Irréversible (2002) - Synopsis

Irréversible (2002) - synopsis headingIrreversible is a demanding and audacious but thoroughly rewarding cinematic experience that has been thrilling audiences since its world premiere in Cannes and its North American debut screenings at the Telluride and Toronto film festivals earlier this year. The film will be released by Lions Gate Films on March 7, 2003.

Even for a director that has been known to invite controversy in films such as Sodomites (1998), Seul contre tous (I Stand Alone) (1998), and Carne (1991), Noé's Irreversible can still be considered the ultimate in bravura filmmaking. An emotional odyssey that unspools in reverse from gut-wrenching violence to sweetly observed moments of sublime tenderness, the film stars Monica Bellucci and real-life husband Vincent Cassel as a couple whose story is told over the course of a fateful evening in a series of long takes.

The film features two unsettling and graphic scenes of violence and sexuality that are difficult to watch. However, these grim sights are nestled within a carefully constructed -- although unconventional -- narrative which serves as a counterpoint to moments of striking tenderness, and the film is in some ways a study of darkness and light. Irreversible, starring Monica Bellucci (Brotherhood of the Wolf and Malèna) and Vincent Cassel (Brotherhood of the Wolf, The Crimson Rivers, Birthday Girl), has also screened at the Edinburgh International Film Festival and the San Sebastian Film Festival. Bellucci's upcoming work includes Antoine Fuqua's Man of War (March 2003) opposite Bruce Willis, The Matrix Revolutions and The Matrix Reloaded, as well as the role of Mary Magdalene in Mel Gibson's The Passion.

Lions Gate Films