"baise moi" = the worst film I have ever seen.

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I got it as part of a 3-for-the-price-of-2 deal, thank fukc, otherwise I'd be feeling ripped off by now. I don't really know what to say. Stupid, stupid, relentlessly stupid. The only good thing I can think of is that the taller of the 2 actresses was very attractive. I actually pitched the dvd in the bin, would you believe.

― Pashmina (Pashmina), Saturday, 20 November 2004 18:38 (twenty years ago)

the worst thing is that I could have got "battle royale" instead, but I'd already seen it!

― Pashmina (Pashmina), Saturday, 20 November 2004 18:40 (twenty years ago)

as you know, battle royale is pretty great. you wuz robbed!

― Ken L (Ken L), Saturday, 20 November 2004 18:50 (twenty years ago)

Um, can you get it out of the bin and send it to me? (I'll pay for post costs.) I don't mind free DVDs.

― Girolamo Savonarola, Saturday, 20 November 2004 18:58 (twenty years ago)

Yeah, it's not great. Saw it at the cinema and my general feeling was that it was an uberviolent version of Thelma and Louise, but without the happy ending (yes, T&H had a happy ending, people). I certainly wouldn't say it was the worst film in the world, though, just another of those let's-pretend-we're-making-a-point-but-instead-be-vacuous-and-graphic-for-no-real-reason type films.

― emil.y (emil.y), Saturday, 20 November 2004 19:04 (twenty years ago)

g-sav, yer in the states, yes? It might not work in yer player.

― Pashmina (Pashmina), Saturday, 20 November 2004 19:05 (twenty years ago)

Nah, I'm in the UK. (Plus, I got a multiregion player.)

― Girolamo Savonarola, Saturday, 20 November 2004 19:06 (twenty years ago)

The worst film I've seen would probably have to be Switchblade Romance, btw.

― Girolamo Savonarola, Saturday, 20 November 2004 19:07 (twenty years ago)

I'll have a fish around tomorrow, and if it isn't all covered w/rotten veg etc, I'll fish it out for you.

― Pashmina (Pashmina), Saturday, 20 November 2004 19:08 (twenty years ago)

I definitely liked it more than Thelma & Louise.

― miccio (miccio), Saturday, 20 November 2004 19:09 (twenty years ago)

Pash, thx!

― Girolamo Savonarola, Saturday, 20 November 2004 19:11 (twenty years ago)

i hate it with a vengeance. it didn't glorify rape but it sure nauseated me to NO end seeing that scene. the whole scene is just fuggly barf-bad.

― stevie nixed (stevie nixed), Saturday, 20 November 2004 19:14 (twenty years ago)

I definitely liked it more than Thelma & Louise.

Christ, yes. Actually, T&L may be a front-runner for worst film I have ever seen (all the way through, anyway - I managed about a quarter of Titanic, I think).

― emil.y (emil.y), Saturday, 20 November 2004 19:15 (twenty years ago)

I should note that when I say I definitely liked it more than Thelma & Louise that might say more about how much I hate T&L than that I enjoyed Baise Moi.

haha x-post!

― miccio (miccio), Saturday, 20 November 2004 19:17 (twenty years ago)

every description of this film makes me more determined not to see it.

how does thelma & louise have a happy ending?!?

― amateur!!st, Saturday, 20 November 2004 19:33 (twenty years ago)

after the credits the car turns into a rocketship

― s1ocki (slutsky), Saturday, 20 November 2004 19:35 (twenty years ago)

oh!! that's what i get for leaving during the credits

(check your email)

― amateur!!st, Saturday, 20 November 2004 19:39 (twenty years ago)

g-sav you will not thank me when you've seen the film!!

i actually skipped the rape scene. the guy hit the woman on the bonnet of the car and i didn't feel like watching anymore of that.

― Pashmina (Pashmina), Saturday, 20 November 2004 19:39 (twenty years ago)

The worst film I've seen would probably have to be Switchblade Romance, btw.

oh come on. the plot twist was ill-adviesd but apart from that its a decent horror movie.

― :| (....), Saturday, 20 November 2004 19:41 (twenty years ago)

why do you have to go and ruin a word like "bonnet"?!?!

http://www.cwartillery.org/bonnet.jpg

― amateur!!st, Saturday, 20 November 2004 19:43 (twenty years ago)

Haha, I'm british, am! the hood of the car, then.

