brian 's song is a 1971 abc movie of the week that recounts the details of the life of brian piccolo ( played by james caan ) , a wake forest university football player stricken with terminal cancer after turning pro , told through his friendship with chicago bears running back , teammate and pro football hall of famer gale sayers ( billy dee williams ) .

piccolo 's and sayers 's sharply differing temperaments and racial backgrounds made them unlikely to become as close friends as they did , including becoming the first interracial roommates in the history of the national football league , and the film chronicles the evolution of their friendship .

the production was such a success on abc that it was later shown in theaters by columbia pictures with a major premiere in chicago ; however , it was soon withdrawn due to a lack of business .

critics have called the movie one of the finest telefilms ever made .

a 2005 readers poll taken by entertainment weekly ranked ' brian 's song ' seventh in its list of the top " guy-cry " films ever made .

the movie is based on sayers ' account of his friendship with piccolo and coping with piccolo 's illness in sayers ' autobiography , i am third .

the film was written by veteran screenwriter william blinn , whose script , one dallas television critic called , " highly restrained , steering clear of any overt sentimentality [ yet conveying ] the genuine affection the two men felt so deeply for each other . "

although based on a true story , the film did include some fictional scenes .

one example was when george halas ( played by jack warden ) told gale sayers that he wanted to bench brian piccolo when he suspected that there may be a problem affecting his performance .

he later learned of brian 's cancer .

in reality , jim dooley was the head coach at that time , as halas had retired from the position following the 1967 season .

