Baise
Moi (2001) (AKA "Rape Me." Literal translation:
"Fuck Me")
"Thelma and Louise" meets "The Living End" meets Godard
meets the DV revolution. "Baise Moi" is a vulgar, base
and putrid film. It is also bold, vibrant and fascinating.
It's easy to hate the film if you can't stomach the
first 20 minutes. You'd miss the amazing 57 minutes
that follow if you walked out. A brutal and disturbing
rape scene towards the front of the film is almost unwatchable.
One thinks that the filmmakers are exploiting bastards.
Yes, the film is pornographic. Insertion and full frontal
nudity are shown. And yes the film is realistic, a seeming
documentary, during this scene forcing one to feel as
if they are watching some sort of underground snuff
porn. It is near reprehensible. A penis in a condom,
blunt and jagged, seems more like a weapon than anything
else. But that is precisely the point. The whining cries
of one of the female "actors" as she is beaten and raped
is unbearable. But even the rape scene contains elements
that are unique and perplexing, helping to draw the
audience into the film. The other female character in
this scene, herself being raped, does almost nothing.
She seems to feel that this act is simply typical of
men. So she does as told in the most drab and perfunctory
way, causing the rapists to quickly lose interest and
leave. By being indifferent, she proves her superiority
and strength over the men. By not acting as "victim"
(like her annoying, crying counterpart), she triumphs
over the rapists.
This rape scene is important because the younger, unfeeling
female involved becomes a central character. She and
another woman drift into a spree of murder, rape and
robbery. This first rape scene, where the females are
so distastefully brutalized, is important because it
shows us that the females have absolutely nothing to
live for. Their existence, seemingly at the whim of
all males' sexual needs (the character is also a porno
actress), appears to be totally meaningless. Like Gregg
Araki's characters in "The Living End," who have AIDS,
these women are "freed" because they are pretty much
dead and fear no retribution for their crimes. Like
Araki's characters with AIDS, the women are "victims,"
the living dead, and have no future. We are not surprised
when they become criminals, murderers and rapists. They
too fear no retribution because no supposed "justice"
enacted upon them (prison, death) could be as brutal
or as grim as the existence that they are living.
While this film almost revels in it's pornographic
sex scenes and bloody violence, it's visual assault
becomes more motif than exploitation. I found myself
thinking that the film was very "childish," but not
in a bad way. Sophomoric in the sense that it could
only be written by a youngster. An adult would never
allow themselves this sort of exercise into gluttonous
sexuality and violence. This film reminded me of a youngster
who wants to make a porno film with a plot. And that's
exactly what this film is. But its harsh reality and
its grim sense of hopelessness focus it into one of
the most disturbing and fascinating films of the year.
Dark, vulgar and unashamed, "Baise Moi" may be the
new millennium's first feminist guerilla film.
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Report
Card
Script:
A-
Acting: A+
Cinematography\Lighting: A
Special Effects\Make Up:A-
Music: A+
Final
Grade: A+
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