Baise-moi

Plot synopsis:
Baise-moi tells the story of Nadine and Manu who go on a violent spree against a society in which they feel marginalized. Nadine is a part-time sex worker, and Manu a slacker who does anything—including occasional porn film acting—to get by in her small town in southern France.
One day, Manu and her friend, a drug addict, are accosted in the park by three men, who take them to a garage and gang-rape them. While her friend struggles, screams, and fights against the rapists, Manu lies still with a detached look, which troubles the man raping her, who soon gives up. When her friend asks Manu how she could act so detached, she replies that she "can't prevent anyone from penetrating her pussy", so she didn't leave anything precious in there. Manu then returns to her brother's house, and does not tell him what has happened, but noticing bruises on her neck, he realizes. He gets out a gun and asks Manu who was responsible, but when she refuses to tell him, he calls her a "slut" and implies that she actually enjoyed being raped. In response, picking up the discarded pistol, Manu shoots him in the head.
Meanwhile, Nadine returns home and has an argument with her roommate, whom she strangles and kills, before leaving with their rent money. Nadine suffers another emotional setback when she meets her best friend, a drug dealer, in another town, but he is shot and killed while out obtaining drugs with a prescription she forged for him.
Later that night, having missed the last train, Nadine meets Manu at the railway station. Manu says she has a car, if Nadine will drive for her. They soon realize that they share common feelings of anger, and embark on a violent and sexually charged road trip together.
In need of money, the girls hold up a shop and also kill a woman at a cash machine. In a stolen car, they are pulled over for a random check by police, whom they kill. Another woman, who was also being checked and saw the murders, flees with them. The women stay over at their new friend's house, whose brother provides the address and details of an architect with whom he has had trouble. The women trick their way into the architect's house and kill him. Finally, after this spree of murder and sexual activity, the two women enter a swingers' club. One of the patrons makes a racist comment to Manu. The women kill most of the patrons there, and use a gun to anally penetrate the racist man, finally shooting him. The pair discuss what they have done, and agree that it has all been pointless because nothing has changed in them.
During their spree, the duo's crimes are reported by the press, and become a point of fascination for the entire country, with some people actually supporting them, and others afraid of them. When Manu enters a roadside tire shop to get some coffee, she is shot by the shop owner, who is then shot by Nadine outside. Nadine takes Manu's body to a forest and burns it, before driving to a beach. With tears in her eyes, Nadine puts the gun to her head, intending to commit suicide, but gets arrested by the police before she can do so.

Tags: gothic, cruelty, violence, cult, revenge, sadist

Review:
Maybe it's because I live in Holland and have a very open mind to sex, drugs and well, maybe not to murder but I was not that shocked.Of course the rape scene was a bit hard and did not leave much to your imagination, but the rest....
I think more of it as an experimental piece of work, seek your own reasons for what they are doing, enjoy this wild ride and if you persist in having a monumentuous storyline, oscar performances and so on, and you are not specifically entertained by x rated sex, lots of blood and the socalled 'holes' in this story then....Just don't watch this movie!!!!The backside of the DVD or VHS gives plenty of clues that this is a controversial movie and when you have an open mind and like these kind of movies, i recommend it.We give it a 7.0.
Unlike some films, this one doesn't in any way glorify violence though, it merely shows the sad inevitability of it as far as its two main characters are concerned.Both Nadine (Karen Lancaume aka Karen Bach) and Manu (Raffaella Anderson) routinely endure violation both in word and deed on an almost daily basis as sex workers, prostitute and part-time porno performer respectively.
The resemblance to "Thelma and Louise" however, ends with that; the sex is unusually graphic (and in copious supply) as is the violence (a lot of stomping to death, and a lot of blood and other organic matter splattering after bullet impact).On an intellectual level, one could make the case that the film's very essence is the relationship of sex and violence (as manifested by the only sex these women know: one is a small-time prostitute, and the other has earned money from time to time by performing in pornographic films.