― Pashmina (Pashmina), Saturday, 20 November 2004 19:44 (twenty years ago)

I admit that Switchblade was shaping up pretty well up until the surprise, but in this case, the surprise absolutely fucked the film. I have no qualms whatsoever saying both that the first 75-80 minutes are among the best in recent horror, and that combined with the ending, it's one of the worst films of all time. Endings very much matter.

― Girolamo Savonarola, Saturday, 20 November 2004 19:50 (twenty years ago)

this also the worst film i have ever seen. 'self-immolation is so pretentious' WHAT

― David Steans, Saturday, 20 November 2004 20:03 (twenty years ago)

Disappointing third acts is one of the main reasons I don't watch movies very often these days.

― miccio (miccio), Saturday, 20 November 2004 20:04 (twenty years ago)

Does everyone in this thread also hate C. Breillat? I'm just checking, because I dig her and haven't seen this movie and figured that was an easy way to tell whether or not I should see this one.

― Eric H. (Eric H.), Saturday, 20 November 2004 20:22 (twenty years ago)

I don't really know anything about her, I'm afraid.

― Pashmina (Pashmina), Saturday, 20 November 2004 20:25 (twenty years ago)

I dig her.

― Girolamo Savonarola, Saturday, 20 November 2004 20:37 (twenty years ago)

but but a man gets shot in the ass.....

― Jarlr'mai (jarlrmai), Saturday, 20 November 2004 20:39 (twenty years ago)

There's really no comparison between Baise Moi and something like A Ma Soeur (Fat Girl in the States?) Baise Moi is more like a straight to video action thriller - a Death Wish knock off or something. It's biggest failing is that it's actually pretty boring (based on the cut Uk vers.) something which isn't true of Breillat's films even when they're bad, like Romance.

Has anyone seen Micheal Winner's Dirty Weekend? How does that compare?

― Raw Patrick (Raw Patrick), Saturday, 20 November 2004 22:49 (twenty years ago)

every movie needs a pistol in the ass scene

― trigonalmayhem (trigonalmayhem), Saturday, 20 November 2004 23:21 (twenty years ago)

also, more blowjobs and on-screen penetration in movies plz.

― trigonalmayhem (trigonalmayhem), Saturday, 20 November 2004 23:24 (twenty years ago)

Desperate Living had a pistol in the ass scene.

― Every country has their stupid (AaronHz), Sunday, 21 November 2004 00:39 (twenty years ago)

Desperate Living had a pistol in the ass scene, and even more amazingly, it's not even among the ten funniest/most outrageous things in the film.

― Eric H. (Eric H.), Sunday, 21 November 2004 00:56 (twenty years ago)

John Waters poops all over these amateurs.

― Every country has their stupid (AaronHz), Sunday, 21 November 2004 00:58 (twenty years ago)

did they pull the trigger?

― trigonalmayhem (trigonalmayhem), Sunday, 21 November 2004 00:58 (twenty years ago)

girolamo otm re switchblade romance.

― toby (tsg20), Sunday, 21 November 2004 11:50 (twenty years ago)

how does thelma & louise have a happy ending?!?

Sorry, this answer is a bit late, and s1ocki provided a much better response than I ever could, but:

One of the main problems with Thelma and Louise is that it is a mainstream film that desperately wants to be a radical one. In most mainstream films, the weirdo, the 'bad guy' and the outsider are punished (particularly if they are women) by assimilation, death or imprisonment. Oppositional films, however radical they may be, seem to only be able to exist in opposition (a minor point made by Mulvey in Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema, but one that to my eyes hasn't dated), a problem that inevitably leads to the outsider figure also succumbing to the same fates. However, where oppositional cinema can stand against these rules is that their tragedies are beautiful, and their deaths are victories. Curiously, Thelma and Louise plays to this - they stand together in death, and have escaped the downward spiral of misery - whereas the nominally radical Baise Moi does not. I can't remember the ending clearly, but they are not faithful to each other, and are ultimately punished, thus rendering any point made within the film null.

I have no problem with the graphic nature of many of the scenes in Baise Moi, they could work in a better film, but within the context of what it is, they are pointless.

― emil.y (emil.y), Sunday, 21 November 2004 12:11 (twenty years ago)

Desperate Living had a pistol in the ass scene, and even more amazingly, it's not even among the ten funniest/most outrageous things in the film.

Heh, last few days I've been in a John Waters mood and was rewatching many of the films. This statement is very much OTM.

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Sunday, 21 November 2004 15:05 (twenty years ago)

John Waters poops all over these amateurs.

