Boy Meets Girl

One of the many things I love about DVD, as a medium, is the way that so many wonderful films that never got the video release they so richly deserved have being unearthed from the vaults and unleashed on the viewing public - usually a public that can't even remember them from the first time round at that.

One such forgotten gem is Ray Brady's "Boy Meets Girl" (1994, UK) which although responsible for huge amounts of controversy upon its theatrical release (BBFC not liking its subject matter, for some reason!), never seems to get mentioned by many folk any more. Luckily, after being banned on video in the UK since its inception, it got a nicely put-together R2 DVD release in 2002 so now there's no excuse for having not seen this terrifying slice of thought-provoking brutality...

The film begins, as the title suggests, when Boy Meets Girl in that all-too-familiar setting of a divey little bar somewhere. Girl is French, quite the 'randy little tart' it seems, so Boy thinks he's struck lucky, especially when she takes him back to her flat, plies him with wine and asks if he'd like to watch some porn with her. It's all very exciting but after a glass of wine he starts to feel a bit woozy and ... oops! Quicker than you can say "she drugged your drink, dude!", Boy wakes up to find he is in a small room with black walls, strapped into a dentist's chair. Girl is not actually French at all. She's also not particularly nice either. Bad things ensue. VERY bad things... and she wants to film it all.

I'd love to tell you more, because the way I've put it probably makes it sound like one of the "Guinea Pig" films (which it's quite a far cry from!), but I also don't want to spoil the plot for you. I WILL however go as far as to say, the entire thing takes place in the black room with minimal cast members (which all lends it quite a 'theatrical' feel), so major cred points distributed all round for creating such a continuously tense and edgy atmosphere that keeps you guessing and utterly engrossed right up until the final few grotesque scenes.

There are so many things in this deeply unusual film's favour that enable it to be so effective. The direction, despite an obvious shoestring budget, manages to be stylish and taut, using camera trickery and plot-contextual switching between film and video to keep things looking lively. The acting is surprisingly strong, considering the relative obscurity of the cast members. Danielle Sanderson (sadly never seen in anything else) is nothing short of unforgettable, playing her unstable character with a disarming mix of light and dark. One minute she's soothing, sensual, almost maternal and the next she's positively fearsome, spewing forth verbal bile with the maniacal savagery. It would be so easy for some of her dialogue to be delivered with a large side order of ham, but Sanderson makes her character believable through the intensity of her performance. I *really* wish she'd made other films. It's tragic to think of such an incredible talent being wasted.

Of course, what REALLY makes this movie is the razor-sharp script, unpredictable and surprisingly complexed as it is. On top of its constant heartfelt assaults on the (at the time very hot) topic of violence in media, it relishes in playing with your mind and your personal politics, when it comes to morality. The lines between good and evil, right and wrong, continually shift (along with the viewer's sympathies). It's almost disorientating, the way the characterisations manipulate perceptions of what's going on and, by the time the plot reaches its ferociously visceral climax, the impact is made all the greater, because you're being made to THINK about what's going on instead of just watching it through zombified, desensitised eyes.

"Boy Meets Girl" is one of the more genuinely disturbing films I've seen. Obviously being creeped out by the movies is a very subjective, personal thing but, like I say, this one definitely did it for me. The closest comparisons I could make would be to place it in a similar category to "Man Bites Dog" or "Audition". Fiercely original, darkly comic at times but ultimately very harrowing indeed.

Overall Rating: A no-budget 9.5 out of 10.

From the Directors commentary we get the whole story of how this "film" came about:

Picture the scene: four students, a lot of beer, no money. "Hey" says one of them, "Why don't we make a film?". One of his slightly less moronic friends says: "But we have no money, we can't write scripts, no-one knows how to direct and no actors who can actually act will work with us!".

"Don't worry" replies the 1st student. "Leave all that to me..."

And thus Boy Meets Girl was born...

The genius of this film is that they entrusted all of crucial aesthetic elements to the least talented film-maker in the entire world - Ray Brady. He has now developed a cult following for making the most universally bad movies ever seen - he even surpasses Ed Wood.

The camerawork is worse than a home movie shot by a drunk, blind, amputee with CP. The dialogue is so stilted it conjures up visions of promotional catalogues for toenail clippers. The plot is non existent - man gets tied to a chair and tortured a lot - and it as about as "artsy" and "shocking" as bowl of soup. The acting reminds you of 1970's Open University programmes, but without the lecturers charm and on-screen charisma.

