Has anybody seen Irreversible by Gaspar Noe? I watched it about two years ago and I'm still not sure what I think of it. It's one of the few films I've watched that really made me feel quite sick (and I used to watch all sorts of shock videos) but the main thing I can't make my mind up on is whether the decision to essentially tell the story in reverse chronological order elevates it above the level of a typical male power fantasy movie.

It's a film that is essentially about a woman getting raped by a pimp<! causing her boyfriend and her ex (who is still friends with both of them) to >hunt down the rapist and attempt to bring him to justice.!< The latter activity comprises the first half hour or so of the film and the rape is shown quite graphically less than halfway into the film. The latter half of the film shows the three of them at a house party where the woman leaves early because she's upset at her boyfriend for taking too much and getting flirty with some of the other women there. After that it's mostly just scenes of them getting ready for the party and travelling there whole talking about random stuff.

The argument is that if it was shown in normal chronological order it would be nothing more than a movie about a man who gets to beat the shit out of someone else as revenge for their partner being raped which essentially makes the crime something that motivates or justifies action for the male character rather than a traumatic experience in its own right. By showing the vigilante justice first (and extremely graphically) you show the main characters do some pretty heinous things without really understanding why which makes you question their actions. Then as you learn what leads up to all of that, you're less likely to see it as justified. You then spend the second half of the film basically learning about the characters as actual normal people whereas in a "normal" film you'd see the rape happen to a character you already know and then see their friends go off and try to seek justice.