BAISE-MOI
A film review by David N. Butterworth
Copyright 2001 David N. Butterworth

**1/2 (out of ****)


Anyone who's constantly frustrated by the simulated sex scenes in
mainstream movies (wondering why, as adults, we're not permitted to see
more explicit sexual activity in R-rated and, frankly, NC-17 rated films)
should check out the controversial French film "Baise-Moi" (or "Rape Me,"
to give the film one of its less literal/more printable translations). One
look and it'll be obvious why. *That's* why they don't do it, you'll
quickly come to realize.

"Baise-Moi" is unique in so much as it's a mainstream film peppered with
hardcore (i.e., non-simulated) sex scenes and (hopefully) simulated scenes
of extreme violence. Well, mainstream in as much as you'll have to seek it
out at the artiest of the art theaters in town (in Philadelphia that's the
Roxy and only the Roxy and don't count on it playing there for long).

It's an interesting but extremely unnerving film, unnerving in the sense
that at times it feels like you're watching a pornographic movie with a
plot thrown in to move the "action" along, rather than a "Thelma and
Louise"-inspired killing spree with occasional time-outs for graphic sex.

The sex here is not only jarring in its explicitness but, if you'll pardon the expression, it sticks out like a sore thumb. It's not titillating
(because it's too distracting, in an oddly anachronistic way), and it
doesn't have much of a chance to be sexy, because the ultraviolence soon
comes down like a ton of bricks.

The violence itself (aimed at both women and men, so don't go into this
thinking it's some feminist anthem) is pretty nasty, so much so that you
actually crave the sex scenes just to have something else to look at (until
they arrive that is, orchestrated to a thumpa-thumpa rock beat, and then
you're all distracted and non-titillated again). It's a circle ... and a
very vicious one at that.

Based (or maybe I should say "baised") on Virginie Despentes' "brutal,
savage novel," the film follows the explosive exploits of two women, Nadine
and Manu who, tired of being brutalized by society, go on a murderous
rampage. And that's pretty much it. Despentes' wound up co-directing the
film with French adult film actress Coralie Trinh Thi after the process of
casting the two leads dragged on forever (Karen Bach and Raffaela
Anderson--porn stars themselves--finally got the parts). Both actresses
are comfortable on camera and create complex (if volatile) characters--not
something one might expect from their day jobs, necessarily. And the
filmmakers, who share "a cutting edge sense of provocation," pull
everything together tightly and skillfully, as if they've done all this
before (they haven't).

But the repetitious nature of the film drags it down: kiss kill, kiss
kill, for 80 long minutes. You just sit there, waiting for the bodily
fluids to flow. Shock me now, shock me later. But yes I was shocked, a
little. And I was disturbed, a little. Because I haven't seen anything
quite like this *in context* before (and that's the key to the whole
"Baise-Moi" experience).

It's unlikely that the film will loosen any standards of what is and isn't considered acceptable in terms of sexual explicitness in the megaplexes.
If anything it'll further convince many to keep this stuff *out* of the
mainstream altogether (although Harvey Keitel is still probably pretty
safe). "Baise-Moi" is most likely a one-off and in a lot of respects it's
probably best that way.


--
David N. Butterworth
dnb@dca.net

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