brian ' s song

james caan ( l ) portrayed brian piccolo in 1971 ' s
brian ' s song .
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brian ' s song by michel legrand | j . w . pepper sheet music
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an entertainment weekly poll lists brian’s song as the seventh - best ”guy - cry” flicks of all time .
brian ' s song
is the first significant movie made for television to be remade for television .
superman had kryptonite . the rest of us have brian ' s song , the first - - and still most surefire - - male tearjerker . others have followed , but let ' s not forget : brian ' s song opened the floodgates .
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who starred in the movie brian ' s song ?
and
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then this page has got you covered .
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this cast list of who was in brian ' s song includes both lead and minor roles . ( 33 items )
brian ' s song digital sheet music . contains printable sheet music plus an interactive , downloadable digital sheet music file .
with
brian ' s song ,
they felt they had encouragement from the two major surviving figures to add more material .
in 2001 , columbia tristar television made a remake of brian’s song with sean maher playing the role of piccolo and mekhi phifer portraying sayers .
brian ' s song cast list , listed alphabetically with photos when available . this list of brian ' s song actors includes any brian ' s song actresses and all other actors from the film . you can view additional information about each brian ' s song actor on this list , such as when and where they were born . to find out more about a particular actor or actress , click on their name and you ' ll be taken to page with even more details about their acting career . the cast members of brian ' s song have been in many other movies , so use this list as a starting point to find actors or actresses that you may not be familiar with .
billy dee williams and james caan filmed scenes for
brian ' s song
at the bears ' 1971 training camp at rensselaer , ind .
brian’s song is a love story that transcended race , taking camaraderie , loyalty , friendship and teamwork to an emotional level that usually results in tears .
except , this is disney taking on
brian ' s song ,
and you can see the inherent problems with that coupling 100 yards away .
oh ,
sighed a colleague , when told they were going to remake
brian ' s song .
oh , no .
on its own , somewhat obvious level , brian ' s song worked . not least in its favor were two exceptionally fine performances : james caan as brian piccolo and billy dee williams as gale sayers .
tonight , abc and
the wonderful world of disney
offer up a remade version of
brian ' s song
because . . . let ' s see here . . . the producers say the original was too short , the female characters were slighted the first time and many young viewers today have never seen
brian ' s song .
now ' ' brian ' s song ' ' has been remade , as a two - hour film , that will be shown on ' ' the wonderful world of disney ' ' tonight at 7 . but why would abc , which showed the original ' ' brian ' s song ' ' 30 years ago , remake it now ?
reel classics presents
brian ' s song ,
starring james caan and billy dee williams , on sunday , nov . 4 at 9 p . m . et .
inc . has learned abc is planning a remake of the network ' s 1973 made - for - tv classic
brian ' s song ,
the heart - tugging story about the friendship between former bears gale sayers and brian piccolo , the latter who died of cancer .
almost everyone else agreed . at the time , brian ' s song was the fourth most - watched film ever to air on television , behind only the theatrical blockbusters ben - hur , the birds and the bridge on the river kwai . it received 11 emmy nominations and was briefly released in theaters . its theme song - - brian ' s song , or the hands of time - - made the charts , burrowing into ears and never leaving .
a journalist’s conscience leads her to reveal her source to the fbi . here’s why .
before brian ' s song , the cultural proscription against men crying was so strong that piccolo himself , sometime after his diagnosis , reportedly told his wife , joy :
you can ' t cry . it ' s a league rule .
brian’s song is a book about two very different people competing for the same job . gale sayers and brian piccolo were competing for the running back of the chicago bears . gale was shy but brian was talkative . gale was the starter and brian was on the bench . still , they both became friends and battled challenges together . my favorite character was brian piccolo . brian has a talkative and headstrong personality . “people are going to say that i got in on a pass , lucky break , and i won’t take it t
there ' s no question that brian piccolo ' s story was amplified by the movie . and now generations later , you don ' t know how many guys who ordinarily would be loath to admit that they shed a tear , will tell you at the drop of a hat , i still cry every time i see brian ' s song ,
says bob costas on espn classic ' s sportscentury series .
from a four - decade remove , it ' s easy to forget the impact of brian ' s song . the scene in which piccolo and sayers run slow - motion wind sprints in the park - - to a lachrymose theme song that would become unshakeable - - long predated the same tableaus in chariots of fire and rocky iii and countless other sports movies .
sayers ( williams ) visits piccolo ' s ( caan ' s ) bedside . . . after somebody took caan ' s cigarette and coke .
the 1971 made - for - television movie
brian ' s song
tugged at the nation ' s heart , telling the story of piccolo ' s friendship - - one that shattered racial boundaries - - with his african - american chicago bears teammate gale sayers and piccolo ' s final days . piccolo was played by james caan and sayers by billy dee williams .
people who didn ' t know football , or even the movie , were still touched by brian ' s song . shortly after the film ' s second airing , in december of 1972 , ella fitzgerald asked a reporter visiting her home in beverly hills :
what was that show about football ? you know , one of the guys dies ? brian ' s song . such a beautiful song . michael legrand wrote it .
and then , in her own den , she sang it . johnny mathis and perry como and henry mancini , among others , would record it , too .
correction : december 9 , 2001 , sunday an article last sunday about the remaking of the television film ' ' brian ' s song , ' ' about the former chicago bears player brian piccolo , misstated the surname of his widow . she is joy piccolo o ' connell , not mcconnell .
the inspiration for brian’s song came from a book , i am third , written by piccolo’s chicago bears teammate gale sayers . the two men , both running backs , had been the first interracial roommates in the national football league . piccolo was white and sayers an african american .
brian’s song is a true story about two people named gale sayers and brian piccolo . they are both competing for the same job of being running back for the chicago bears . they became best friends through competing and rooming together . gale plays most of the time over brian but are still friends . in one game gale breaks his knee and brian is there for him . near the end of the book they both get spots on the field playing together . but that all changed when something happens to brian . my favorite
in reel life : sayers and piccolo are , by all appearances , best friends . in real life : although
brian ' s song
is based on a chapter in gale sayers '
i am third ,
sayers never claims that he and piccolo were as close as the movie suggests . sayers says they came to like each other very much , were good friends , and did hang out together . but , as joy piccolo o ' connell , brian ' s wife , told the chicago tribune last year ,
ralph kurek was truly brian ' s best friend . . . gale and brian , that was such a small part of brian ' s life .
quotes gale sayers : [ accepting the george s . halas award ] i ' d like to tell you about a guy i know , a friend of mine . his name is brian piccolo . and he has the heart of a giant , and that rare form of courage that allows him to kid himself and his opponent , cancer . he has a mental attitude that makes me proud to have a friend who spells out the word ' courage , ' 24 hours a day , every day of his life . now you honor me by giving me this award . but i say to you here now brian piccolo is the man who deserves the george s . halas award . it is mine tonight . . . and brian piccolo ' s tomorrow . coach george halas : brian piccolo died of cancer at the age of 26 . he left a wife and three daughters . he also left a great many loving friends who miss and think of him often . but when they think of him , it ' s not how he died that they remember - but how he lived . how he did live ! brian piccolo : i said thank you . gale sayers : i know . brian piccolo : well , usually when someone says thank you you ' re supposed to say you ' re welcome or how ' s your mother ? gale sayers : how ' s your mother ? ? brian piccolo : she ' s doin ' fine , thanks for asking protagonist antagonist rising action climax crisis terminal lung cancer external conflict internal conflict brian ' s song resolution setting brian piccolo gale sayers each other the society 1971 in chicago brian and gale get elected into the hall of fame brian gets sick falling action the many surgeries brian had gale gives his most courage player award to brian gale donated blood for brain gale paid for brian ' s medical bills brian ' s cancer is terminal brian and gale room together during training camp gale and brian both get starting positions gale hurts his knee brian helps gale train and rehab to get back faster gale comes back even better brian : trying to stay positive and cheering gale on yes brian was always positive gale : knowing his best friend is dieing of cancer no because he was on the road playing football brian : fighting cancer no gale : wishing he could help brian more no and yes brian will not be remember of he died rather of how he lived
forty years ago tonight , at 8 : 30 eastern time , half of all television sets in use in america were tuned to the premier of brian ' s song , a 90 - minute made - for - tv film about the brief , unlikely friendship between chicago bears ' teammates brian piccolo and gale sayers .
the original
brian ' s song
was that kind of movie . it told the true story of gale sayers , the stellar running back for the chicago bears played by billy dee williams , and his oil - and - water friendship with teammate and fellow running back brian piccolo . james caan played piccolo .
gale sayers and brian piccolo are both running backs for the chicago bears and great friends . when gale gets the starting job and brian doesn’t brian tries to prove himself by pushing himself harder than he ever has . then gale gets injured so brian gets the starting job but brian’s devolved cancer and he… my favorite character was brian piccolo because he came from not the best collage but he still made it . “gale - when i was in high school i was one of the best backs in the state . but unfortunate
if there hadn ' t been a
brian ' s song
30 years earlier , and it hadn ' t been regarded a genre classic , tonight ' s presentation would be easy enough to shrug off as inoffensive and informative , delivering its own lump in the throat at the end .
to sports - minded men now in their mid - 40 ' s and beyond , ' ' brian ' s song ' ' was a made - for - television revelation , a sentimental classic about the interracial friendship of a dying chicago bear , brian piccolo , and his star teammate , the transcendent gale sayers , that gave male viewers an oprahesque green light to cry .
the 1971 film
brian ' s song ,
written by william blinn and directed by buzz kulik , won that year ' s emmy for outstanding single program , comedy or drama , and took its place in pop culture as a television classic . it is still available on tape and dvd .
brian’s song is a book about two very different people competing for the same job . gale sayers and brian piccolo were competing for the running back of the chicago bears . gale was shy but brian was talkative . gale was the starter and brian was on the bench . still , they both became friends and battled challenges together . my favorite character was brian piccolo . brian has a talkative and headstrong personality . “people are going to say that i got in on a pass , lucky break , and i won’t take it that way . im going to beat you , magic” ( 61 ) . in this quote brian wants to compete for the job fair and square . he likes a challenge and work really hard to achieve the challenge . brian is my favorite character for these reasons . brian’s song is a unique book . the book is a screenplay and the text is in small portions . “hard cut to nfl footage - alternating between runs of piccolo and sayers” ( 75 ) . this quote is about the event and what is happening at the time . this type of text is not in all books . this is a very unique quality that the author put in the book . i will give brian’s song a 2 . the book was interesting at some parts but most of the book is just a normal life of a football player . my favorite parts of the book is when they work together to solve problems . the ending was interesting though . overall , i think brian’s song is a ok / bad book .
although critics praised brian’s song for its frank description of cancer when the disease was rarely discussed publicly , the reality of brian piccolo’s illness and death was quite different than what was portrayed on the screen . it turns out the actual story of what happened to piccolo is even more instructive , and especially relevant for modern cancer patients and health professionals struggling to balance hope and reality .
a year after its original broadcast , on the tuesday before thanksgiving of 1972 , brian ' s song re - aired , beginning a longstanding american tradition that would see my father exercise his tear ducts once a year , on a regular schedule , like old faithful or the fountains at caesar ' s palace .
good film . great character portrayals by james caan and billy dee williams . the chemistry and camaraderie between the two is what makes this film so great . brian ' s song is worth seeing , even if you ' re not a fan of football .
