bix171
10-04-2003, 12:27 AM
Though it may strike some as exploitive (with some justification) and gimmicky (not only is it presented backwards in real time, each scene is shot in one take) and has perhaps the most astonishingly realistic portrayals of violence in cinema, Gaspar Noe’s technically audacious film is, unexpectedly, also an insightful character study. The first half is a harrowing recreation of the lust for revenge after a brutal anal rape and beating that truly requires the viewer’s ability to handle viewing these acts in remarkably explicit detail. But it’s in the film’s second half—where the events leading up to the tragedies devolve—that Noe’s gifted direction of some very talented actors (including Monica Bellucci, from “The Matrix Reloaded”, Vincent Cassel, the voice of Monsieur Hood in “Shrek” and Albert Dupontel in perhaps the film’s most fascinating performance) is brought to the forefront and the superbly loose, semi-improvisational performances help define the characters in subtle ways that clarify the causes and effects of the events to follow. Noe has his flaws—he signifies a little too bluntly (Bellucci recounting a telling dream seems a little too prescient) and the opening scene takes so long a bit of the dread wears off—but he has far more affection for his main characters than his shock counterpart Michael Haneke does for his in “The Piano Teacher”. While Noe may have his aggressive, unpleasant side and mercilessly insists on pushing his audience’s buttons, he also gives them an intimate portrayal of relationships constructed much more carefully than anticipated.