Lions Gate acquires Gaspar Noë's controversial Irreversible

Several critics at the Cannes Film Festival raved about Irreversible, the new film from French director Gaspar Noe (I Stand Alone), while others walked out over the film's controversial 10-minute rape scene, a string of homophobic and misogynist epithets uttered by the film's gangster characters, and a visit to a gay S/M club called Rectum. But, as indieWIRE.com reports, Lions Gate Films can be included among the film's supporters, as the independent distributor acquired the film for release in the United States. In a prepared statement, Lions Gate president Tom Ortenberg said, "Gaspar Noe has created a cinematic masterpiece. Irreversible is brilliant and controversial and will be a perfect complement to the Lions Gate theatrical schedule." Lions Gate has championed such controversial films as Dogma, O, and the forthcoming The Rules of Attraction.