the musical theme to brian ' s song ,
the hands of time ,
was a popular tune during the early 1970s and has become a standard . [ 1 ] the music for the film was by michel legrand , with lyrics to the song by marilyn and alan bergman . nashville pianist floyd cramer performed a popular version of
the hands of time
.
morris , piccolo ' s biographer , agrees .
i had no problem with the first movie ,
she told the chicago tribune .
it was essentially true . they exaggerated brian and gale ' s friendship , but they didn ' t abuse the story . . . i think brian was a lot more important to gale than gale was to brian .
the mmqb’s jacob feldman shares the nfl’s best stories and biggest news ( plus an opinion or two ) every weekday .
me playing the theme from brian ' s song on the piano . * * please visit : www . albertaprigliano . net . cd ' s / downloads available ! ! * * sorry , sheet music not available as all arrangements are my own . my style comes from a juilliard education & 40 years of professional playing .
meron and zadan , who helped reshape the classics
cinderella
and
annie
for television , and who produced the critically acclaimed
life with judy garland : me and my shadows ,
had many choices to make in updating
brian ' s song .
the wives are well cast with paula cale from
providence
as joy piccolo and elise neal from
the hughleys
as linda sayers . ( coincidentally , mike farrell , who plays cale ' s father on
providence ,
is married to shelley fabares , who played joy in the original
brian ' s song .
)
copyright 2018 brian wilson productions . all rights reserved . website design and digital marketing : designsite
the book brian song is about two running backs , one white and one black , fighting for their jobs on the chicago bears that create a strong friendship . they go through joy and hardship , but in they are just great friends . this is a story for sports lovers and people that love inspirational stories . my favorite character in the story brains song is brian . he was so positive and he always had hope even when things got tough . he also made the book funny and exciting with his smart remarks . brian : “
when brian’s song aired as a made - for - television film forty years ago this week , it was such a hit that it was eventually shown in theaters . touching on sports , race relations and early death , it became known as the movie “men are allowed to cry at . ”
the book brians song is about two rookie running backs who are drafted on the the chicago bears together . both of them fight for the starting job but gale wins the job . gale and brian become best friends and when gale gets hurt , brian helps him back into shape . when brian comes back next season , he challenges gale for the starting job but fails . the coach soon realizes he has worked hard and rewards both of them starting jobs , brian at fullback . soon something terrible happens that will change t
brian’s song by william bin is a very good and heartfelt book . it is a story about two young football players who both play running back named gale sayers and brian piccolo . gale is black and brian is white . the book shows their relationship throughout their years playing football which includes hardships along the way . the author , william binn , has a very creative way of writing the story in a script form and also includes an intense and dramatic relationship between the main characters . in bri
brian’s song is a true story about a brotherhood between two football players , gale sayers and brian piccolo . their friendship grows as they face adversity and each other . they compete for the same running back position for the chicago bears . will their friendship fight through the adversity they face ? read to find out . people can be friends despite race . race doesn’t decide friends it should be based on character . brian and gale find a way to get through that . many people also don’t believe tha
this highly - acclaimed winner of five emmy awards is one of the best - loved movies ever made for television . it ' s the true story of a special relationship between two professional football players , gale sayers ( billy dee williams ) and brian piccolo ( james caan ) . both star players for the chicago bears , sayers and piccolo soon became roommates and best friends . when sayers suffers a knee injury in mid - season , it is piccolo who prods and inspires him to work toward a complete recovery . then fate deals a cruel blow : piccolo is stricken with malignant cancer . the constant support and friendship of sayers plays an important role in piccolo ' s heroic fight against the disease . also starring shelley fabares ( tv ' s coach ) as piccolo ' s loving wife , brian ' s song is a moving and unforgettable film . ( original title - brian ' s song ( 1971 ) ) © 1971 , renewed 1999 cpt holdings , inc . all rights reserved .
brian ' s song
first aired on nov . 30 , 1971 , won an emmy award , was frequently rerun on tv , and became a staple of school assemblies - - its message of racial harmony , friendship , gutsiness and compassion struck a chord then , and still does three decades later .
the 2016 golden globe nominations were announced this morning in los angeles .
love and mercy
was nominated for two awards : paul dano for
best performance by an actor in a supporting role in any motion picture
and brian wilson and scott bennet for
one kind of love
for
best original song – motion picture .
following is brian ' s statement upon hearing about the nomination :
brian ' s parents , joseph and irene , opened a sandwich shop in fort lauderdale . joseph had previously driven a greyhound bus and operated a driving school in massachusetts .
meanwhile , you ' ll never hear a better reading than the one billy dee williams gave to the film ' s simplest line :
i love brian piccolo .
why was the movie so well received ? the acting , featuring james caan as the upbeat piccolo and billy dee williams playing the introverted sayers , was terrific . many chicago bears , including coach george halas , played themselves . the music , especially the theme song , composed by michel legrand , was beautiful and elegiac . but mostly , brian’s song was the frank story of an athlete dying from cancer being told to a society insufficiently familiar with the disease .
the book brian’s song is about two football players who play for the chicago bears . one gale sayers is black and the other , brian piccolo is white . they both play running back and quickly become friends . the book is about the good times they have as well as the illnesses , injuries , and competition that they face . the theme of the book is probably that friendship , happiness , and determination can conquer all . my favorite character was brian for several reasons . he is pretty funny and easy going a
william blinn , the brian ' s song screenwriter , went on to win an emmy for roots , and created starsky and hutch and eight is enough , and produced the television series fame , among many other achievements . but he will also be remembered as an edison of sorts - - the inventor of man tears .
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i read this after loving the 2001 remake of brian ' s song . i wanted to learn more of the true story behind the movie and i realize i ' d have been better off with sayer ' s autobiography or brian piccolo ' s biography . oh well . it was enjoyable to be reminded of some of the good lines from the movie . there were some parts that were in the screenplay and not the remake and some parts in the remake were not in the screenplay . the screenplay format was a little difficult because of the way the setting of e
brian ' s song is a made for television movie made for abc in 1971 , that features james caan and billy d . williams . this sports movie is based on the book ,
i am third
, the autobiography written by gayle sayres . the story deals with the friendship of future hall of fame running back , gayle sayres and his roommate , brian piccolo and how they cope with brian ' s terminal illness . the movie was such a success for abc , abc released the movie to theaters where the movie did no business . adapted by veteran screenwriter , william blinn , a dallas newspaper critic said that blinn ' s screenplay was highly restrained and avoided overt sentimentalityyet conveyed the true friendshio that the men had for each other . in a 2005 entertainment weekly survey ,
brian ' s song
was listed as the 7th best
guy cry
movie ever made . note : the movie was remade by disney in 2001 . the remake is not worth watching . highly recommended .
william blinn ' s purpose for writing brian ' s song was to inform readers of a true bond of friendship that was created in a very unlikely way . brian piccolo , a white man , and gale sawyers , a black man , begin with only one thing in common , their love for football . they meet during pre - season for the chicago bears . the two start off merely joking around with each other in attempt to get on the other ' s nerves and by the end of the story , have become almost inseparable . this novel was intended for aud
oh , how melo - drama was enjoyable in the 70 ' s ! now a days , you can ' t even last a minute with a movie like that . in brian ' s song case , i lasted the whole film , enjoying moderate parts of it . also , no matter how much , i love football , i do not shed tears , only old yeller , can get that close .
when the coach comes in the room to talk to brian and gayle to let gayle know he will become number one full back , the boom mic ' s shadow shows above gayle ' s head in the shot when the camera focuses on coach and gayle .
if a reader enjoys a heartfelt story that is both inspirational and comical , then brian’s song by william blinn is the perfect read . the emotional , screenplay style story is based on true events that took place within the chicago bears football organization . two rookie half backs , brian piccolo and gale sayers , compete for the same starting position . in the beginning of the story , both compete using every ounce of strength , heart , and will . by the end of training camp , gale wins the starting role , and brian is given the backup role . during a regular season game against the san francisco forty - niners , gale injures his knee and is sidelined for the remainder of the season . brian steps in as the starting half back in the absence of his now close friend gale . at the conclusion of the season , brian pushes gale to get him back into shape so the two can compete yet again for the starting role . gale again wins the position however the coach recognizes the hard work of both men and gives the full back position to brian . just when all seems to be going well , brian is diagnosed with lung cancer and shortly after loses his battle with the disease . the story is one that has both joyful as well as tearful moments , and provides inspiration to athletes everywhere . brian’s song is not only one of the most inspiring stories i’ve read , but it is also the most interesting in regards to sports . the main idea found within brian’s song are that there will always be good days , and always be bad days , but no matter what kind of day it is or what it is one may be going through , it is better to go through it with a close friend . brian and gale depict a beautiful friendship that should inspire people to not only lift each other up , but push each other to be the best that they can be . brian and gale both overcome adversities , hardships , and injuries , and both work with each other to make each other better . i am giving this story a four out of five and i would recommend it to any athlete , especially young athletes who are looking for inspiration . brian’s song with bring both tears of laughter and sadness out from within a reader , and will undoubtedly affect the lives of the readers . the reason i am not giving the story a perfect five is because of the way it is written . the story is written in a screen - play script which can make it harder to understand and follow along . in the end , i was touched and inspired and after reading the story , would highly recommend brian’s song .
brian’s song by william bin is a very good and heartfelt book . it is a story about two young football players who both play running back named gale sayers and brian piccolo . gale is black and brian is white . the book shows their relationship throughout their years playing football which includes hardships along the way . the author , william binn , has a very creative way of writing the story in a script form and also includes an intense and dramatic relationship between the main characters . in brian’s song , william binn writes the story different than you expect from any other book . he writes it in a script form like it came straight off the movie . “exterior - campus - type area - day - on sign” ( 2 ) . this citation is just one of the many subheadings in the book as binn describes the camera angle of the movie . “closer angle - gale and cab driver” ( 3 ) . this is also another example of a subheading when binn describes the camera angle of the movie . in my opinion , i am not such a big fan of the script form of writing . sometimes it can become hard to follow along and can be very confusing when reading the book . william binn also creates a dramatic relationship between the main characters brian and gale . “brian grins . gale does not . his expression is neutral . a short beat” ( 5 ) . this citation is an example of the relationship between brian and gale , as you can tell , both characters are much different from each other . “wish i was as sure of that as you are . tell you the truth , sayers – i envy you” ( 23 ) . this is another example of brian and gale’s relationship as sayers and piccolo learn to respect each other . in conclusion , the relationship between brian and gale creates great drama throughout the book brian’s song included a unique script and a great conflict throughout the book with brian and gale . i would give this a book four stars and i would recommend it for sports and football readers .
after piccolo’s death , the brian piccolo cancer research foundation was founded by his widow and several friends . now , thanks to research , more men have been diagnosed and cured of testicular cancer .
winner : tom t . hall - tom t . hall ' s greatest hits
it wasn ' t football action that made
