15 Films That Only Needed One Scene To Become Legendary

The Movie: For many people Gaspar Noé’s Irréversible is an incredible piece of cinema that they never want to see again. It is a fearless revenge story told entirely in reverse, creating an intriguing but also massively disconcerting atmosphere.

The Legendary Scene: Irréversible depicts the aftereffects of one of cinema's all-time most shocking rape scenes. Clocking in at nearly 11 minutes long, the unbearably savage sequence is the film's centerpiece, boosted into highly challenging performance art by Monica Bellucci's superb performance.

The leering way in which the camera refuses to move or react to the horrendous attack on screen is like holding the viewer’s face and forcing them to endure the trauma rather than being passive. Not one cut or edit, just a slow zoom. It is a scene that makes the entire audience feel like they have just helplessly witnessed a real assault. 

At the time, many attacked the film, and yet the outrage overshadowed what is actually a more interesting exercise in the nature of fate, shot with much technical bravado.