It is important to note, however, that the victims of their rampage are not only creepy men interested in creepy sex, (of which there are several)but innocent passersby, a woman at an ATM, for example, as well.I myself do not really understand why the repeated "porn-movie" shots were all that necessary, (except to depict the physical contact as cruel, unpassionate and debased) and the unrelenting gore did get rather tedious after the first few violent spasms.It is a coarse and crude movie, but in fairness, it is dealing with coarse and crude people and equally unpleasant circumstances.
Films that show the real horror of rape may discourage it more than ones that show women 'getting over it.' One of the victims of rape in Baise-Moi actually 'lets' her assailants get on with it, commenting to her friend afterwards that at least they didn't wind up dead.
Amidst all the controversy about the porno-style sex scenes, random acts of violence, liberal depictions of drug use and so on it seems the central question has been lost - is Baise-moi actually any good?
Nevertheless, the opening is well-played out and directed with surprising flair (especially considering that this is the debut movie for both its directors).However, when the plot kicks in proper and the two women end up on the run together the film's interest begins to drop fast.
It's only real use is as a shock tactic, but even this is wasted on anyone who's seen a porn film - the violence side of it is no worse than is seen in any number of straight-to-video action/thriller flicks.Ultimately, all there is to recommend Baise-moi is a couple of impressive acting performances, a few amusing lines of dialogue and a thought-provoking 20 minutes at the start.
Not cartoonish, like Natural Born Killers, but raw violence; uncaring, unmerciful, and brutal.The sex is real, but it is like nothing you see in porn films.
Circumstances do not allow that to happen, and the ending is rather abrupt and somewhat lacking.Men joke about PMS, but if it is anything like the rage depicted by the women who made this film, you better watch out.
There was so much sex and violence that I got the strong impression that the film was trying very, very hard to be offensive, as if it was aiming at superlatives in ugliness, rather than in telling a convincing tale about two women caught in a spiral of crime.Baise-moi had been described as "Thelma & Louise with actual sex" to me.
There are two women traveling through the country because they've committed crimes and know that their lives are finished now, that the police are going to catch them, and they decide that now that everything's over anyway, there is no way to hold back.Baise-moi had been described as a feminist film where women, who had suffered from male dominance in the past, exact revenge upon the men that they encounter.This is something that I had never interpreted into this film, simply because none of these women had ever been innocent, and because they do not just kill irresponsible, violent men, but also men that they seduce themselves, men that show the sense of wanting to do protected sex.
I got the feeling that sex and violence were only there in order to create a superlative in ugliness, rather than in conveying a story, or making a point.Baise-moi left me with no impression, hadn't set me thinking, because it was so far removed from any real world.
That it's title translates into 'F*** Me' in English was hardly promising - but I tried to keep an open mind throughout.Within minutes - I was left baffled by a plot that barely makes sense, acting that makes daytime tv soap operas look like Oscar material, and some of the worst directing I've ever seen.The violence within the film is highly graphic, but nothing particularly terrible.
The leads in this film are not exactly likeable at the start of the picture, let alone when they go on a killing spree murdering anyone and everyone that gets in their way.The rape sequence is very graphic - and certainly more realistic than your average Hollywood attempts.
Not even 'Ms 45' killed everyone she could - only men who she had an understandable fear of following her ordeal.Certainly not a film for the faint of heart, I thought I could stomach almost anything - but watching them murder yet another person unjustly whilst having sex with yet another person who they later murder - it all became a bit too much.
It's not like people watching this film have not seen the act of sex before.When a movie goer goes to see a film, specifically one calling itself an art film, they expect to see fresh, thought-provoking material.
"Baise-Moi" is one of the most shocking movies ever made.The film is truly ugly in its depiction of sex,brutality and rape.The story is simple:a rape victim and a hooker join together to trek Paris leaving trail of bloody corpses behind them.The two leads(real porn stars Raffaella Anderson and Karen Lancaume)have graphic sex and they also do a lot of drugs and kill plenty of people in many gory and bizarre ways.The film is extremely violent-the rape scene at the beginning is very ugly and uncompromising.Many viewers sitting with me in the cinema left the theatre offended.This is strong stuff and definitely not for everybody,but it still has some kind of a social impact,so I wouldn't go so far to call it mindless exploitation.It is raw and convincing when when it shows women being abused by men or when it shows women working in the sex trade.Highly recommended.10 out of 10..