brian ' s song
a great vehicle 30 years ago . the relationship between the mismatched teammates and piccolo ' s battle with terminal illness in the prime of his life gave the film a rare emotional drive . the story combines a number of compelling themes - - friendship , triumph over adversity , death . adapted from sayers ' s book ,
i am third ,
the movie helped establish the idea that tv movies could be good movies . even great movies .
the true story of the relationship between brian piccolo and gayle sayers . just as heart - wrenching as the movie .
brian piccolo led the nation in rushing with wake forest in 1964 and rushed for 927 yards in four nfl seasons .
brian’s song is a true story about two people named gale sayers and brian piccolo . they are both competing for the same job of being running back for the chicago bears . they became best friends through competing and rooming together . gale plays most of the time over brian but are still friends . in one game gale breaks his knee and brian is there for him . near the end of the book they both get spots on the field playing together . but that all changed when something happens to brian . my favorite character was gale sayers . he was quiet , smart , and thought a lot too . “… he was as shy as a 3 year - old” ( 1 ) . gale was also very fast and a great football player . but , gale still knew how to have fun by playing tricks on brian . gale was able to pull through his knee injury and be there for brian when he needed his help the most . the unique thing about the text is it is for a play or movie . “closer angle - gale and cabdriver gale pays the cabdriver brian ( voice over ) heads up ! look out ! ” ( 3 ) . since it was written for a play it tells what angle the camera is at every paragraph . every time somebody talks the author starts a new paragraph . then when the author describes something , it starts another paragraph . the unique thing about the text is it is written for a play or movie . i’d give brian’s song a 3 . it was interesting because it was a true story about two really good football players . but it was confusing with all of the different camera angles and people talking . the book did not have a lot of action of them playing football . the ending of the story was confusing to . writing the book regular would have been better than as a script . brian’s song was an average book but was interesting book .
screenplay of the story about brian piccolo , a football player for the chicago bears who died at age 26 of cancer . this story begins with his beginning as a rookie until his death . he goes into his relationship with gale sayers , his roommate and a black . gale and brian were the first two players for the bears to room together and black and white . touching story - very brief and easy reading . they only deal with brian ' s dying at the very end , and then not in great detail . the other books on brian m
brian’s song is a true story about a brotherhood between two football players , gale sayers and brian piccolo . their friendship grows as they face adversity and each other . they compete for the same running back position for the chicago bears . will their friendship fight through the adversity they face ? read to find out . people can be friends despite race . race doesn’t decide friends it should be based on character . brian and gale find a way to get through that . many people also don’t believe that gale can play in the nfl . he proves every doubter wrong as he has success in the nfl and becomes best friends with brian . they help each other work on plays and work out with each other to get better . ” fantastic ! three more man ! . . . can you make it , huh ? ” ( 66 ) this shows that brain and gale help each other get better . my favorite character is gale because he works hard , is very kind , and supports brain . gale works hard after his knee injury to come back to the nfl and he inspires to be the best he can be . gale is very kind because he offers a little girl an autograph . he is also very respectful of all the coaches and teammates . ” little girl i met day i came in here . … told her i’d get your autograph . … be glad to . ” ( 93 ) this shows that gale is kind because he offers to give the little girl an autograph . i would give brian’s song an 6 out of 10 because it is a good story about two best friends . i am interested in sports and this is a good book about football . it is also written a little different , so if you want something different , read brian’s song . if you are interested in a short story about sports and friendship , read brian’s song .
its critical acclaim was nearly , but not quite , universal .
as a film , brian ' s song adds little to the art of cinema or even to the profession of filmmaking ,
wrote john j . o ' connor in the new york times .
as a movie , it is pretty much straightforward cliché . the basic story , however , is moving .
this highly - acclaimed winner of five emmy awards is one of the best - loved movies ever made for television . it ' s the true story of a special relationship between two professional football players , gale sayers ( billy dee williams ) and brian piccolo ( james caan ) . both star players for the chicago bears , sayers and piccolo soon became roommates and best friends . when sayers suffers a knee injury in mid - season , it is piccolo who prods and inspires him to work toward a complete recovery . then fate deals a cruel blow : piccolo is stricken with malignant cancer . the constant support and friendship of sayers plays an important role in piccolo ' s heroic fight against the disease . also starring shelley fabares ( tv ' s coach ) as piccolo ' s loving wife , brian ' s song is a moving and unforgettable film .
if a reader enjoys a heartfelt story that is both inspirational and comical , then brian’s song by william blinn is the perfect read . the emotional , screenplay style story is based on true events that took place within the chicago bears football organization . two rookie half backs , brian piccolo and gale sayers , compete for the same starting position . in the beginning of the story , both compete using every ounce of strength , heart , and will . by the end of training camp , gale wins the starting ro
original hit version of the beautiful tv movie theme , performed by the prolific , much - honored composer . from cd audio source , original issue on 45rpm : bell 45 , 171 - brian ' s song , composed , produced , arranged , and performed by michel legrand check out the daily music posts on my facebook group : 1950s hits - - every day ! urltoken musicprof78 on facebook : urltoken
the book brians song is about two rookie running backs who are drafted on the the chicago bears together . both of them fight for the starting job but gale wins the job . gale and brian become best friends and when gale gets hurt , brian helps him back into shape . when brian comes back next season , he challenges gale for the starting job but fails . the coach soon realizes he has worked hard and rewards both of them starting jobs , brian at fullback . soon something terrible happens that will change there lives forever . my favorite character in the book was brian . brian was a very loud person that was very crazy sometimes . “he is up on his chair , launching into the wake forest fight song” ( 16 ) . brian was a funny person who was very tough on the football field . he was very undersized that fought his way onto the football field . brian was my favorite because he would never give up . the book brians song was written in the movie script form . i personally did not like this because it was annoying to read . the author wrote it in a confusing way but it was the exact script of the movie . “atkins : ( yelling ) welcome to the chicago bears ! ” ( 33 ) . but with the movie script the book is much shorter but it was very strange to read like that . overall i liked this book very much . i believe this is a four out of five book . this is a great story that everyone should know about and many sports fans would love it . this is a very great book .
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the film ' s emotions are obvious and blunt , but they get the job done .
in reel life : piccolo ' s married , but there ' s little mention of children except a line that
joy ' s expecting again .
in real life : joy and brian piccolo had three daughters , lori , traci and kristi , who were between 1½ and 4½ years old when he died . they barely remember their father and know him mostly through the stories others tell about him , but , along with their mother , they honor him by supporting the brian piccolo cancer research fund , which now supports breast cancer research .
in reel life : bernie casey plays bears captain james
j . c .
caroline . in real life : casey was an excellent wide receiver for the los angeles rams and san francisco 49ers before beginning his acting career . he played from 1961 to 1968 , catching 359 passes for 5 , 444 yards and 40 touchdowns .
brian ' s song
was the third of his 53 films to date .
american football players brian piccolo , of italian descent with the gift of the gab , and gale sayers , black and a social cripple , both join the chicago bears . they don ' t get along , but coach ' s plan to mix races as roomies forces them to do so . when gale is about to give up with a knee injury , brian kicks and helps him till he gets back , and they become friends . just when brian gets off the bench in a new position , he ' s diagnosed with embryonal carcinoma , and when that ' s cured other dangerous cancers : his career is over , and his life a painful struggle for survival at best . . .
based on the real - life relationship between teammates brian piccolo and gale sayers and the bond established when piccolo discovers that he is dying .
brian piccolo , who led the nation in rushing and scoring at wake forest in 1964 , rushed for 927 yards in four nfl seasons .
brian and joy were high school sweethearts and married in 1964 . they had three daughters , two of whom have six children between them .
wednesday marks the 45th anniversary of the made - for - tv movie brian’s song . the iconic film about the iconic friendship between pro football hall of fame running back gale sayers and his chicago bears teammate , running back brian piccolo , who died in 1970 of testicular cancer . based on william blinn ’s adaptation of sayers’ 1971 autobiography i am third , sales of the autobiography soared after the movie aired as the abc movie of the week . and billy dee williams and james caan , who were relatively unknown when they assumed the roles of sayers and piccolo , were catapulted into superstardom . the film would also go on to win four of its eight emmy nominations .
i read this after loving the 2001 remake of brian ' s song . i wanted to learn more of the true story behind the movie and i realize i ' d have been better off with sayer ' s autobiography or brian piccolo ' s biography . oh well . it was enjoyable to be reminded of some of the good lines from the movie . there were some parts that were in the screenplay and not the remake and some parts in the remake were not in the screenplay . the screenplay format was a little difficult because of the way the setting of each scene was listed out . it wasn ' t too hard to read , though . if you want to know the story of brian piccolo i ' d recommend just watching one of the two movies because they ' re so well done . reading this is only worth it if you ' re a fan or really like the screenplay format .
and then piccolo ' s own story changed all that . the nation ' s leading rusher as a halfback at wake forest in 1964 , he joined the bears and became roommates with the great sayers . the men were positional rivals , and the first interracial roommates on the team , but piccolo parodied the period ' s racial tensions with a subversive sense of humor . as production wrapped on brian ' s song , jim murray wrote how piccolo was once asked what he and sayers talked about .
oh , the usual racist stuff ,
piccolo replied .
he calls me by my nickname , ' honky ' . we get along fine as long as he doesn ' t use the bathroom . he sleeps in the lampshade .
in reel life : when gale sayers ( billy dee williams ) arrives in training camp , brian piccolo ( james caan ) is there to greet him . in real life : so were the real chicago bears . these scenes were filmed during the team ' s 1971 training camp at st . joseph ' s college in rensselaer , ind .
hbo ' s new series sharp objects premieres july 8 and follows amy adams as camille . . .
in mr . gray ' s script , though , the friendship between the players evolves more slowly , and linda sayers voices her objections to her husband ' s becoming piccolo ' s roommate . actual game footage is replaced by mr . maher and mr . phifer playing , sometimes filmed in super 8 .
the original
brian ' s song
could never break into the lineup in disney ' s wonderful world because it is a product of its time - - i . e . , pre - p . c . by a good two decades - - and features some coarse and / or racially insensitive dialog that would never make it past the save - us - from - ourselves censors . even though the very point of including that dialog in 1971 was to underscore how the friendship between the athletes , one black , the other white , transcended social barriers .
even if the remake is more detailed and perhaps truer than the original , the filmmakers do not say that they have created a better ' ' brian ' s song . ' ' ' ' in the theater , ' ' mr . zadan said , ' ' you can revive a show and nobody bats an eye , but in television people do . people have this preconception that once you make a movie , you can ' t make it again . ' '
screenplay of the story about brian piccolo , a football player for the chicago bears who died at age 26 of cancer . this story begins with his beginning as a rookie until his death . he goes into his relationship with gale sayers , his roommate and a black . gale and brian were the first two players for the bears to room together and black and white . touching story - very brief and easy reading . they only deal with brian ' s dying at the very end , and then not in great detail . the other books on brian might be more interesting because this includes all the movie directions , but some may be ore interested in the screenplay because they had seen the movie .


