hoping for a drastically different cut of Irréversible then you’re going to be disappointed. The original cut of Irréversible (starring Monica Bellucci, Vincent Cassel and Albert Dupontel), like Memento, plays the story out of order, making it tough to follow. But here in the Straight Cut, the scenes have been placed in chronological order, allowing for a much easier journey. In fact, I’d say there are actually some sweet moments in the beginning between Bellucci and Cassel. They’re able to play out as nice moments since they aren’t underscored with the terrible event that we know happens later. Cassel’s Marcus is just an absolutely despicable human being, so it’s odd to see him being sweet.
I feel as though the interactions between the characters is really what shines here. One of my favorite scenes was on the subway, where Bellucci, Cassel and Dupontel are discussing sex. It feels so natural because of how easily the actors volley the lines back and forth to each other. It’s no surprise that most of the dialogue in the film was improvised. There’s never a spare pause. And the increasingly uncomfortable body language of their fellow train passengers. It’s made all the stranger by the fact that it’s an ex trying to talk to his old lover and her boyfriend about their sex life. The French can be weird.
I will never enjoy a rape scene in a movie, and Irreversible‘s is an endurance test. It’s a static shot that just will not end no matter how much you want it to. It goes so past the point of comfort that it absolutely scarred me. Revisiting this was something I was dreading the moment it was proposed and it was every bit as horrifying as I remember it being. I’m not surprised that Bellucci herself has refused to watch the scene.
The camera work in Irreversible can really only be described as dizzying. I found myself having to look away at several moments, not out of shock, but out of pure nausea. The opening in particular seems intent on giving the viewer an epileptic seizure. The scenes at The Rectum are shot in such a way that it’s hard to even understand the orientation of the camera at times. The red hues further solidify it as an almost fever dream. But this all comes together in such a way that I couldn’t imagine the story without these flourishes. Because this isn’t just a movie you watch, this is one you feel with every cell in your body. And it’s often very uncomfortable.
In many ways, Irréversible: Straight Cut feels like Gaspar Noé trying to make his film more accessible. By moving the narrative around, the dread of the scene doesn’t carry on through the rest. Noe is able to show just how much the order in which you take a story in, affects how you can feel about the exact same tale. By easing you into the horrific events rather than sticking right in the midst of the depravity. I know that the Original Cut is Noé’s preferred version of this, but I recommend those that are curious to try this more conventional cut out.
Irréversible: Straight Cut is IN SELECT CITIES THIS FEBRUARY.