MovieChat Forums > Irréversible (2002) Discussion > Is it normal not to be disturbed by this...

Is it normal not to be disturbed by this movie at all?


Just saw it. The rape scene, the beating, and the extinguisher scene, none of them did anything for me. I find it dull from start to finish, just like High Tension & Inside. As far as rape scene goes, the impact the one had in Open Window (2006) is far more disturbing for me.

In fact, amongst the French Extreme Horror Wave, the only movie that I'd say qualifies a good horror movie is Martyrs (as in, it's not boring, unlike its peers).

French has the best quality cinema in the history of the world (3 movies in my top 5 movies ever are French movies), but their work in the horror genre is rather weak compared to their work in drama, history, comedy, action, and fantasy.

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Akira Kurosawa is the greatest movie director that ever lived.

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[deleted]

it depends how old you are. This movie is extreme violence and rated R and not released in asia at all( some body can confirm this).

I am not sure it was released in theaters in usa as well! I saw it on rental! some scenes are beyond real! Like there is no body in the tunnel for nearly 45 minutes( this wont happen in any nook or corner of suburban newyork!).

I did not see it in san francisco either( there is always a cop around( unless you took a woman to the top of some remote mountain there!). It is a bit too much if it happened in paris!

The rape scene is one of the most ugliest in the history of cinmea. They do not do it like this in porn. They do more sensational activities and woman enjoy it( and mostly french started it!).

As you get older you find it more offensive and shocking( as you understand the world better if I may add!)

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I'm 24.

And Japanese porn have had longer & uglier gang rape scenes, just sayin'.

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Akira Kurosawa is the greatest movie director that ever lived.

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[deleted]

ha ha! misogynist sick baaastard!!! They are all over!sex against will is not right! who are you to judge she deserved it? If the movie was shot in france or italy prostitution is legal there. There is no need to rape!

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Actually, as you get older you realise that jumped up 14 year olds like yourself with no emotional capacity for anything above a game of Call of Duty are everywhere and should be avoided like the plague.

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"A man who does not spend time with his family can never be a real man."

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In all seriousness, a certain percentage of the population is sociopathic/psychopathic. It doesn't mean that you are a crazed serial killer, it simply means that you lack empathy and cannot sympathize when you see someone being harmed, tortured or killed. It takes what most people would consider an excessive level of disturbing material to elicit any kind of response at all. Considering many of the comments I see on many similar threads, IMDB forums are over-represented by sociopaths. That, and many viewers are desensitized to violence and gore to an equal extent from a lifetime of watching increasingly disturbing content.

Personally, I found the fire extinguisher scene one of the most brutal I have ever witnessed (it was the pauses that did it, the time he took to reflect on his handiwork before continuing). It took a number of times before I could watch it all the way through. Frankly, I am glad that it still has this effect on me. If I were to watch such a scene without feeling any emotion- revulsion, disgust, pity, anger - it would make film watching a soul-less and unenjoyable experience.

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Hm, that's very reasonable. Thank you!

Although to be fair, perhaps the greatest act of violence that I could admit "unnerved" me would be the face removal scene in Eyes Without A Face (1968).

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My top 5 favorite directors: Kurosawa, Spielberg, Jeunet, Argento, and Gilliam.

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[deleted]

The only thing disturbing about this movie to me was the horrible camera work.

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I saw it. A thing that was cold and dry. It was me. - La Belle Noiseuse

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[deleted]

The rape scene itself was not disturbing, but intensely erotic to watch. Monica Bellucci is a gorgeously beautiful woman, and seeing her clothes get ripped off whilst the rapist have his wicked way with her was incredibly sexy.

My girlfriend also found the scene to be a turn-on, which surprised me. What happens immediately after the rape WAS disturbing and horrific.

Wow, that's.... hard for me to understand, though no judgments I swear! :P I do understand the idea of rape as an erotic fantasy, but that qualifies as "role-playing" and, obviously, that is not at all what is being depicted in the film. For me the scene was unbearable to watch, even before he beats her face. As you know, he isn't raping her in the vagina... the line the rapist says, about her bleeding... it's just terrible... she HAS to be in so much pain b/c she is tight there and he is not being gentle... it's a completely *beep* up scene and was excruciating for me to sit through, I was not turned on in the slightest despite how beautiful she is (especially when he says "if you [poop] on me I'll kill you"). It horrifies me to think of being pounded in my virgin butthole like that and completely helpless to stop it! The pain! The horror!

But everybody is different, Perhaps you and your girl are more hardcore whereas I'm more softcore. To me she looks much more gorgeous and erotic naked in the bed with Marcus... not sprawled out on the dirty tunnel floor being brutally assaulted by a walking talking piece of *beep* I could never sit through the scene again, once was enough.

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What's the Rectum? You're making me sick! I don't come in the Rectum!

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Well, the rape did not turn me on.

