Review of Baise-moi (2000) by Drew R — 02 Aug 2007

"Arthouse porn movie shocks even the French" was how one English broadsheet reported the controversy over the release in France of the female rape revenge fantasy "Baise-Moi". (Originally granted a PG-16 certificate, the film was eventually given a rare X rating by the government.).

Praised by British censor the BBFC for its "serious cultural purpose", "Baise-Moi" (whose title translates as "***k Me") is finally being distributed in England, letting us make up our own minds as to its subversive/offensive qualities.

Based on a novel by Virginie Despentes, and directed by her and Coralie Trinh Thi, it depicts the sex-and-killing spree of two nihilistic young women, rape victim Manu (Anderson) and prostitute Nadine (Bach).

Fleeing Paris - both fugitives have separately committed murders - they head for the coast, sharing the philosophy that "the more you have sex, the less you think, the better you feel", and they decide to "let rip" the wild side of their souls.

A man who has the misfortune to want to wear a condom before intercourse is kicked to death by Manu and Nadine, whilst the denizens of a provincial sex-club are brutally laid to waste by the gun-toting bad girls. (One victim is shot through his rectum, the bullet exiting his body though the mouth.) Eventually the police decide to bring the outlaws to justice...

Blending real sex - Anderson, Bach, and Trinh Thi all come from professional hardcore backgrounds - and deliberately stylized violence, "Baise-Moi" is aware of its shortcomings - having slain a gunshop assistant, Manu laments, "We're useless. Where are the witty lines? People are dying and we've got to be up to it." Later she bemoans her and Nadine's "lack of imagination".

Crudely shot on digital video, and accompanied by a thrash metal soundtrack, "Baise-Moi" lacks any aesthetic finesse and also the intellectual rigour of Catherine Breillat's explorations of female sexuality "Romance" and "A Ma Soeur!", but its raw, anarchic energy is undeniable.