baise-moi ( fuck me ) is a 2000 french crime thriller film with elements of a rape and revenge film written and directed by virginie despentes and coralie trinh thi and starring karen lancaume and raffaëla anderson .

it is based on the novel by despentes , first published in 1993 .

the film received intense media coverage because of its graphic mix of violence and explicit sex scenes .

consequently , it is sometimes considered an example of the " new french extremity . "

as a french noun , un baiser means " a kiss , " but as a verb , baiser means " to fuck , " so baise-moi means simply " fuck me . "

in some markets the film has been screened as " rape me , " but the french for " rape me " is emphatically not " baise-moi , " but rather " viole-moi , " and so in a 2002 interview rape me was rejected by the directors .

in 2000 , the film censorship board of malaysia banned the film outright because of " very high-impact violence and sexual content throughout . "

later that same year , the film was banned in singapore owing to " depictions of sexual violence [ that ] may cause controversy . "

in australia , the film was allowed to be shown at cinemas with an r18 + ( adults only ) rating .

then in 2002 , the film was pulled from cinemas and television and after that , banned outright .

the film is still banned there because of its " harmful , explicit sexually violent content , " and was re-banned in 2013 .

however , an edited r18 + version was screened on 23 august 2013 on the world movies channel of the australian state broadcaster sbs , as part of the world movies " films that shocked the world " season .