The beat-down afterwards was dull too, considering the distance between where it happened and the camera was quite far thus to me the impact is lessened to the point it no longer affects me. Overall, I find every aspect about Irreversible to be pretty tame and unworthy of all the hype.

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I saw it. A thing that was cold and dry. It was me. - La Belle Noiseuse

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The same happened to me. I think it was because she didn't fight back at all

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My girlfriend also found the scene to be a turn-on, which surprised me.

Can you say "Keeper"? 

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[deleted]

I already watched beheading videos before I watched Irreversible, those videos are lame.

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I saw it. A thing that was cold and dry. It was me. - La Belle Noiseuse

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[deleted]

I mean, that, it's not affecting.

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I saw it. A thing that was cold and dry. It was me. - La Belle Noiseuse

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[deleted]

I'm 25.

And I'm not saying this to be cool. I never understood of people's obsession to be cool when I'm fine with being myself.

So, not normal yeah? Well, fine, I can live with that. I found 3 guys 1 hammer tame too.

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I saw it. A thing that was cold and dry. It was me. - La Belle Noiseuse

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[deleted]

It's tame because the guy is already 90% dead during the filming of 3 guys 1 hammer. If he were fully conscious and healthy, I'm sure I would have puked.

And, well, I'm not a sociopath, obviously.

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I saw it. A thing that was cold and dry. It was me. - La Belle Noiseuse

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I'm 19, and knowing that it's all fake really tones down the disturbing quality for me. Salo was more pervasive in its sexual violence than this was but it wasn't as graphic. The rape scene was still difficult to watch!

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You say you're not a sociopath, but that's you thinking about yourself subjectively. Whereas objectively, people who don't know you - like the majority of us - find your comments a tad disturbing and definitely lacking some emotion. You could have sociopathic tendencies while not being entirely one or it could be that you're extremely desensitized to violence, since, as you say you "were watching beheading videos before Irreversible" and found them "lame".

:: filmschoolthrucommentaries ::

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Err....I don't torture small animals in real life, if you must know. Shouldn't that disqualify me from being a sociopath?

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My Top 100 Favorite Films: http://www.imdb.com/list/ls071561044/

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You don't have to torture small animals to be a sociopath. Lou Bloom didn't.

:: filmschoolthrucommentaries ::

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Lou Bloom is a fictional character, he has no bearings on real life.

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My Top 100 Favorite Films: http://www.imdb.com/list/ls071561044/

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[deleted]

You thought this was a horror film? That may be the start of your problem right there. Because its definitely not horror and definitely not meant to be viewed through the lens of a horror film's perspective. You sound like you came to the film because all your cool friends kept telling you how hardcore it was and how violent and gruesome it was (and the awesome rape scene!) so you set yourself up for something beyond extreme and you found it didnt reach that mark. The thing is though, Noé wasnt making this film simply to impress you (or people like you). Sorry to tell you. He had a bigger concept in mind...

I feel I can say this because I too went into the film worried it would be more than I could stomach after hearing about it for literally YEARS including (unfortunately) all about the rape and all about the fire extinguisher scene in detail. After watching it I truly wish I had come to this film completely blind so that these events could have shocked me the way they should have. But because I was viewing it from the perspective of someone anticipating actors acting a scene I had been hearing about for a long time, it just didnt feel as disturbing as I had constantly heard. It was clearly brutal and depraved, I could observe that much, but because I had hyped myself up for it SO much, it didnt really effect me below the surface like some other disturbing films have (I went into Antichrist knowing NOTHING... had to watch cartoons for like 8 hours afterwords just to get back to normal)

So I share your pain (or your inability to truly feel any pain) to some degree. Although I never would have run to the internet to brag about how "dull" the movie was and how I yawned through the whole thing etc because I know that would just make me look like a troll or an immature douchebag trying to show off.

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Using words to describe art is like using a screw driver to cut roast beef.

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Ah, I see. I can only apologize for coming off as unremarkable and haughty. After thinking about it, your argument is sound. I agree Irreversible might have had no effect on me because it didn't live up to my expectations. And it's not just Irreversible, obviously, I've encountered many acclaimed horror films only to find myself befuddled over what the fuss is all about (i.e: The Shining, The Exorcist, Cannibal Holocaust, Paranormal Activity, The Ring, Les Diaboliques, and The Vanishing just to name a few).

But to be fair, I've experienced watching films known for being disturbing without being aware of their reputations and/or hypes only to end up without being affected at all just the same (for example, my viewing of Antichrist, Dancer in the Dark, Funny Games, The Seventh Continent, A Serbian Film, Requiem for a Dream, and Salo didn't disturb me at all).

I'm not saying I'm numb, of course. I watched Eyes Without a Face aware of its place in the horror pantheon and I felt physically ill once my viewing was finished (a good sign the movie worked its intended effect, to this day I believe that piece of cinema gold is the most disturbing film I've ever seen). I also viewed The Fourth Man knowing nothing and, once the film was over, avoided any sight of scissors for quite some time.