The movie contains a graphic rape sequence, a few more explicit sex scenes and "tons" of gore and violence, without being able to deliver a message.
Graphic depiction of violence and sex in movies absolutely don't offend me (on the contrary, if well done and essential to the plot, I surely like it), but I wasn't very impressed by this one.
Stanley Kubrick talked for years about wanting to make a porn film for mainstream audiences, but I doubt even he could have got this past the censors.The plot(which has been likened to Thelma and Louise) concerns two french girls who go on a sex and murder spree after falling foul of a couple of degenerates.
Baise Moi is the story of two women, Manu and Nadine (played by porn stars) who hit the road to take out their aggression on unsuspecting men (and sometimes women), in what could be described as Thelma and Louise with hardcore sex scenes.
Okay, this could be an appealing combination for many audiences but what really strikes you about Baise Moi is its utter ineptitude and ugliness.Directed by two women; Virginie Despentes and Coralie Trinh Thi (based on ex-prostitute Despente's novel), the film does evoke a substantial feel of female rage and bitterness towards men, although having the two leads kill innocents does leave a nasty taste in the mouth and detracts from the film's message.
I'm sure Freud would have had a field day with it, but he probably would have had better things to do.Porn stars Raffaela Anderson and Karen Bach act to the best of their ability, pulling off (excuse the pun) some of the more emotional scenes satisfactorily, but you just can't help thinking that they are just playing at being 'proper' actresses.
There is a close-up penetration shot during the opening rape scene (cut from UK prints), several blow jobs, a gun being inserted in a man's arse and fired and hardcore sex aplenty, but most shocking of all is the fact that a film so poorly made has been merited as such a classic in some quarters.
Why this would require explicit sexual scenes was beyond me, but since such things have been done before in a way that was not a total catastrophe (thinking mostly of Irréversible) i decided to give it a chance.I found this movie to be utter garbage.
I read an article in the NY Times concerning ways in which film makers are pushing the envelope when it comes to sex in mainstream movies.
Take excessive violence, add a some hardcore porn scenes and French alternative rock music and what you´ve got is a hip and provoking movie, a shocking and disturbing portrait of generation X...
The film is shot with a hand-held camera and the amateur illumination and the shady set decoration convey you every time that feeling to be in a real porn movie.
Maybe, if you don't like movies, TV, and entertainment having so much sexual objectification of women, so much violence, don't watch them.And if you're a director, don't make them.Otherwise, some day someone will ask for an open mind when what happened in this "movie" happen in real life.Heck, some people seem to like it so much..
Of course, criminal acts like murder are not a good example for youth, but wake up, this is not a silly movie about youth, revenge against society or girl power, it's just a violently superb road-movie about two hopeless young women already dead when they meet each others.
Baise-Moi is like a bad violent road porn movie.
This movie looks like a horrible combination of 'Deliverance', 'Thelma and Louise', and 'Clockwork Orange' - with just the worst parts taken from those films.Finally, just because the film was made by women doesn't make it any better.
Real front runner of the New French Extremity wave of early 2000s.If you are a teen or in early 20s, and you like to watch a film which mixes violence, sex and Thelma and Louise type of one-time-shots-in-life films, this is a film for you.I strongly recommend this film..
If real sex were to be shown, it should have been about the intimacy between the two people instead of the prostitution, rape and sodomy.Baise-moi is about a lot of things, revolt, sexual violence, lust, rebellion, attack on the rich, the scums, the sleaze, the pervs, the life of slackers, drug addicts and low lives.
I'm really not sure what the directors were attempting to do with the film, either making another Thelma & Louise, but on crack, or showing that pornography is actually a violence towards women, as, both the directors and the lead actresses have experienced, in the porn industry, women are often used as objects of extreme sex, violence and humiliation.Either way, the film really doesn't merit the title of a film that changed the way people thought, it was simply trying to say something about pornography and the violence that comes with it, mixed into an indie film, that was so violent and sexually explicit that it was banned in several countries and changed several censorship titles in France.If you want a better story about nihilism, a lot violence and killings, with a clear message about why they are depicted, watch Natural Born Killers, instead..
there is still some blood in the movie but what made this film censored are the explicit love/rape scenes.
