experimenting with hope since sunrise (![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif){kind=small} april_wednesday) wrote,@ 2005-10-27 00:57:00 |
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reversing the irreversible...
fuck. i feel like i've lost my innocence... what's left of it...
to say irreversible is an uncomfortable movie to sit through is an understatement of staggering proportion. i know there are more brutual films out there, and the opening subway scene in suicide circle was probably the most disturbing thing i've ever watched. but irreversible feels like i've crossed the line.
at the same time it was brilliant in many respect. but one thing for sure, i'll never watch that film again... i'm still a little shaken from watch the first 10 minutes, i don't know how they did the beating scenes. since this comes from an art house background, there was a thought in the back of my mind that perhaps this is all real, the breaking elbow and bashing in the face. wouldn't someone die for the sake of art? ok maybe not, but when i was watching it i was totally convinced that someone's real face was being mashed to bits. so i guess major kudos to the editors. this scene reminded me of another head bashing scene in dancer in the dark.. that too was difficult to watch and they didn't even show it...
the camera motion is absolutely brilliant in the first half, although not easy to sit through, not only to make the audience feel oozy and nauceas but as a method to convey the protagonist's mental shock, his adrenaline pumping having seen his wife/gf(?)'s bloody mess and with all the drugs and booze in the system. wouldn't you go absolutely nuts while searching for the rapist to wreak your vengeance? the camera becomes a visual extension of this rush as the protagonist and his buddy go around the town looking for the assailant. it stabilizes in the second half and we know everything's all well and good, but damn! how the fuck did they shoot that??? i can totally understand how some audience members walked out of the screening room. i hear the director added some bass frequency to the soundtrack to make it difficult for us to endure, physiologically.
i understand that the film is about the act in itself and not about a story but i wish there was more to this movie than buncha drunks talking about sex in the subway, rather obnoxiously. there weren't much substance in the characterization department, where characters could interact and have a decent amount of dialogues and allow us to learn about them. at the same time after the brutual first ten minutes, is it really that important to learn anything about them prior to the main event? but what annoyed me was the repetition of the lines and no one seems to be listening to each other or at least spice up the lines and change things around, and not repeat it over and over again.
lastly, the final scene is beautiful, almost worth enduring this for. i don't know how to express it, the final shot of the park with beethoven's 7th symphony is something that i want to capture in my own film, the serenity of it all.
if you just see these imgs you won't believe the shit that goes on before it.
bottom line is, if you have weak stomach, AVOID this one at all costs. you will not be able to sit through this for more than 5 minutes. this film will not scare or terrify you for 5 seconds like some horror flicks. it'll ruin your night and leave you shaken long after you turn your tv off. this is more like a snuff film that'll make you feel like you somehow made a wrong turn somewhere in your life... i think i'm going to stick to pokemon and carebears from now on...
fuck. i feel like i've lost my innocence... what's left of it...
to say irreversible is an uncomfortable movie to sit through is an understatement of staggering proportion. i know there are more brutual films out there, and the opening subway scene in suicide circle was probably the most disturbing thing i've ever watched. but irreversible feels like i've crossed the line.
at the same time it was brilliant in many respect. but one thing for sure, i'll never watch that film again... i'm still a little shaken from watch the first 10 minutes, i don't know how they did the beating scenes. since this comes from an art house background, there was a thought in the back of my mind that perhaps this is all real, the breaking elbow and bashing in the face. wouldn't someone die for the sake of art? ok maybe not, but when i was watching it i was totally convinced that someone's real face was being mashed to bits. so i guess major kudos to the editors. this scene reminded me of another head bashing scene in dancer in the dark.. that too was difficult to watch and they didn't even show it...
the camera motion is absolutely brilliant in the first half, although not easy to sit through, not only to make the audience feel oozy and nauceas but as a method to convey the protagonist's mental shock, his adrenaline pumping having seen his wife/gf(?)'s bloody mess and with all the drugs and booze in the system. wouldn't you go absolutely nuts while searching for the rapist to wreak your vengeance? the camera becomes a visual extension of this rush as the protagonist and his buddy go around the town looking for the assailant. it stabilizes in the second half and we know everything's all well and good, but damn! how the fuck did they shoot that??? i can totally understand how some audience members walked out of the screening room. i hear the director added some bass frequency to the soundtrack to make it difficult for us to endure, physiologically.
i understand that the film is about the act in itself and not about a story but i wish there was more to this movie than buncha drunks talking about sex in the subway, rather obnoxiously. there weren't much substance in the characterization department, where characters could interact and have a decent amount of dialogues and allow us to learn about them. at the same time after the brutual first ten minutes, is it really that important to learn anything about them prior to the main event? but what annoyed me was the repetition of the lines and no one seems to be listening to each other or at least spice up the lines and change things around, and not repeat it over and over again.
lastly, the final scene is beautiful, almost worth enduring this for. i don't know how to express it, the final shot of the park with beethoven's 7th symphony is something that i want to capture in my own film, the serenity of it all.
if you just see these imgs you won't believe the shit that goes on before it.
bottom line is, if you have weak stomach, AVOID this one at all costs. you will not be able to sit through this for more than 5 minutes. this film will not scare or terrify you for 5 seconds like some horror flicks. it'll ruin your night and leave you shaken long after you turn your tv off. this is more like a snuff film that'll make you feel like you somehow made a wrong turn somewhere in your life... i think i'm going to stick to pokemon and carebears from now on...