Basically this film takes self indulgent trite into a whole new dimension and you will leave it at best swearing never to watch a moving image on a screen for the rest of your life, and at worst planning genocide of the entire human race to ensure something like this is never made or seen again.

Fun for all the family!

Ray Brady's "Boy Meets Girl" is a low budget, uncompromising and controversial shocker. When married-with-two-children Tim Poole sets out on yet another one-night-stand as an obscure drinking hole, he bites off more than he can chew. Finishing the evening in what appears to be the home-made dungeon of the psychotic Margot Steinberg, Poole's woes have only just started.

This is a grim tale that has gained much notoriety due to its initial home video /DVD ban in the UK. This censorship has now been lifted and the DVD can now be purchased from all good retailers. As I'd read a lot about this project many moons ago and seen the documentary series "Banned in the UK", I knew how things were going to pan out which reduced the tension somewhat. Despite this, it's quite a gripping and unpleasant experience that leaves a sour taste in the mouth.

I found the audio frustratingly unclear in places, annoying as this is a dialogue driven film. The more over-the-top violence is suggested rather than explicit but this works in its favour as it is not let down by cheap effects.

Tim Poole is great as the victim, Tevin. However, it's Margot Steinberg and Danielle Sanderson who really leave an impact on the viewer. This movie is enough to make you think twice about going back to a stranger's house for a night of no-ties passion. Its use of female protagonists is effective and deeply chilling.

6 out of 10. A lot of talking and psychological games fill out the running time but the experience is not as powerful as that of "Scrapbook". Some viewers will hate this movie as it's a slow paced affair but connoisseurs of modern horror may feel obliged to check it out.

Being partly raised on horror movies, I thought I had seen it all. This is something comparable to Pasolinis SALO or the intense last half hour of REQUIEM FOR A DREAM. Boy Meets Girl is far better than SALO though. It's interesting that one still can get really moved and affected by a movie after all I've seen through the years. It kind of feels like I'm a "newborn" movie viewer, and makes me believe in the power of the medium again. While I didn't really know what to think immediately after watching it, when a couple of days had gone by, I concluded that it really is an exceptional and important movie. When I watch violence in other movies now, it feels too slick, glamourizing and "movie-stylized", while in this film one gets a gut wrenching feeling of what violence is like for real. That's due to Brady's technical brilliance, the unflinching long takes, merciless sound design (during the drug trip sequence) and believable performances. Seeing a slow revenge for unnoticed/secret crimes is also a masterstroke (Phonebooth, a decade later, had a similar plot in that someone's being watching you and noting down your crimes and now they are going to make you pay). The revelation by merciless interrogation exposes acts of violent homophobia and racism, brought into context for what they ultimately are, sickening and ugly no matter what motives lie behind them. One can argue about the excessive use of profanity being unnecessary but that is one of the films target points "they are only words" and in an 18 cert film safely used, but it is more like the whole film is an expressionistic nightmare like The Cabinet of Dr Caligari than reality normal anyway. The incessant drone on the soundtrack also signals a kind of journey into dangerous and uncharted territory of the human mind. The effective use of clever camera fading and fade up techniques, invisible cuts and so forth, makes me think that it is now possible for someone to actually make the movies Anthony Burgess predicted in A CLOCKWORK ORANGE, which are shown to Alex during his brainwashing. Scenes of ultra-violence filmed in long, sickening single takes, and one of the few passages in literature, which I find profoundly disturbing. Ultimately I must recommend this movie for everyone, but be prepared to be upset and shocked.

The main reason for me to rent this was the dvd-box, which stated it was the British answer to Man Bites Dog (C'est Arrive Pres De Chez Vous), probably a top 100 film of mine. Although Boy Meets Girl bears in fact little resemblance to it (it's more of a cross between Oodishon and Misery), it wasn't a complete waste.

A man, although married, meets a girl in a bar and goes home with her. There he's drugged up and when he awakes, finds himself strapped to a dentist chair.

Two women keep him there, with the eventual means of killing him, while meanwhile questioning him. All sorts of subjects are discussed, each one has it's own 'chapter' in the movie. While talking the women torture him as well. I won't go into it too deeply, but their means include a microwave, maggets and a dildo.

The problem this movie has is keeping things interesting, so at like 3/4 of the film we see a silly escape attempt to keep us awake. Not very convincing, that was. Also at the end of the film you feel like: so what does it all mean, where does this lead us? If going back to Man Bites Dog, that movie had more of a story to tell, and actually had an ending.

Too bad as it's not uninteresting what the makers try to do, but in the end they do kinda fail... 5/10.