Last years tragic suicide of actress Karen Bach at the age of 31 served as, perhaps, an inevitable endgame to the media shadowplay that rendered Biase Moi one of the most powerful and controversial films ever made.
Outraging international audiences with its release in June 2000 Baise Moi did that rare thing which musicians and artists once seemed to do on a regular basis, that is, become a social issue and push the parameters of the status quo to boiling point. Elvis did it and was seen as a communist plot, Breton did it and was accused of anarchy and Stravinsky's Rite of Spring had 1913 Parisians rioting in the streets. But now that the entertainment industry has finally perfected the art of all-out homogenisation; creative endeavour, with very few exceptions, continues to flounder behind the zeitgeist. Baise Moi seized it and buried it in its own blood.
Based on the novel by ex-prostitute Virginie Despentes, who co-directed the film with Coralie Trinh Thi, Baise Moi tells the story of two young women runaways who race each other to oblivion and mean to take anyone who gets in their face with them. The two leads are played convincingly by ex porn stars Raffaella Anderson and the aforementioned Karen Bach. If you can imagine Thelma and Louise on a PCP comedown, you're nearly on the money. This is essential viewing but bare in mind that few profound experiences are happy ones and watching Baise Moi is a perfect example of what this means. This is real and unashamed punk cinema, and to see it on the shelves of HMV in the '3 for £20' bin must have definitely given a fair few casual punters a bit a jolt once they'd settled in with a bottle of Merlot for a Sunday evening viewing. Believe as far as commercially available films go this should carry a government health warning. It barely helps that this is a female led production and thus avoids the cheap and easy 'female exploitation' charges as it graphically depicts those staples of the cinematic experience, sex and violence, at a level rarely seen in mainstream cinema.
Baise Moi is the result of a specifically female rage and although Karen Bach's sad exit was not a direct result of having made this film, the road she walked was a dark one - and when you make that journey there will be casualties.
Outraging international audiences with its release in June 2000 Baise Moi did that rare thing which musicians and artists once seemed to do on a regular basis, that is, become a social issue and push the parameters of the status quo to boiling point. Elvis did it and was seen as a communist plot, Breton did it and was accused of anarchy and Stravinsky's Rite of Spring had 1913 Parisians rioting in the streets. But now that the entertainment industry has finally perfected the art of all-out homogenisation; creative endeavour, with very few exceptions, continues to flounder behind the zeitgeist. Baise Moi seized it and buried it in its own blood.
Based on the novel by ex-prostitute Virginie Despentes, who co-directed the film with Coralie Trinh Thi, Baise Moi tells the story of two young women runaways who race each other to oblivion and mean to take anyone who gets in their face with them. The two leads are played convincingly by ex porn stars Raffaella Anderson and the aforementioned Karen Bach. If you can imagine Thelma and Louise on a PCP comedown, you're nearly on the money. This is essential viewing but bare in mind that few profound experiences are happy ones and watching Baise Moi is a perfect example of what this means. This is real and unashamed punk cinema, and to see it on the shelves of HMV in the '3 for £20' bin must have definitely given a fair few casual punters a bit a jolt once they'd settled in with a bottle of Merlot for a Sunday evening viewing. Believe as far as commercially available films go this should carry a government health warning. It barely helps that this is a female led production and thus avoids the cheap and easy 'female exploitation' charges as it graphically depicts those staples of the cinematic experience, sex and violence, at a level rarely seen in mainstream cinema.
Baise Moi is the result of a specifically female rage and although Karen Bach's sad exit was not a direct result of having made this film, the road she walked was a dark one - and when you make that journey there will be casualties.