by Nats Barretto
Books, texts, movies -- they are not just for entertainment. They are a means, a means of expressing the different possibilities in this world. That's one of the things I've learned so far in this second philosophy course. And today, I've seen that learning "put into action".
Irreversible. One word. Everything that has already happened is irreversible. Every possibility that has passed, every possibility that is happening -- they are irreversible. Time destroys all things.
Having had a three day weekend gave me a lot of opportunity to watch lots of tv shows and movies. And somehow, I happened to stumble upon this rated 21 and above movie from France. Out of curiosity, I watched it.
It was probably the...harshest movie I have seen in my 19 years of living. The movie contains 13 scenes, shown in reverse chronological order.
I won't tell the plot as some of you might want to watch it. But basically, the whole movie tackles a reality often dismissed by many film makers because of its negativity and harshness. Until now, I still can't get the images out of my head, and I doubt I ever will. It's irreversible. I thought, actually, why would someone make a film so...unnerving. Aren't films supposed to be entertaining? This movie is probably the opposite of entertaining!
But no, I guess entertainment's not the whole point of movies. Movies show possibilities, and harshness was simply the possibility shown by "Irreversible". Somewhere in other parts of the world, these things are actually happening. Probably more worse things than this are happening in some other parts of the world. And that's just the way the world goes.
This movie, is a noble movie. It tackles realities other movies are afraid of tackling. And it's noble in a way that it gives these realities exposure, more than what the nightly news shows you. Yes, it makes people horrified, but it also moves people to do something about these realities. Maybe, just maybe, the audience will be able to do something about these realities.
**Spoilers beyond this part.**
After more thinking, I've came to realize the things that made the movie so...horrifying.
1) Two people could have helped Alex in the tunnel scene: the transsexual Guillermo and the man who appeared on the other end during the rape scene. They both could have helped Alex, but they didn't. Sin of omission, yeah. It's scary, how people aren't brave enough sometimes to get out of their way and help people in need; how people are unresponsive to other's demands.
2) It's the same thing in the Rectum club scene, where Tenia was beating the hell out of Marcus' head with a fire extinguisher. All the other guys could have helped Marcus. But they just stood there, watching the man get himself beaten. It was one of the scariest images in the movie I couldn't keep out of my head.
3) The intensity. Several other movies also try to expose these kinds of things, but they don't make you feel the intensity the way "Irreversible" makes you feel it. A part of it is brought by the what the camera chooses to show--the penis of the rapist after the rape scene, the deformation of Alex and Marcus' face during and after the beatings, and several other things.
Watch only if you think you can handle it. It's not a movie for everyone, and I think I've already established that throughout the blog post.
"Time destroys all things" - I totally agree with the statement, but then I thought about it and realized that we can view it in a more positive light. From something destroyed, there is room for something new. There is room for an improvement. I guess, time destroys but time also provides.
ReplyDeleteAlso, I am very intrigued with the movie and I plan to get myself a copy of it as soon as possible. I hope I get to bear watching all the scenes without covering my eyes (but I doubt it)
-Bea Antonio
PH102 A
I agree with what you said that everything that has happened in the past is irreversible. Indeed, the glass you broke, the words you said, and even the things others did to you in the past can never be changed. However, I recently had a realization from my Th131 class that things in the past are very essential and that they can be seen as something positive which complete you. This is because human beings are historical beings bounded by space and time. Our being historical binds our past, present and future together and they are necessary to achieve our full human development. Yes, what has happened in the past can no longer be brought back, but it still affects our present and our future. Because of this, we should never get stuck in the past, but rather learn from our past in order to have a brighter future.
ReplyDelete- Russell Virata
Ph102 C
Gaspar Noé, the film's director is known for his graphic and controversial films. Even if it's hard to bear sometimes, his style is unique and raw, and it actually encourages the audience to talk about the film and what messages they got from it.
ReplyDeleteI think the reason why the director shuffled the order and immediately began with the shocking and disturbing scenes (and end with the calmer, "opening" scenes) is because he really wanted the audience to think about the crime, as in sear it onto our brains, so we can reflect on the consequences of our actions. Time is indeed "Irreversible" and before it "destroys all things," we really must think before we act. It's been thrown around too much, but we often don't give our actions much thought and we only realize the gravity of the situation we get ourselves in when it's too late.
Krista Agbayani/Section C
True, the past is definitely irreversible. If we hurt someone, we can do all we can to ease the pain, to try and make up for it, but in the end, the damage has been done. Like the old saying goes, trust, once broken, can never be regained. If you have broken the trust of your girlfriend/boyfriend by cheating or something, chances are, if they forgive you and give you a second chance, there will always be that thought in the back of their heads that nothing could stop you from doing the same thing in the future.
ReplyDeleteHaving said that, allow me to slightly disagree that time destroys all things. Yes, time can destroy some things. Things will wear out and eventually become good for nothing. Plants, animals and even us human beings will die in due time. Our physical body will wear out. But there are some things that even time cannot destroy. Take love for example. I hate to sound cheesy and all, but some love truly lasts a lifetime and more! And there is so much more that time can do besides destroy. Time also builds. Time also heals. I hate to sound like a naive little kid, but I guess I just refuse to believe that the world can be such a dark place. Maybe I just want to search for that speck of light and cling to it.
Lica Lee
PH102 A
Just a correction. it wasn't Marcus that was beaten to death, it was the man that they though was the one who raped Alex. The real one, La Tenia was standing next to the person though.
ReplyDeleteWe have this shift from "Who am I?" to "What does the other demand from me?". We talk about where do we get our experiences from? It has been suggested that we should go back to phenomenology: the lived experiences. This interpretation of books that it is not just a manual but a possibility of being. It also offers impossibilities. If you think about it, people are also texts because we can read people. Reading makes us decentered - sometimes we forget to read if we're really centered on the book. (This is happened to me.)
ReplyDeleteThere are some things in this world, like this movie, that are made to disgust you. I don't know why people came up with those things actually. But then again, it makes us aware that we are all different people.
Hokulea Cabrera
PH102 A
I haven't watched this movie as well, and I didn't read the spoilers below the blog post, for fear that it is too gruesome or too much rated 21. Anyways, though I'm not familiar with this movie, I can understand what you're saying. Movies are texts as well which offer us a lot of possibilities which can happen in life. They show us what can happen in life, and they teach us that we should be prepared for any experience, although each and every experience is always different. In fact, these may already be happening in our lifetime, and we are just called to take action. And once we choose what to do, we can't go back and change our decision once we already did something about it. What we can do, though, is to right our wrongs, if there are any.
ReplyDelete-M. Cua, Ph 102 A