Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #1463 in DVD
• Released on: 2003-04-14
• Rating: Suitable for 18 years and over
• Number of discs: 1
• Format: PAL
• Original language: French
• Subtitled in: English
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 74 minutes

Amazon.co.uk Review
When it comes to on-screen sex and violence it takes a lot to unnerve the French authorities, but Baise-Moi managed it. Three days after the film opened it was pulled from over 60 cinemas across the country, causing a major rumpus, and only allowed back after it had been reclassified X, a category normally reserved for hard-core porn. The title translates literally as "Fuck me", which pretty well sums up the brash, in-your-face style of the film.

The classification was not inappropriate, given that the film features plenty of genuine, unsimulated sex. Anyone hoping for arousal, though, might do better to look elsewhere. Baise-Moi is written and directed by Virginie Despentes and Coralie Trinh Thi, working from Despentes' novel, and stars Karen Bach and Rafaella Anderson. Despentes is an ex-prostitute, while Trinh Thi, Bach and Anderson have all acted in porno movies, and what they give us here is sex as female vengeance, a screwing-and-killing rampage that turns the tables on a violent male world. The movie's been compared to Thelma and Louise, but a closer comparison might be with Henry, Portrait of a Serial Killer.

As in most porno movies, the plot is the merest pretext. Nadine (Bach) is a part-time prostitute, Manu (Anderson) is a rape victim. When they meet up both have just killed, more by chance than design. On a whim they link up and take off across country, screwing and killing almost every man they meet. They kill a few women, too, just to even things up. The film's shot on crude digital video; technique is minimal and the acting is rudimentary. There's a certain raw energy that prevents the film from becoming totally depressing but the brief running time (77 minutes) comes as something of a relief. --Philip Kemp

Special Features
French
Region 2
English

Synopsis
BAISE MOI, based on the controversial novel written by co-director Virginie Despentes, is a vivid and brutal reality-based exploration of two women's attempts to reclaim their sexual power. Real-life porn stars Raffaela Anderson and Karen Bach star as the film's THELMA AND LOUISE-style anti-heros. Manu (Anderson), a porn actress, is the victim of a violent gang rape, depicted graphically in the first fifteen minutes of the film, that fills her with internal rage and violent aggression. She sets out on a road trip and meets Delphine (Bach), a drug-addled former prostitute with an aggressive streak. The two join forces and embark on a revenge-fueled sexual rampage, seducing and killing men with reckless abandon. Delphine and Manu are furious and empowered by their sexual prowess; they wield their guns and lingerie-clad bodies like true professionals. Adrenaline drives their killing spree, set to a pounding punk rock score, and murder becomes implicitly linked to sexual gratification. Directors Despentes (a former prostitute) and Coralie Trinh Thi (a former porno actress) shot the film in gritty digital video at a fast-paced reckless clip of 76 minutes, heightening the acute sense of urgency and nihilistic desperation of the two women. By shooting real hard-core sex scenes and employing former porn actresses, they blur the lines between cinema and reality and delve into the dark recesses of female psychology, creating a compelling and daring film that sets the conventional notions of female sexual appetite on end.

Customer Reviews

A bit graphic for my tastes
I'm not offended by pornography but watched Baise-Moi when it was released on DVD and hadn't realised it was a sex film - although I suppose the title should have provided the obvious clue.

The problem was that for me personally, the pornographic aspect of the film detracted from the story/characterisation until I almost ceased to care. So I found it a bit boring and just not my bag.

The story line was potentially interesting, but I agree with the reviewer who said it could have been better. Overall it was okay, but a bit murky.

However, at least the film makers were trying to do something different by merging two cinematic genres, and I respect them for breaking with convention.

I actually enjoyed the interview with the director and writer in the DVD extras far more than the film itself. Well worth watching.

No, it's not porn
Many say this is porn - it's definitely not. What it is is a slightly exploitative, highly explicit and furiously paced erotic thriller. Oddly, it's not as bad as many say it is - the story is actually quite compelling, and, while the dialogue is sub-Hollywood and the acting is a bit creaky, it is ceratinly well shot, making the most of some fabulously grubby locations. There isn't masses of sex - it really isn't porn - and what sex there is is essential to the plot (although whether we need to see quite so much detail is another question).

Also, it's not a massive turn-on, really (I don't particularly get off on rape scenes). Quite a good film, worth watching once, provided you aren't too easily offended. A textbook three stars.

im so annoyed i lost the reciept
They say never judge a book by its cover, but i wanted a film to watch and so i made the mistake of being drawn in by its cool and evidently cult film cover appearance. However, once the film went underway i realised that it was the ravings of someone who wanted to create a film which blended hardcore porn with inexplainable violence, and luckily the director didnt make too hefty an investment, as it is possible to beat the cinematography the film uses with a modern mobile phone video. This was appaling and if i could find my reciept i would even trade it for the railway children, and i am not an old man who was shocked by the film, i am young and i find life too short to be wasted on a boring and unimaginative film.