The Story: A former butcher begins his downward spiral. He hits rock bottom, blames the world for all his failings, and threatens to get even. After being released from jail, imprisoned because he brutally beat up a man he believed raped his daughter, the butcher finds himself in a marriage of convenience (she has the money he could use to start a new shop), his new wife is pregnant, and his near catatonic daughter lays in a mental hospital. Forced into menial night watchmen job at a nursing home by his wife, who refuses to pay for his shop, the butcher snaps, beating his wife, and flees to Paris with little money, no prospects, a gun, and a vile, bitter hatred for the world. In Paris things do not get better; his already fragile mental state begins to fall apart, and his rage towards the world and himself reaches a boil. He decides to get his daughter out of the hospital, one last act before he sinks his hatred into those he feels wronged him and possibly destroy them before he destroys himself.

The Film: I Stand Alone pulls no punches in its portrayal of a sociopathic butcher fueled by deep seated bitterness and rage towards the world. Through an almost constant narration, an inner monologue of his thoughts, which are vulgar, violent, and hopeless, possessed of hatred for the workings of the world, we hear how at almost every turn he considers life to be working against him. This is about a man who has come to despise existence, whose optimism has been eroded away, finding little solace, no love, no God, no country, no camaraderie, and little satisfaction beyond his loathing, violent outbursts, and fantasies.

If you couldn't tell already, I Stand Alone is not an easy film. Unlike Clean, Shaven, Requiem for a Dream, or Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer there is no noble cause (although he wants to retrieve his daughter, you know she is better off without him), no message, or tortured past presented that is really strong enough for one to pity the nameless butcher's ravings. It doesn't really have the historical context of SALO: 120 Days in Sodom or the black humor of Man Bites Dog. While it does have some of those elements, they are buried in its utter bleakness and that is the film makers intention.

Not only by way of its inescapable narration, director Gaspar Noe offers no relief by using audio and visual bursts, (gunshots, title cards reading such things as- "DEATH OPENS NO DOOR"), abrupt editing, and jarring camerawork to further unsettle the viewer. It is a constant barrage of negativity, anger, and despair to all of the viewer's senses. In the same way the butcher blames the fate of the world for his lot in life and not himself, like he is just a pawn of a nihilistic fate, Noe does the same with the viewer, playing puppeteer, using all the tools he can and being blatant about wanting to disturb the viewer. At one point even , before the films most disturbing sequence, Noe offers a huge title card- "WARNING", and proceeds to say the film is about to get even worse, and a countdown begins so that people will have 30 seconds to leave the theater - this was a keen bit of foresight since most people at festival screenings did just that. It probably held the record for walk outs among film festivals in 1998. Yet, none of these things feel like a pretentious gag, because Noe is just enhancing upon the psychological effects that the butcher feels and putting them on the viewer.

It does not have a protagonist that is easy to watch and it is that fact that makes it a worthwhile film, more of an honest portrayal of such an individual, a passive-aggressive sociopath than, say, Taxi Driver... And there are some interesting parallels in I Stand Alone to Scorsese's classic. When Travis Bickle sits in the porn theater, he muses over the decay of New York while blurred pornography plays in the background. When the butcher sits in the porno theater, his inner monologue is that all man is a "miserable c**k", love is a lie, and the pornography isn't in the background, its explicitly (hence the unrated nature of the film) at the forefront.- When Bickle drives around in the streets, he sees moral depravity and dreams it could be washed away. As the butcher walks the streets, to war march music, he sees an order or "fa***ts", scum, and upper class out to suppress him. He is still alive only because "SURVIVAL IS GENETIC LAW" and nothing more,... no dreams come true, just failure at every turn.- Bickle stares in the mirror with his gun an fantasies about killing criminals. The butcher stares into the mirror and fantasies about killing himself, but only after he takes a few other people out first.- Bickle wants to kill the pimps. The butcher would prefer to slaughter the world.

I Stand Alone is a provocative piece of nihilism, meant to stir one up, definitely not for everyone, and whether you find extreme appreciation or bitter revulsion for the film, I think Noe would consider it successful with either reaction.

The DVD: Strand Releasing presents Suel Contre Nous (I Stand Alone or One Against All) uncut, and basically barebones.

Picture- Letterboxed. Now, the film appears quite soft and with very muddy, drab colors. However, before you think there is something wrong, I saw I Stand Alone in the theater, and it looked much the same. I do believe it is intentional, since during the close ups, the image is much sharper- a further way to enhance the mood of the film. Think of it much the same way that when looking at Seven the image is extremely dark, but David Fincher intended it to be so it would help creep out the viewer... Like many imported films, I'm sure if it underwent some tweeking it could be better, but considering the nature of the film, we are pretty lucky to have it.

Sound- French Dolby Digital 2.0 with default white English Subtitles. Once again the sound is fine, although it presents an interesting problem. When I saw it in the theater the unsettling sound fx, the gunshots, music hits, were so loud and forceful that they made you jump in your seat. So, of course sitting around in your home without the benefit of a theaters huge sound system this effect is lessened. So, if you've got a heavy duty sound system turn it up, adjust it so the cues shake you up, or try putting on some headphones which also seemed to work pretty well.

Extras- 9 Chapters--- Trailers for Head On, Love is the Devil and Postcards from America.--- Sadly, Strand Releasing did not include "Carne" as an extra. "Carne" is a 40 minute short film by Noe that is a direct prequel to I Stand Alone, containing the same principle actors. As a matter of fact, the first few minutes of I Stand Alone recount the story of "Carne" and use stills from it to illustrate the butcher's past. A French DVD does include "Carne" as an extra, but it has no English subs and isn't Region One or Region 0.

Conclusion- Although the DVD presentation is sadly limited to a b-grade transfer in terms of image, sound, and extras, this is one of the most affecting films I have ever seen and a personal favorite. While the style and subject matter is defintiely not for everyone, those with a penchant for the dark and unsettling will find the film rewarding and most likely a film they will never forget.