Sorry for my ranting, thanks for providing an explanation.

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My Top 100 Favorite Films: http://www.imdb.com/list/ls071561044/

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Course now Im compelled to watch Eyes Without a Face... Im wondering how you were effected by Eraserhead. And how you react to real world tragedies (9/11, Sandy Hook, etc.) or if anything you would qualify as horrific has happened to you or anyone close to you in your life. Forgive me for the dime store psychoanalysis... I dont intend to draw any conclusions. Im just generally curious.

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Using words to describe art is like using a screw driver to cut roast beef.

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Eraserhead is a good film, but it didn't disturb or unnerve me at all. In general, no David Lynch film that I have seen bothered me in any manner.

Of course I react differently to real life tragedies, personal or otherwise. Tragic events such as 9/11, Sandy Hook, and the likes upset me a great deal. Tragedies such as the ones you named also made me wonder why it always took only a small amount of evil to destroy innumerable good but little good cannot undo great evil.

P.S: Please note I walked into my initial viewing of Eyes Without a Face with a big underestimating scoff after Irreversible, Les Diaboliques, Inside, Martyrs, and High Tension failed to scare me at all. I guess you could say I was forced to eat my words and admit defeat, but it was a loss I do not dislike, for it taught me never to belittle a film I have never seen. I know nothing of you or your personality, but I hope, should you view EWAF, it will disturb you the way it did me. Have fun! 😀

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My Top 100 Favorite Films: http://www.imdb.com/list/ls071561044/

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I just had a Extreme French New Wave marathon and found the films still mundane...except this one.

That's right, I've changed my mind about Irreversible. Is it disturbing? Still a no, but now I appreciate its message, artistry, and vision a whole lot more. Rewatched it three times just now and was entertained every time. This is my favorite Noe now, just wanna let you know.

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My Top 1,000 Favorite Films: http://www.imdb.com/list/ls071561044/

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Three times! I have no burning desire to watch this one again. Im glad I watched it once but definitely dont feel any need for another viewing. Im now at a point where its not about how disturbing a movie is. I dont think its the proper terminology that best applies here (at least for me). There are plenty of empty hack and slash shock films that are made entirely for the point of being disturbing. And most of those do nothing for me. Ive now come to seek out films that get to me. That buckle my knees. That put me in a position that is at the very least uncomfortable and that leave me anxious, tense even exhausted from simply watching them. The very best of this genre put the viewer in a position where he cant feel secure or comfortable or grounded. Where we spend the whole film struggling to fight against the disorientation the film is forcing on us or to scramble while the film takes advantage of our own natural empathy and tortures us with it. It could be a quiet drama or a comedy even (I put the film Happiness very much in this category)

"Disturbing" implies something metaphysical and arguably bigger then what a film medium can bring us (real life is disturbing). For lack of a better term I call these movies "Hard" although that term is itself limiting of course but I know what Im getting at with it. These are films that break you down psychologically, emotionally or in some way despite yourself. They might have violence in them but being hard to watch isnt necessarily because of the violence. Its something more than that.

I watched the film Hard Candy recently and found it very difficult to watch but when it was over I was so glad I had seen it. Like undergoing a trial by fire or a test of some sort that helps reveal something about ourselves. What it does it does brilliantly but I hated going through it (which is the same reaction I had with Irreversible). THATS what Im seeking now. Hard movies. Not shock for shocks sake. But tough brilliant pieces of art that unhinge us emotionally and push us to the edge or make us doubt something we embrace as a comfort or force us to see something about ourselves that we dont want to. Thats good film making if you can get in there and do that to me. And Ill hate you for it and love you for it at the same time.


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http://letterboxd.com/blakkdog/

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Thank you for the response. Again, I never found Irreversible to be hard to watch to begin with so I had no problems viewing it multiple times successively.

I have yet to gain the money and equipment to direct a film which will rattle your comfort zone, but still I am equipped with the knowledge adequate to navigate you to paths you might find challenging by the end of the day.

Aside from the previously mentioned Eyes Without a Face (1960), I'd like to recommend these 11 titles (in case you haven't seen them already):

Blood of the Beasts (1949)
Utopia (1983)
Silip (1985)
Dead Man's Letters (1986)
Xiu-Xiu: The Sent Down Girl (1998)
Osama (2003)
Dear Zachary (2008)
Michael (2011)
Our Children (2012)
Miss Violence (2013)
The Treatment (2014)

In case some of these are new titles for you, I'd encourage you to know as little as possible about any of them. Take my word for it. Happy watching! 😀

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My Top 1,000 Favorite Films: http://www.imdb.com/list/ls071561044/

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Printed. Ill try to check them out. The only ones I had on my list already were Eyes Without a Face and Michael so always good to have a few more to entertain/torment me.


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http://letterboxd.com/blakkdog/

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Hope you'll enjoy them all. 😀

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My Top 1,000 Favorite Films: http://www.imdb.com/list/ls071561044/

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