10 Horror Movies Actors Wanted You To Hate
2. Monica Bellucci - Irreversible (2002)
Gaspar Noé's Irreversible is one of the most profoundly shocking films of the 21st century, but unlike the unsavoury contemporaries it often gets lumped in with -- A Serbian Film (2010), for example -- it is a work with meaning and purpose, exhibiting depth of theme, acting, direction and cinematography from beginning to end.
Told backwards, the film tracks a day and night in the life of Marcus (Vincent Cassel) and his friend Pierre (Albert Dupontel) as things go from bad to worse and back again in a tale of partying, brutality and revenge. But it is Monica Bellucci's Alex who provides the impetus for the plot as, in a now-infamous scene that has largely eclipsed the film itself, she is sexually assaulted in an unflinching, unbroken minutes-long take.
Bellucci herself led the scene and her movements and decisions dictated how long it would last. Supporting Noé's vision, she believed there was good reason to drive it home in this most upsetting fashion, reasoning that while the scene would be awful for viewers and difficult to digest, the film and their reactions would force them to see the monsters inside all people, and the futility of the plans they make.
In both Noé's and her own words, Bellucci "[believes] that time destroys everything."