Film Reviews

Baise Moi

• Director: Virginie Despentes and Coralie Trinh Thi.
• Starring: Raffaela Anderson, Karen Bach, Delphine McCarty, Lisa Marshall, Estelle Issac, H.P.G., Marc Rioufol, Ouassini Embarek.
• Details: Fra/ 77 mins / (No Cert).

Anyone with even a cursory interest in cinema will probably be aware of the controversy surrounding Virginie Despentes' and Coralie Trinh Thi's Baise Moi. The literal translation of the title is 'Rape Me' so it doesn't take a clairvoyant to predict that the contents of the film will be rather unsettling. Two woman, Manu (Anderson) and Nadine (Bach), who have been brutalized over the course of their lives, meet by chance and embark on an odyssey of sex and violence. And er, that's about it. Based on the book by Despentes, Baise Moi is, quite frankly, an awful film. While the full on sexual and violent aspects of the film will undoubtedly have some up in arms, what is most disturbing about Baise Moi is the blinkered vision of the directors - all men are animals (there's not one sympathetic male in the whole film) and they're only fit to be used or murdered. Similarly, the obvious satisfaction that the two women seem to get some committing random acts of violence appears to be nothing more than a headline grabbing technique. There's no real insight here and the film says nothing about the difference between the sexes or indeed, anything of any real consequence - it's just controversy for the sake of controversy. Seriously, don't bother.

Review by Garreth Murphy