Baise-moi

I've seen "Baise-Moi" on DVD several weeks ago. The movie made also a short run in Adult Theaters here in México City as "Viólame!" but I don't think it scored high. I enjoy a "pretty strong stomach" and, with the years passing by, I became more open-minded and tolerant (thank God something good comes also with the aging process...). The movie contains a graphic rape sequence, a few more explicit sex scenes and "tons" of gore and violence, without being able to deliver a message. Perhaps it was supposed to be just a provocative movie but, the violence in particular, remains almost unexplained and gratuitous and, therefore, it can only be considered pure exploitation. Graphic depiction of violence and sex in movies absolutely don't offend me (on the contrary, if well done and essential to the plot, I surely like it), but I wasn't very impressed by this one. I mostly agreed with the comment posted on IMDb so, I didn't feel any interests in posting another comment, since there was not much else I could say. However, last week, I heard on the radio, while listening to a variety program which deals with music and movies, that on January 28th, Karen Lancaume aka Karen Bach, "Nadine", one of the two main characters of this movie, took her own life at age 31. A suicide news note is always a sad note but the suicide of a person who has gained certain notoriety, usually (and unfortunately) stirs-up a process of exploitation based on bad publicity and I wouldn't be surprised at all, if the movie would make another run in theaters and the sales of the DVD would benefit of an important boost. How sad! Poor "exploited" Karen; she surely was a pretty lady and perhaps even a fine person but, at age 31, in spite of being still a young woman, she already passed "prime-time" which for an "Adult Movie Star" (that's what she was whit 28 porn-vids and one main-stream movie, also classified as porn, in her résumé), is just about around that age. The porn industry system is allegedly very cruel and burns-up those girls, who decide to go for it, very quickly. The competition of new young "hungry" starlets perhaps became unbeatable and unbearable for her or else... We shall never know why she did it; we can only guess she was profoundly unhappy and severely depressed. I wish (and I hope I'm not the only one), she has now finally found the peace and happiness she couldn't find in life. Karen: "REQUIESCAT IN PACEM"!

Take excessive violence, add a some hardcore porn scenes and French alternative rock music and what you´ve got is a hip and provoking movie, a shocking and disturbing portrait of generation X... STOP - because this formula doesn´t work always!!! "Baise moi!" ("Fuck me!") wants to be a piece of modern art, but it´s only a little stupid flick with a nearly nonexisting plot, surface characters and nutty dialogues! The film is shot with a hand-held camera and the amateur illumination and the shady set decoration convey you every time that feeling to be in a real porn movie. The special scenes including close-ups of sexual practices were just added to break another taboo, but they make this film looking more and more cheap, scruffy and repulsive. Serious provocations make you think about possible deplorable states of affairs, but "Baise moi!" is only pure showmanship without any message! Nevertheless this movie is very boring: the scanty 75 minutes (German version) seemed to last for an eternity... (1/10)

Why are people so outraged by BAISE-MOI (which literally means F**K ME, the English language title is a travesty) ? Is it because of the explicit sex (far more fleeting than that shown in any porno tape freely available at most corner video shops), the stylized ultra-violence or the combination of the two ? Unlike some films, this one doesn't in any way glorify violence though, it merely shows the sad inevitability of it as far as its two main characters are concerned.

Both Nadine (Karen Lancaume aka Karen Bach) and Manu (Raffaella Anderson) routinely endure violation both in word and deed on an almost daily basis as sex workers, prostitute and part-time porno performer respectively. The gang rape of Manu and her drug-addicted friend shown here is totally different from the clichéd they-may-protest-at-first type of rape scene encountered in some adults only features. While the other girl cries and screams throughout (and is ever more horribly abused because of it), Manu adopts a facade of indifferent resignation, cleverly robbing her rapists of their sadistic thrill. Rest assured that the scene goes on a lot longer than anyone would want it to and that it is very painful to watch, which is the whole point of it.

When Manu and Nadine meet and embark on their violent road trip, fully aware that they ultimately can't 'get away with it', sex becomes a source of liberation to them. Like so many guys on the lam in any criminal buddy movie you can think of, they take what they want, when and how they want it, casually discarding (not always violently) their casual partners post-orgasm. One of the most common accusations at porn's address is that the explicit sex scenes dehumanize the people performing them, but here that could not be further from the truth.

Former hardcore actresses Lancaume and Anderson are both terrific in their parts and the sex they have (and, yes, it is 'real' sex) enhances their characterizations, rendering them more complete. The 'cinema vérité' rawness of the digital video format in which it was shot, interrupted by sudden flashes of style when violence erupts (an artistic decision to give the viewer a feel for the power and pleasure the women derive from their acts as an escape route from their drab lives), draws the viewer uncomfortably close to the action. Again, that seems to be the point.

So don't let the negative publicity fool you. BAISE-MOI is a rare film that utterly achieves what it sets out to do and it bodes well for debut cinéastes Despentes (author of the sulfurous source novel) and ex-porn star Coralie. You may love it (as I obviously did) or you may hate it, but this is an important film that no one is likely to ever forget, no matter how hard they might try.

I've read a lot of the comments for this movie and think that many of you have missed the point. The directors claim this to be a movie about friendship - and that the bonds of that relationship have nothing to do with the circumstances from which they are born. I'm somewhat sceptical about that. If you just wanted to make a movie about friendship, it could be about nuns. Or puppies. Or just about anything. But Baise-moi (which translates as Shag Me, not F**k Me) serves to highlight very clearly the moral hypocrisy that surrounds cinema, and has done ever since the days of the Hayes Code. The irony here lies in the fact that it is the explicit sex that caused the film to be banned in so many territories. No one has a problem with the violence. Sure, the violence might be simulated, and the sex isn't - but they both occupy the same space on the screen. And while it's legal to have sex in the privacy of your home, the violence depicted could never be legal. After all, you can see worse violence in Freddy vs. Jason, and more explicit sex on any porn video you might choose, so what is it about the combination that riles people so? I'll concede that the film is flawed, and demonstrates the debutant directors lack of experience, but for the challenge it sets to our jaded set of morals in the west, it should be applauded.

Don't be swayed by all the negative comments, Baise Moi is a worthwhile film. Yes the sex is explicit, and much of the violence simply pointless, but underneath it all remains a compelling vision of two people on a road trip to hell. Both leads may come from porn, but their acting skills are totally credible. One of the most nihilistic movies ever made.