baise - moi

filmfixx plans to release “baise - moi” in june in new york and los angeles .
500 great books b . . . : baise - moi - virginie despentes - ben winch
baise moi sessions recorded 2002 on 4 track cassetterecorder . baise moi pt . 2 recorded 2005 on pc . later re - recorded for spray for jesus cd . recorded at the ass studio eindhoven the netherlands .
edgy , disturbing baise - moi earns the right to be seriously discussed in the adult movie censorship debate .
looking for movie tickets ? enter your location to see which movie theaters are playing baise moi near you .
we’d love your help . let us know what’s wrong with this preview of baise - moi by virginie despentes .
heavy on the sex and violence , baise moi is not so much a daring as a sloppy piece of work .
and rips the print of baise - moi off the projector and walks away with it , damaging the projector and the platter .
as with all
controversial
movies , the new french feature baise - moi is both worse and better than the hype .
baise - moi feels so resoundingly stunning since we ' re so used to getting our feminine empowerment in movies fed to us in compartmentalized bits .
controversial french movie baise - moi , which is banned from screening in its entirety in australia , is set to screen on the world movies channel .
trailer of the french movie
baise - moi
of virginie despentes et coralie trinh thi ( 2000 ) , with karen lancaume and raffaëla anderson .
baise moi / avis aux parents - textes explicites - collection poche revolver . by despentes virginie : florent - massot 9782908382167 couverture souple - le - livre
baise moi is so busy showing us penises , vaginas , breasts , penetration , rape , murder and on and on that it forgets to make its points .
one is a timeless classic , the other a soft - porn film about murderous women . but bacchai and baise - moi are strangely similar , argues anthony julius
but that ' s where baise - moi is firmly stuck . it ' s another film which replaces plot with a shopping list of explicit sex and gratuitous violence .
this is not a plotted thriller with adult movie touches , like basic instinct . most viewers will feel that baise - moi is more : basically , it stinks .
coarse , rough - hewn and rather unsophisticated , cinematically speaking , baise moi nonetheless succeeds largely on its gritty realism . it ' s a cinematic jab to the solar plexis .
baise - moi is like a cheapie , vintage american exploitation movie , only one that goes so far beyond the bounds of taste that its affrontiveness becomes in large part what the film is about .
australian censors have today decided to ban the controversial french film baise - moi , even though the film was initially passed by the same censors and has been showing in the country since april 24 .
disciplining deviant women : the critical reception of baise - moi [ 1 ]
by forrest , amy e . - gender forum , issue 46 , july 1 , 2013 | online research library : questia
baise - moi is one of the most controversial french novels of recent years , a punk fantasy that takes female rage to its outer limits . now the basis for a hit underground film which was banned in france , baise - moi is a searing story of two women on a rampage that is part thelma and louise , part viking conquest . manu and nadine have had all they can take . manu has been brutal
baise - moi is excessive , unrealistic , unpolished , clumsy , trashy and ugly , but its violent fantasy of female power has an uncompromising rawness , gutsy courage and angry energy that command attention – even respect .
the society president , mike petrus , contends that “three important questions of law [ set out below ] that are of significant interest to a substantial section of the public , will be dealt with in the current appeal involving “baise - moi” .
it would be impossible to discuss baise - moi without mentioning abel ferrara . baise - moi is the kind of film that ferrara would have made during the ’70s , when times square was something more than a disney theme park . baise - moi is an audacious piece of feminist empowerment , a dogma - style experiment that mixes in russ meyer playfulness with dramatic elements from numerous popular films , from thelma & louise to natural born killers . it’s polemical but completely unpretentious , unlike , say , catherine breillat’s romance and leos carax’s pola x . baise - moi may appeal to extremists but this feminist howl is more necessary than ever because of the conservative retrenchment we’re experiencing in this country . the film is less polished than ferrara’s ms . 45 but if zoë lund ever aimed her gun lower and , say , into a man’s ass , baise - moi would be the result . directors coralie trinh tri and virginie despentes tell the story of a rape victim who goes on a countrywide killing spree with a female companion she randomly meets on the street . there isn’t much of a plot but the attention to detail , however subconscious , is remarkable . while she’s being raped , nadine ( karen lancaume ) refuses to allow her rapist to see her squirm , evoking her reactionary spirit . far more fascinating is the fact that the man stops raping her because of her act of retaliation . baise - moi has been called irresponsible when it champions self - respect and moral responsibility . save for the curious deaths of nadine’s best male friend and a woman on the street , every man in the film is murdered because of his bad behavior . viciously hellbent on avenging female scars , baise - moi likens guns to female tools of empowerment , not unlike what men have between their legs . even when baise - moi is seemingly undermined by thelma & louise - style self - defeatism , the film ends on a hauntingly ironic note . evocative , cocky and downright riveting , baise - moi is exploitative ’til the every end . the directors strip one of their main characters of her final emotional release and suggest that a female’s ownership of her body is an ongoing , elusive struggle .
perhaps unsurprisingly , baise - moi indeed caused a huge controversy on its release in france and abroad ( it is still banned in australia ) , and even the filmmakers were not quite prepared for the level of aggression and hostility they provoked . after a complaint by right - wing religious group promouvoir , baise - moi was banned by the french government . this was replaced shortly after with an 18 certificate following a petition organised by another female agitator of french cinema , catherine breillat .
filmfixx’s orly ravid , formerly head of acquisitions at picture this ! entertainment , has been tracking “baise - moi” since it caused a stir at last fall’s toronto intl . film festival . remstar acquired north american rights to the film last october .
virginie despentes is a french writer , novelist and filmmaker , born in nancy , meurthe - et - moselle . her most famous novel , and film of the same name is baise - moi , a contemporary example of the exploitation films genre known as rape and revenge films . her most recent biographical , non - fiction work , king kong theory has also been translated into english , and recounts her experiences working within the french sex industry , and attendant infamy and praise associated with the aforementioned baise - moi .
baise - moi soon moves into very non - erotic territory , one which maybe only psychology students will appreciate . you have to wonder whether directors virginie despentes ( also the writer ) and coralie trinh thi are trying to ruin viewers ' carefree approach to adult movies .
baise - moi , c ' est le roman d ' une génération , c ' est le malaise d une société . derrière toute la violence contenue dans ces lignes , il y a une certaine légèreté poétique , propre à v . despentes . tous les coeurs sont atteints .
the film censor , mr sheamus smith , has prohibited the video and dvd release of the violent , sexually - explicit french film , baise - moi . the film ' s distributors subsequently submitted the film to the film appeals board , which upheld the censor ' s decision .
baise - moi rating : r . starring : raffaela anderson , karen bach . critic ' s warning : where do we start ? relentlessly confronting sex , violence and language . believe that special warning sign on the cinema door . critic ' s rating : 3 out of 10 .
the society , opposed to the release of the uncut version of “baise - moi” to film festival audiences , has respectfully adopted the conclusion of the classification office ( oflc ) which described the “dominant effect of the publication as a whole” under s . 3 ( 4 ) ( a ) as follows :
but world movies channel has slated an r18 + edited version as part of its week of “films that shocked the world . ” baise - moi will screen alongside the human centipede ( 2009 ) , kids ( 1995 ) , cannibal holocaus t ( 1980 ) and deep throa t ( 1972 ) .
obviously all three kinds of film are providing payoffs by the clock . would ' ' brother ' ' be as depressing as ' ' baise moi ' ' if all the victims had sex before they were gunned down ? i don ' t know , but i ' m sure ' ' baise moi ' ' would be perfectly acceptable if the women simply killed men , and no sex was involved . at some level it seems so . . . cruel . . . to shoot a man at his moment of success . a case can be made that ' ' baise moi ' ' wants to attack sexism in the movies at the same time it raises the stakes . i ' m not interested in making that argument . manu and nadine are man haters and clinically insane , and not every man is to blame for their unhappiness - - no , not even if he sleeps with them .
writing this review is a leap of faith in society . baise - moi ( generally translated as “fuck me” ) is a controversial french film made in 2000 . i would only suggest it to those not faint of heart in the viewing extreme of obscenity and to all of my friends that understand my personality .
baise - moi is one of the most controversial french novels of recent years , a punk fantasy that takes female rage to its outer limits . now the basis for a hit underground film which was banned in france , baise - moi is a searing story of two women on a rampage that is part thelma and louise , part viking conquest . manu and nadine have had all they can take . manu has been brutally raped , and determines it ' s not worth leaving anything precious lying vulnerable - - including her very self . she teams up with nadine , a nihilist who watches pornography incessantly , and they enact their own version of les vols et les viols ( rape and pillage ) - - they lure men sexually , use them up , then rob and kill them . drawing from the spiky cadences of the sex pistols and the murderous eroticism of georges bataille or dennis cooper , baise - moi is a shocking , accomplished , and truly unforgettable novel .
so is baise - moi a women ' s film ? since women found such mainstream movies as ridley scott ' s thelma & louise ( 1991 ) exhilarating exercises in wish - fulfilment , surely baise - moi has equal potential as fantasy fodder ? like when a guy on the street propositions nadine with the charming line ' wanna feel my balls slapping your ass ? ' only to be executed without a moment ' s hesitation by her best mate . this seems not a million miles from louise ' s trigger - happy revenge of thelma ' s near - rape or the moment when the pair blow up the lecherous truck driver ' s tanker .
baise - moi does have more of a structured plot than your average
erotic
adult movie ; it ' s certainly aiming for harsher drama . cynics will dismiss the plot as thelma and louise - the porno years . but this subtitled story of two women an enraged rape victim and a brooding prostitute hits many raw notes .
baise - moi was not submitted to the film censor for cinema release in ireland . instead , it was released in dublin last summer on a club basis at the irish film centre , where admission to films without a censor ' s certificate is restricted to members and their guests . all members have to be over 18 years of age .
financed and sold internationally though le studio canal plus’ wild bunch division , “baise - moi” stars two vets of france’s adult film world , raffaela anderson and karen bach . story centers on a violent rape and the after - affects on the rape victim and her friend , whose subsequent random acts of violence draw the attention of the media and the police .
baise - moi had its roots in a 1994 novel written by virginie despentes , who had worked in prostitution , peep shows and pornographic magazines . it was written in four weeks , or as ms despentes put it ,
vomited in a spirit of hate
, and she describes its principal characters as
thelma and louise ' s wicked younger sisters
.
as it happens , i saw a japanese - american co - production named ' ' brother ' ' not long after seeing ' ' baise moi . ' ' it was written and directed by takeshi kitano , who starred under his acting name , beat takeshi . kitano under any name is the japanese master of lean , violent , heartless action pictures , and in this one , the plot is punctuated every five minutes or so by a bloodbath in which enemies are shot dead . many , many enemies . we ' re talking dozens . the killings are separated in ' ' brother ' ' by about the same length of time as those in ' ' baise moi , ' ' or the sex acts in a porno film .
sex and shooting assault the senses in baise - moi [ literally kiss me ] , a bloody buddy movie that ' s like thelma and louise on acid . banned on release in france , the film has provoked as much horror as it has debate . manu , a part time porn star , and nadine , a hooker , set out to leave their town for paris after witnessing and being subject to rape and violence . they rage against societal expectations in a fury of robbery , orgiastic lust and murder . one of the most controversial movies of the last 20 years , baise - moi was described as the most sexually explicit film to ever reach british screens by the uk press , the film offers the complacent viewer a cinematic slap in the face .
new york — montreal - based remstar distribution will partner with santa monica - based filmfixx on the u . s . release of “baise - moi” ( “rape me” ) , the controversial french pic penned and directed by virginie despentes and coralie trin - thi . pic makes its u . s . preem friday at the castro theatre as part of the 44th san francisco intl . film festival .
despentes wrote the award - winning , bestselling novel “baise - moi” upon which the film is based . she also penned the screenplay and co - directed the film . under pressure from conservative groups , pic was banned by french censors from distribution in gaul . following appeals by the filmmakers , the film was booked in french sex cinemas and caused something of a sensation in the homevideo market .
when her debut novel baise - moi was published in 1993 , virginie despentes was hailed as the pioneer of a new genre of feminist literature . the boldness of the novel ' s plot , its angry depiction of female sexual pleasure and gratuitous violence , and its explicit criticism of contemporary western society have earned this ambiguous work a reputation for subversion . this article argues that the novel ' s apparent subversiveness and its popular success are the result of despentes ' s parodic reworking of the conventions of the noir thriller , and in particular of her critical revisiting of the topos of the femme fatale . reappropriating and challenging traditional canons and representations , baise - moi attacks phallocentrism through the exploration of female pleasure and the intervention of the female body . the text thus becomes highly disturbing and critical of the structures that contain women ' s autonomy . it also explores ideas that remain central to contemporary feminism with regard to women ' s sexual identity ; remaining taboos about the body ; the relationship between women and the sexual industry , and sexual oppression . helping to release women ' s bodies from existing representations and to question categories , baise - moi might indeed reclaim a voice for women .