That doesn't really mean it's any good though, or enlightening much on the human condition or, you know, giving a good story.If there is any story it's all knock-off, like Thelma and Louise re-written by Frank Miller on a lesser day and filmed by a kid who's just got a digital camera and has watched far too many no-budget exploitation movies.
It's simply about two women (both also porn stars, which helps to explain why they go for such explicit sex scenes without question), Madine and Manu, who meet one day when one forced the other by gun point to drive her to the ocean, then the two decide to join together to do...
If nothing else, it's not I Spit on Your Grave, which most of us can be thankful for.It's also shot with some kind of ugly near-yellow tint giving everything a sickened jaundiced look, and acted by porn actresses who barely know two modes to act: Manu is giddy in the most sadistic way or just not giving a damn about what happens to her (rape early on) or how many people she kills (which is a lot, nearing Natural Born Killer numbers by the end I take it), while Nadine is more withdrawn, quiet, an occasional smirk but with less of a real drive to be on this pointless trip except as something to do or be.
I don't know for you, but when I hear Porn movie, all sort of pictures come to my mind, blow job, close up, anal sex, 3some, gang bang, facial etc....any action starting from soft penis ending in soft penis and of course the cheesiest dialogues ever.So in "Baise Moi" (I don't know who translated it in US by "Rape Me" but this is wrong), there is penetration sex, rare close ups, but there is not the show off of all the above action, so I would have to disagree with the people mentioning that it's only Porn.I think some people got offended by seeing penis, it's funny how a naked woman showering or actually even faking a sex scene is art and how a naked man with a hard on is Porn, some people need to get real a bit Another crippling fact for that movie is the translation, I have not managed to get a dubbed copy so I just watched a subtitled copy of it, and god was the translation poor and approximative.
The movie tells the story of two young women who go on a sexual and violent rampage together, each one for her own reasons and maybe because they want to be cruel to people representing a society that has always been cruel to them.
If you are about to watch a recent controversial French movie about topics like sexual violence, go for "Irréversible" instead..
There is violence, sex and generally quite a lot happening, but still the movie refuses to tell any story, teach any morals, elicit compassion, subscribe to any ideology, it doesn't even wish to entertain.What I want to comment on is the advertising line "banned in France".
This is quitedefinitely the worst film I have ever seen.Incredibly violent and full of graphic pornography (some guys outthere are now probably asking what more could you want) that arethe cause of the controversy that surrounds Baise-Moi (literaltranslation Rape Me) will no doubt draw some people in.Controversy always draws a crowd, and that will help this film - it'sthe only thing that can.Playing like a porn movie with delusions of grandeur, or a badSpanish soap opera but in French there is nothing good you cansay of this film.
I think this movie was only made to provoke and shock,because it is a bad piece off film making.I dont think anyone will see it as anything besides garbage.It has no story or atmosphere and we dont feel for any of the characters.
If you want to see this movie for the sex scenes,then dont bother,because it is filmed badly.Go rent a porn movie instead,it might even have a better story.And if you are watching it because of the violence,I have to say that I have seen movies that are way sicker.The only reason to see this movie,is to see something new,you might call it a bad porn movie with a story..
Virginie Despentes film "Baise Moi" is not a good movie when it comes to filmmaking.
And the two women lead talents were doing really nice jobs with their given characters.That being said, then the potentially great movie was really butchered by the explicit sex scenes.
Mixing extreme violence with hardcore sex, Baise-moi is a taboo busting piece of French cinema that exists purely to shock.
"Baise-moi" isn't the first film to combine un-simulated sex with elements of non-porn movies, actors and a "real" storyline.
To mind come the infamous "Caligula", various exploitation pictures from the 70's and 80's, or Larry Clarks ill-fated "Ken Park", to name but a few.However, unlike the two movies mentioned above, who utilized explicit sex-scenes; "Baise-moi" comes across more as a porn-film that tries to disguise itself as a feminist's thriller.