Baise-moi (2001)

Don't listen to the negative reviews

The story-telling is good with flashbacks.The film is both funny and heartbreaking. You smile in a scene and get a soulcrushing revelation in the next.

Each character in this movie — down to the smallest one — is an individual rather than a type, prone to spontaneous changes of mood and sometimes amusing outbursts of pettiness or ill humor.

The thing I enjoyed most about the film is the fact that it doesn't shy away from being a super-sized-cliche;

I like this film because it showed true nature of some parts of French society. Plot was violent and pornographic, but original and adrenaline driven. Acting was excellent, we pay tribute to the deceased actress Karen Lancuame, who was a pornographic actress, but in this film played an excellent role and looked like a real professional actress. Other acting was excellent too.I was impressed with everything, imaginative plot, acting and directing. Camera work is excellent too. 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.

"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. The basic story – two rape-victims go on a revenge-rampage – is simple, without much depth and the hardcore scenes seem randomly thrown in, for the sake of effect and scandal, rather than helping the films progress."Antagonists" Karen Bach and Raffaela Anderson definitely both can't live up to the skills of Geena Davis or Susan Sarandon; at no time able to disguise what they in reality are: porn-actresses. Same goes for the rest of the cast crew, who cannot deny the genre they've originated from (and, without doubt, will return to after this excursion into "real film"). I dare say that, in the times before straight-to-video (now internet) porn, there have been porn-productions, like the "Josefina Mutzenbacher"-films, that featured better actors and more solid story lines.It's unlikely that fans of feminist revenge-thrillers will be very interested in a film containing un-simulated sex scenes; for jaded gorehounds there is too little of that and people who're into cheap porn, well, those will know where to find that on the world wide web (or will forward during the cheap dialog and action scenes). Hence, the intended audience for this film escapes me.If you're looking for fresh, innovative or experimental thrillers with a shock-factor, I recommend the original "Funny Games" or "Man Bites Dog"; this film I can only give a sleazy 3 points from 10 and heart-felt 'je t'encule'.

I finally sat down to watch this movie. I was expecting just a mess of a film. However, I was greatly surprised by it. It is definitely not for everyone. It relies on Abel Ferrera for its story, no doubt. What struck me was the gritty portrayal of a France that is usually unseen (albeit a fictionalized one) in French cinema. It is not the lighthearted "Amelie" or others of the ilk. No one is really likable. French society is not ideal. The two leads are not professional (except in the porn business), and their acting shows that, but their characters are not supposed to have any more depth than they do. Many of the victims are sleazy, and I, as a viewer, do not know whether to root for the antiheroes or not. That is the directors' strength in the movie, and precisely their point. These women are empowered feminists (as is one of the directors) and show their anger at not only men, but the industry that creates a male-dominated and desexualizes women in a male-oriented way. Just look at how the female victim at the ATM looks! Look at how the women at the sex club are "enjoying" themselves! Look at how the men "force" the women into pleasing them or how they attempt to control them from doing what they want to do to feel pleasure (whether it is sexual or, in the case of the protagonists, killing). This movie is a critique on society. The two women had enough and, like Michael Douglas in "Falling Down," go on a cross-country killing spree just for a release from reality and to control it at the same time. There are many hardcore sex acts, and the film is not in the same vein as "Cafe Flesh," but, like that film, it swerves from sex acts to a "normal" storyline. Again, NOT for everyone, so don't go out and rush to rent. I wish it were a bit better with acting and film stock, but it's hardly worth the 4.4 that IMDb shows it having! I give it 7 of 10. E.

Let me start of by saying that Sex and violence and the relationship between them are integral to the human experience and are both older than history itself, and I'm more than prepared to watch a film that engages in those themes. Baise-Moi does try to explore those ideas, but it falls far short of that task for a number of reasons: 1) The Characters: The two leads of the film, Nadine and Manu to their credit aren't badly performed at all. I was able to see a relationship that transcended that of a sexual nature and was filled with a genuine affection - you can see that once they had become bonded they almost became a single entity, functioning as two parts of one whole never in conflict with each other but with the world around them.The problem is that the characters lose sympathy from the audience through their actions, and It's not because they commit horrendous acts of violence or engage in sexual activity with strangers. It is possible to see characters do such things and still root for them - one need only consider characters such as Tony Soprano to accept that. But the actions of Nadine and Manu seem arbitrary. They'll have sex with some people, and kill others and its rarely clear why. In fact towards the end of the film the enter a sex club and massacre an entire room of people who are exploring and engaging in sex in a consensual manner even though these people are doing exactly what Nadine and Manu have spent their time doing. I struggled to understand what their ideology was - there didn't seem to be any clear rules or logic that could be applied to what they were doing. As an audience we don't always have to sympathize with a character, but if we can't empathize with them then their choices end up being unbelievable and we lose all stake in the film.2) The Plot. The main problem with the plot is that the film doesn't really have one and it lacks proper structure. We have a first act where we are introduced to the main characters and witness their first meeting and a end goal is set up - that of meeting another character in Vosges to help them in some kind of border smuggling enterprise, the details of which are never really made clear. Thus we enter the second act and are given the impression that this is to be a road film - a journey into the darkest corners of human interaction where all inhibitions are banished as the character's race, almost eagerly towards self destruction.We do see Nadine and Manu engage in sex and murder in an almost decadent fashion, and we see them reflect on the nature of their partnership. But there is no sense of a journey here. The films goes from one scene to another with no sense of progression. The characters seem relatively unchanged from their first act of murder and it doesn't feel as if they are really physically journeying anywhere either. It almost feels as if they're just driving around randomly - there is no sense of an overall plot progression here at all. Characters are randomly introduced and dispatched without forwarding the overall plot in any real sense.3) The Cinematography: I don't know a lot about camera work or cinematography so I won't go on about it at length but from a lay-man's point of view it felt pretty weak. Obviously this is a low budget film that had to make do with what could be afforded and I totally accept that. But the camera work constantly felt to me as if it was neglecting to play to the strengths of being able to use a hand-held camera to get a sense of realism. It always felt like the director was trying to use the camera as if it was a big budget high quality one. Unfortunately the low quality nature of the shots makes the film feel like a pale amateur imitator of other films. To sum up then, the reason Baise-Moi fails as a film for me isn't the explicit or shocking nature of the film. The makers of this film clearly decided that they wanted to be unflinching in their examination of the darker recesses of human society and I see that as a legitimate attempt to create a piece of art. Also the acting, while not award winning is for the most part isn't at all terrible and the two leads carry the film well as much as is possible. The problem lies ultimately with the script - which lacks a coherent 3 act structure. It feels as if the writer started out trying to set up a story-line with a first act that introduces the main characters and gives them an end goal and sets up a story about a journey. But then just got bored and decided to craft a series of scenes that pay homage to other road films that explore sex and violence, but failed to understand what made those films work. The end result comes off as amateurish and hackneyed and makes it look as if the film was made purely for shock value rather than to explore explicit themes in an unflinching manner.Ultimately the films attempts to explore sex and violence in an explicit manner but fails as a piece of art. In doing so it hands those who would try to censor artful expression an example that furthers their goal rather than contradicts it. 3/10.