the society contends that because the board in its second classification deemed the video and dvd formats of “baise - moi” “objectionable” under s . 3 of the act , based on certain content matter and its potential for causing injury to the “public good” if made available to adults in homes ; then in line with s . 26 of the act , any theatrical performance of the identical content should have received the same classification .
new york — montreal - based remstar distribution will partner with santa monica - based filmfixx on the u . s . release of “baise - moi” ( “rape me” ) , the controversial french pic penned and directed by virginie despentes and coralie trin - thi . pic makes its u . s . preem friday at the castro theatre as part of the 44th san francisco intl . film festival . filmfixx plans [ … ]
4 films are a highly accessible visual medium and are products of specific social , cultural , political , and economic contexts . they play a role in the reflection on , and validation or contestation of , socio - cultural norms and expectations . the polemic critical reception of baise - moi indicates the extent to which dominant contemporary occidental attitudes are still quite conservative and relatively untouched by radical feminist and anarcha - feminist ideas .
virginie despentes is a french writer , novelist and filmmaker , born in nancy , meurthe - et - moselle . her most famous novel , and film of the same name is baise - moi , a contemporary example of the exploitation films genre known as rape and revenge films . her most recent biographical , non - fiction work , king kong theory has also been translated into english , and recounts her experiences working within the
crucially , baise - moi itself is actually rather fun , and refreshingly innocent in its cinematic strategies ( digital video without the dogme hype ; shaky but promising performances from two leads who hail from hardcore ) . if it ' s sensationally confused , it ' s also energetically driven . nevertheless the questions it provokes , especially for british audiences , censors and promoters , are as familiar as the genre motifs it devours and regurgitates .
baise - moi ( france , 2000 ) 9 . 30pm friday 23 august receiving intense media coverage for its graphic depiction of sex and violence , this film tells the story of two women who embark on a road trip of revenge through france . its banning in australia was met with outspoken protests against censorship , while it was cut - down or banned completely in many other countries . world movies presents an r18 + cut of this controversial film .
2 released on 28 june 2000 and based on the novel by the same name published by despentes in 1994 , baise - moi portrays the story of manu ( raffaëla anderson ) , an occasional porn actor , and nadine ( karen bach ) , an occasional prostitute , as they separately experience traumatic events which drive them to murder . they chance upon one another and embark on a sexually charged killing spree across france until they meet their equally separate fates .
“we talked to a number of individuals and companies about helping us to release ‘baise - moi’ in the states , ” said remstar exec director craig adlard , “and orly’s voice was consistently the most passionate and articulate about how to approach the audience for the film . she not only sees great commercial value in the controversy , but an important opportunity to spark debate about the fine lines that seem to separate art , exploitation , satire , pornography and feminism . ”
bacchai proves her wrong . what despentes gives us is a work utterly dependent on literary and theatric precedent , something that bacchai confirms in its parallel action . in one respect at least , the two works mine the same literary seam : a fascination with what women are capable of when freed from constraint . we must entertain the bleak possibility , remarks philosopher bernard williams , that euripides was both feminist and misogynist . the makers of baise - moi too , i suggest .
i disagree with the other review . i thought the film , made by virginie despentes , was horrible and tacky , she got rid of the best part of the books and added idiotic scenes . baise moi the novel has an emergency , a hatred of the world that is unique and poisonous . it quotes hole and lots of brilliant hardcore and grunge band ( while the film had an awful bad french proto punk soundtrack ) . it ' s like reading a trashy james ellroy . i very recommend it .
' ' baise moi ' ' is ( a ) a violent and pornographic film from france about two women , one a rape victim , the other a prostitute , who prowl the countryside murdering men . or ' ' baise moi ' ' is ( b ) an attempt to subvert sexism in the movies by turning the tables and allowing the women to do more or less what men have been doing for years - - while making a direct connection between sex and guns , rather than the sublimated connection in most violent movies . i pose the question because i do not know the answer . certainly most ordinary moviegoers will despise this movie - - or would , if they went to see it , which is unlikely . it alternates between graphic , explicit sex scenes and murder scenes of brutal cruelty . you recoil from what ' s on the screen . later , you ask what the filmmakers had in mind . they are french , and so we know some kind of ideology and rationalization must lurk beneath the blood and semen .
uripides ' s bacchai , a play about women killing men , has opened at the national theatre just as baise - moi , a film about women killing men , is being screened in a number of cinemas . it is purely coincidental that peter hall ' s production and virginie despentes and coralie trinh thi ' s movie have arrived at the same time . but through this coincidence , we are able to negotiate the confrontation of a masterwork of the western canon with a work whose authors rejoice in its anti - literary properties .
some of baise - moi ‘s scenes are overlong and lack dramatic punch , a criticism that can also , of course , be leveled at life , as dogme - ites and their followers would no doubt remind us . and the film plays a risky game with the audience in alternating hardcore sex scenes with violence . it’s hard not to feel voyeuristic , even complicit in what transpires onscreen . but this is undoubtedly the directors’ intent , and the film’s ability to foster this sense of complicity in the viewer makes it a disturbing but worthwhile ride .
baise - moi is a violent , sexually explicit novel containing so much rage that it is almost unbearable . i almost feel a little guilty for enjoying it so much , but i can’t help myself . the novel centers around two young female characters : manu and nadine . manu is a young woman who seems detached from life . she drinks far too much , does drugs , and even makes adult films on occasion to fund her drinking and drug abuse . she puts no value in herself , her body , or anything else . after being horrifically
the fantasy of women who turn on that wacky institution the patriarchy is an enduring one , but inevitably later examples have mostly been coopted a la thelma and louise , which drained much of the power of the image of women out of control with its glamorous stars , plush production , and cop - out ending . virginie despentes and coralie trinh thi returns some trashy integrity to the genre with baise - moi , a hardcore french art film that was banned in , of all places , france . whether it’s got more trash than integrity is up to the viewer .
avec le club de lecture du groupe francophonie , j ' ai commencé ce 28 / 07 / 2016 un challenge abc ( w ) avec des auteurs féminins . 1er livre , baise moi , un livre favori de mon père . j ' ai vraiment détesté la première partie , je me demandais si un jour une histoire arriverait . la deuxième partie est plus intéressante : la rencontre entre manu et nadine , leurs
aventures
. malheureusement , c ' est trop vulgaire , trop violent . je n ' ai pas vraiment apprécié . la fin est à moitié surprenante et à moitié attendue
with two ex - porn actresses as the leads and unsimulated sex scenes , despentes and trinh thi aimed to make baise - moi real and visceral . shot on dv , with no additional lighting and a tiny budget , the film ( just like the source novel ) was inspired by french punk music ( seven hate , virago and x syndicate feature on the soundtrack ) . these low - production values mean that , aside from a couple of red - tinged scenes , it looks dismally ugly – but if it had looked prettier , it may well have been a more objectionable film .
in his reserved decision on the society’s appeal to the high court , dated 23 july 2002 ( ap76 / 02 ) , the hon justice hammond referred the matter back to the board for reconsideration after he determined that its classification decision contained a legal error “in failing to have regard to the impact of the various medium of formats in which this film might be presented” ( including video , dvd and television ) . he also ruled that the board may need to consider imposing conditions under s27 ( 5 ) on the display of baise - moi and would need to do so in other mediums .
i first read baise - moi (
rape me
in a title is rejected by virginie despentes , and most translators translate it as
fuck me
or
lay me down
) when i was fairly young , maybe somewhere around 14 , which really made me miss the deeper meaning of this work . it did not take long for me to see the film version ( directed by virginie despentes and coralie trinh thi ) too , and i must say i still prefer it over the book mainly due to it being able to capture the violence and accelerating , but somehow emp
“baise - moi” ( literally translated “f # # k me” ) was submitted in video format for classification on 20 march 2001 by the secretary of internal affairs , as directed by the chief censor , under s13 ( 1 ) ( b ) of the act . metropolis films ltd , based in auckland , whose managing director is gordon adam , is the new zealand distributor of this film and did not submit the publication to the film and video labelling body for classification . this is required by law if the distributor intends to supply the film to the public or make it available for public display .
the film has been criticised for its perceived hatred of men and arbitrary violence , but manu and nadine’s first victim is a woman , and in the book they also kill a child , a scene the filmmakers chose not to include for practical and moral reasons ( which they intelligently explain in the insightful documentary included in the extras ) . true , most of manu and nadine’s victims are men , and most of the murders are associated with sex , but the reaction to baise - moi seems entirely disproportionate given the number of films in which men subject women to horrendous violence , sexual and otherwise .
dizzying , depressing , and decadent . is there a word to describe all three of these things ? do i make a word out of the author ' s name ? despentary ? i think that ' s my word for it . baise - moi is all about violence , particularly of the sexual variety . the added element of sex is what , from the perspective of many , makes it worthy of being responded to with death . this book , in a sense , tackles this concept in a way that , to a certain degree , is borderline fantastical . i didn ' t necessarily mind that at
bacchai and baise - moi leave their audiences feeling troubled and somewhat repelled . while the film is more continuously upsetting ( i found it practically unwatchable ) , the play ' s last minutes deliver a horror unmatched in the theatre . there is an implication in each that women , when freed of conventional restraints , are capable of exhilaratingly terrible deeds . revenge serves in both as an ambiguous half - motive to justify murder : in one , the women are agents of another ' s revenge ; in the other , unrelated persons comprise the majority of the victims . what is more , in play and film , the killing exceeds all proportion .
baise - moi
( rape me ) , is billed as shocking and exhilarating however , i found it to be neither . virginie despentes ' writing style ( perhaps due to being translated ) holds no shocks or punches . this novel is decently paced if at times it seems to be reaching for the shock value . at times the main characters , nadine and manu come off as caricatures of bad girl archetypes that are neither inventive nor are they new . i hope ( and to give credit to despentes ) that when read in the original language the book retains more of a literary punch . overall i was unimpressed with both the book and the hype .
avec le club de lecture du groupe francophonie , j ' ai commencé ce 28 / 07 / 2016 un challenge abc ( w ) avec des auteurs féminins . 1er livre , baise moi , un livre favori de mon père . j ' ai vraiment détesté la première partie , je me demandais si un jour une histoire arriverait . la deuxième partie est plus intéressante : la rencontre entre manu et nadine , leurs
aventures
. malheureusement , c ' est trop vulgaire , trop violent . je n ' ai pas vraiment apprécié . la fin est à moitié surprenante et à moitié attendue . bilan mitigé , mais j’essaierai tout de même d ' autres livres de cette auteure .
prior to the successful substantive high court hearing on 12 june 2002 , justice hammond had granted an interim restriction order on 12 april 2002 with respect to the film , pursuant to s . 67 of the act , following an application by the society . ( this prevented the seven scheduled screenings of “baise - moi” going ahead at the 2002 beck’s incredible film festival which ran in auckland and wellington ) . the heart of justice hammond’s ruling was that there was an “arguable case” that the board erred in law by first finding the film objectionable , and then widening the public access to it . “the ‘disjunction’ between the acknowledged injurious effects of the film and the remedy is very striking” , he wrote .
ome films are made to just be provocative . add some sex sequences and some violence and you get a wave of anger and insult in response of what the director wanted to point out . baise moi is a masterpiece which should be seen by consentant adults ready to face reality and who want to live open minded . yes this film is x rated for adults only but it is not pornographic ! ! ! it is just to tough for young audiences . baise moi belongs to these feature - realism category where you find cassavetes , godard and others . you get in touch with the truth of what these people live , breath and feel . it tells the story ( which could be real ! ) of two women in a world where being a women souds like hell . what about feeling compassion for serial killers ? what about understanding how a human being could turn himself into a monster ? what would our life mean if it doesn ' t worth anything to anybody ? this film shows you what you are not ready to watch and hear . this film connects you with these people frightenning us everyday and against who we protect ourselves without hearing the sound of their sufferings . it ' s tough , brutal , rough and so true ! rape yourself and learn ! i want to thank the two directors and the actresses . they are more than gifted and deserve a great future !
baise - moi is a violent , sexually explicit novel containing so much rage that it is almost unbearable . i almost feel a little guilty for enjoying it so much , but i can’t help myself . the novel centers around two young female characters : manu and nadine . manu is a young woman who seems detached from life . she drinks far too much , does drugs , and even makes adult films on occasion to fund her drinking and drug abuse . she puts no value in herself , her body , or anything else . after being horrifically gang - raped one day , she meets and teams up with nadine , a prostitute who is addicted to adult films and loud music . they go on a vicious , brutal murder spree where they take what they want , including lives , sex , and money , and offer no apologies . they seek to find the ultimate freedom . one would think it would be difficult to find anything redeeming or likeable in a novel like baise - moi , but i found it impossible to put down . it was so unashamed with its sexuality and violence that it was almost liberating to read . the actions of the characters are despicable and disgusting , but it’s not impossible to understand the source of their rage and even pity them in some small way . the novel is written in an unemotional style . you get the violence and gore without pages of inner monologue or inner exploration of the characters themselves . the writing style added a lot to the gritty feel of the story . when you strip away the aggression , you are really left with two vulnerable characters that feel alone and think they have nothing to lose because there is no hope for anything better in life . the core of the story is really quite sad . baise - moi isn’t a novel that everyone will understand or appreciate , but it can’t really be explained either . i recommend reading it and coming to your own conclusion . on a side note , if you enjoyed the novel you might like the film by the same name . it’s just as disturbing , but it’s interesting .
one of the lesser pleasures of the porno - trainspotter is listing those wonderful titles the industry comes up with for its hardcore parodies of mainstream movies . my favourites include shaving ryan ' s privates , the sperminator , forrest hump and saturday night beaver . one would have thought , then , that a film that ' s basically thelma & louise get laid could have invented a wittier moniker than the bald challenge baise - moi ( translated as fuck me or kiss me , though one of its titles is rape me ) . forget sex - and - shopping as the epitome of female pleasure and the prime currency of women ' s fiction ; here fucking - and - shooting is what women want .
an equally controversial new american movie named ' ' bully ' ' is also about stupid , senseless murder , but it has the wit to know what it thinks about its characters . ' ' baise moi ' ' is more of a bluff . the directors know their film is so extreme that most will be repelled , but some will devise intellectual defenses and interpretations for it , saving them the trouble of making it clear what they want to say . i can ' t buy it . ernest hemingway , who was no doubt a sexist pig , said it is moral if you feel good after it , and immoral if you feel bad after it . manu and nadine do not feel bad , and that is immoral .
baise - moi is the second example of the recent french graphic rape wave of cinema . like a skanky french natural born killers but without the talent , irony or indeed entertainment , the heavy - handed symbolism and maddening acting should have you turning off after the first 40 minutes . you continue to watch however , mainly though a fascination as to how far the director is willing to push the boundaries of good taste in order to convince us of his point . something to do with society raping people and by - products of the system , a reflection of the perversity at the root of civilisation , monkeys with guns and girl power . joining the sensational release of irreversible , with its centrepiece a nine minute rape scene , it could look to some that modern french cinema had found itself in a quandary , desperately seeking its next big theme in the rapidly thinning file of the last taboos . thankfully , l ' homme du train dispelled those fears , at least for now . and maybe just two films don ' t make a wave , perhaps just a ripple . however , nothing changes the fact that when the closing credits finally arrived , i was angry . because it was rubbish . not a patch on the glory of la haine which dealt with a similar rage , but with far more heart and intelligence . baise - moi also has the worst soundtrack ever . i ' ve got to stop wasting my life watching all these terrible films .
issue 1 : they ' re really doing it . no surprises here - anderson and bach , along with co - director coralie trinh thi , are hardcore veterans branching out into more narrative - led drama . after the real - sex performances central to such arthouse fodder as ai no corrida ( 1976 ) , the idiots ( 1998 ) and romance ( 1999 ) , we should no longer find this so remarkable . the true breakthrough will come ( as john waters famously said ) when the first a - list hollywood star does a real hardcore scene complete with shots of erections , oral sex and penetration . one assumes hollywood isn ' t quite ready for a studio version of baise - moi starring julia roberts and cameron diaz .
last year the society successfully appealed in the high court under s . 58 of the act , the board’s first classification decision on “baise - moi” dated 13 march 2002 . the board’s decision had downgraded the classification from that issued by the classification office ( oflc ) on 20 august 2001 . the board , following an appeal by the society dated 29 october 2001 against the oflc decision , under s . 47 of the act , classified the film under s . 55 as a r18 for theatrical release ( with no additional restrictions other than the age restriction ) . this meant that identical copies of the film on video and dvd formats could lawfully be supplied to the public ( via retail sales , rental or loan ) for home viewing .
none of this justifies violent representations on the grounds that they are cinematic rather than realistic , but it does at least show that baise - moi knows what game it ' s playing . shock is its objective and sensationalism its medium . many a horror film has striven to up the ante in the gross extremes it can bring to the screen ; that this is neither a horror film nor a porn film may be part of the problem . shooting a man on all fours through his rectum so the blood splatters out of his mouth is no more gross than many a death in a horror movie . what ' s unusual is the conjunction of real sex and unreal violence , the confusion of authenticated pornographic fantasy and simulated violent spectacle .
in the end , it humanized nadine and manu ; two murderous bad ass bitches . it expresses the idea that friendship knows no circumstances . humans are going to commune with other humans no matter where you go . it places you in their shoes so much better than other movies try to do . you’ve got to think sometimes that these people are real ; they exist in our world . actually , they exist in our underworld . this movie brought those parts of society to light and made me wonder how probably too much of it is really going on . there was some as much extreme emotion as graphic value throughout the film . baise - moi had me gripping the edge of the seat , in the moment , throughout the entire movie . 8 out of 10 .
dizzying , depressing , and decadent . is there a word to describe all three of these things ? do i make a word out of the author ' s name ? despentary ? i think that ' s my word for it . baise - moi is all about violence , particularly of the sexual variety . the added element of sex is what , from the perspective of many , makes it worthy of being responded to with death . this book , in a sense , tackles this concept in a way that , to a certain degree , is borderline fantastical . i didn ' t necessarily mind that attitude because the material , here , was unflinching . this book doesn ' t necessarily place you in the head of the perpetrators of the violence , however . instead , it places you close to the action itself . the reader becomes something of a exhibitionist to the pornographic madness that lines in the prose of this curiously cruel , and rather vulgar , novel . similarly to many of the well - known french literary shockers who forced the readers to confront the sexual actions that we deemed taboo , we have virginie despentes , who decides to make pornography out of violent retaliation and revenge . the effect is a mixed bag . grisly at times for certain . sometimes overwhelming in its alarming description . the average reader likely will not be able to finish baise - moi fast enough , for it is bitter and putrid to the very last page . i ' m personally very glad that i still have yet to reach the bottom of the elevator of french extremities in art .
the society is still waiting for the decision of the hon . justice goddard with respect to its other high court appeal ( civ 2003 - 485 - 238 ) against the board’s classification decision on the japanese sex violence film “visitor q” . the board cleared the film for film festival screenings and noted that it had a lengthy feature involving necrophilia ( “sexual conduct with or upon the body of a dead person” – a woman ) and “the use of [ human ] excrement in association with degrading or dehumanising sexual conduct” [ with the female corpse ] . the outcome of that case , heard by justice goddard on 7 july 2003 , the day before she considered the appeal on “baise - moi” , may have some bearing on the present case being advanced by the society to the court of appeal .
it ' s hard to know how to take this , mainly because i ' ve never read anything quite like it . for this reason - its uniqueness - let ' s say it ' s good . and it is : fast - moving , convincing , entertaining . fine writing it ain ' t , but it doesn ' t waste words and it doesn ' t feel as if it ' s unfolding to an agenda . on my edition ( the black inc australian one ) an australian woman critic calls it ( or the film version ) a story about ' women on top ' , and adds ' vive le revolution ! ' but if you ' re looking for cathartic anti - male affirmative - action scenarios look elsewhere : the two psycho sex - addicts in baise moi don ' t care who they kill , man , woman or child , and they certainly have no manifesto . none , that is , except the absence of one . killing for killing ' s sake - anything else is immoral . and there ' s something true in this , at least in the world of baise moi ( or maybe in any fictional world - how i hate books with a clear - cut moral ) . a book with so much sex and violence could easily ( like american psycho ) have bored or disgusted me , but not once did i feel this became gratuitous . and the characters ? i liked them . whether this book will leave a lasting impression on me i don ' t know , but for doing what it does with naturalness and raw grace i recommend it .
issue 3 : if it wasn ' t a french arthouse film it would never have got past the bbfc . this may be true , especially given the bbfc press release justifying baise - moi ' s certification at ' 18 ' , with one cut to the rape scene . but the film ' s release history elsewhere has been as troubled as its subject matter . given a rare ' x ' certificate after the french high court overturned the original ' pg - 16 ' in the wake of a national front - led campaign , it was then banned outright by a number of local authorities . in canada it was banned by the ontario review board following walkouts at a toronto film festival screening , and a viewer at the parisian theatre in montreal broke into the projection room , tore the film out of the projector and threatened to bomb the cinema . ironically the bbfc decision may make baise - moi ' s british reception its most liberal yet . the only problem the board claimed was the juxtaposition of extreme sexual images with violence , hence the cut of a penetration shot from the rape scene . similar shots have been allowed in scenes of consensual sex , however , and the bbfc applauds the film for its ' serious cultural purpose ' . whether any old french exploitation flick is capable of making a miraculous metamorphosis into arthouse respectability the instant it crosses the channel is another question . rather than asking how far those naughty french will go with their cinematic sex , we might be better off wondering why we ' re happy to believe almost any foreign - language material must be ' serious ' .
5 from an anarcha - feminist perspective , this paper explores the socio - cultural reasons for the strongly critical reception of the film baise - moi . as non - simulated sex in mainstream cinema is still somewhat provocative , and film reviewers often evoke the corresponding matter of female sexuality , the first section explores these issues . the second section is concerned with another overtly denounced element of the narrative : the extreme violence . as women commit many of the obvious instances of violence , this is logically followed by a consideration of women perpetrators . finally , although the essay largely maintains a narrative perspective , the effect on the film reviewer of both the film ' s aesthetics and its wider context cannot be ignored , thus the third section explores the grainy filmmaking techniques and the critique of the co - directors .
baise - moi ‘s street credentials are impeccable . codirector coralie trinh thi is a former porn star , as are the two leading actresses . the film has the look and feel of denmark’s dogme school ; it’s shot in video rather than film ; employs natural light ; and uses “normal people” instead of high - falutin’ stars . most daring , it includes many scenes of penetrative , close - up sex , with a particularly brutal rape scene that has brought the wrath of censors around the world . canada , always free with the scissors , has simply lumped it in with the porn , refusing to let it be shown in ontario in mainstream theaters despite an enthusiastic reception at last september’s toronto international film festival and testimonials by such luminaries as atom egoyan . that it’s getting a release in america at all is more than a little surprising .
3 the film provokes a range of reactions that mostly centre on its inclusion of non - simulated sex , and which , along with its extreme violence , places it in the new french extremity genre . this term , coined by james quandt , denotes the relatively recent category of french films which include a predominant amalgamation of violence , torture , and sexuality ( 17 ) . baise - moi stands out from this recent trend since the late 1990s for art house films with graphic content ( downing ,
french cinema ' s new ' sexual revolution ' postmodern porn and troubled genre
265 ) . this is because , despite sharing such taboo features with its contemporaries , it is one of the few which garners such vehement opposition : the film has a 21 % rating on rotten tomatoes , and a
generally unfavourable
35 out of 100 metascore on metacritic .