Heh, very true.

Girolamo, I found it. It isn't even too smelly. Yr mailing address to the gmail address on my profile?

― Pashmina (Pashmina), Sunday, 21 November 2004 16:18 (twenty years ago)

I can't remember the ending clearly, but they are not faithful to each other, and are ultimately punished, thus rendering any point made within the film null.

I agree with most of your post, but I don't agree with this. They're not punished for being unfaithful, their punished for killing a whole bunch of people. And I don't even know if I'd call it punished. One gets shot (pretty logical in the context of a film where they're responding to every male offense with a bullet to the head), and the other doesn't have the nerve to kill herself (also plausible for somebody whose response to brutality was extreme hedonism). I think this actually makes more of a point than anything in T&L (though T&L sure tries harder to make a point, or more aptly, ego-stroke every liberal in the audience).

― miccio (miccio), Sunday, 21 November 2004 16:37 (twenty years ago)

Yes, but surely their rampage was triggered by extreme circumstances, and thus, to make any sort of point worth making, there should be some sort of redemption/understanding of the behaviour? Otherwise you just get a sub-par I Spit On Your Grave update (caveat: I have never actually seen I Spit On Your Grave, although I would like to, but from what I've heard it's just bizarro titillation for men/gruesome revenge flick for women). The punishment idea is a bit more abstract than what they are actually punished for in the film context, it is more like what they are punished for in the cinematic context - if they had stood together and been shot, although in the film world it would be the same result, the wider implications would be changed. And my analysis was not really attempting to defend Thelma And Louise, I completely agree with the ego-stroking of liberals thing - the film is pants. I just find that Baise Moi goes from trying to say that 'these people are victims' straight to 'they are bad' without any inbetween explanation.

I need to watch some old John Waters films again - haven't watched anything earlier than Serial Mom for ages.

― emil.y (emil.y), Sunday, 21 November 2004 16:55 (twenty years ago)

i guess throughout I just saw it as "these people are victims who did bad things." and by not letting them stand together (in a manner so much more plausible than how T&L got to stand together) it avoided making them into martyrs, which they weren't.

― miccio (miccio), Sunday, 21 November 2004 17:00 (twenty years ago)

No, I suppose you're right, and when I initially saw it, I felt that it was better to not give them a happy ending. Now, however, I'm not so sure - it seems to simply play to a laid-down set of rules that say bad women = get them, boys. But there again, maybe T&L is proof positive that those in opposition shouldn't get it too easy, otherwise it becomes sappy and obnoxious.

― emil.y (emil.y), Sunday, 21 November 2004 17:10 (twenty years ago)

Just to clarify things a bit, I don't think that John Waters and Catherine Breillat make films in anywhere near the same field as each other, but I'm also sure they deeply admire each other's work (well, at least Waters likely loves Breillat and if Anatomy of Hell doesn't show up at or near the top of his Artforum Top 10 list in a few weeks, I'll be flummoxed).

― Eric H. (Eric H.), Sunday, 21 November 2004 19:40 (twenty years ago)

I need to watch some old John Waters films again - haven't watched anything earlier than Serial Mom for ages.

Try Female Trouble -- Arthur and I were by chance talking about that the other night. Apparently Di hasn't seen it! We shall correct this.

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Sunday, 21 November 2004 19:42 (twenty years ago)

At a glance I thought this thread was about Irreversible. Fat Girl comes to mind for me, too, if only because all these bombs have the following in common:

--acclaim in the Village Voice poll
--disturbing physical/sexual violence
--some technical innovation
--utter fraudulence as fiction

Human beings don't surprise you in these movies, and the worst always happens. The idea that this everyone's-a-shithead-ism is somehow radical probably goes back to A Clockwork Orange, which at least was fun to watch...

― Pete Scholtes, Sunday, 21 November 2004 20:21 (twenty years ago)

i thought baise moi was wicked. is it wrong to enjoy a film simply because it has a lot of violence in it?

― dog latin (dog latin), Sunday, 21 November 2004 20:58 (twenty years ago)

I love violence , noir, porn, every last kind of fantasy on the screen. But drawn-out rape scenes presented as "realism" put me off both viscerally, and because of the attitude they represent: That this is the real world, folks, and you better get used to it.

― Pete Scholtes, Sunday, 21 November 2004 21:15 (twenty years ago)

goes back to A Clockwork Orange, which at least was fun to watch...

No, it wasn't.

(POSSIBLE SPOLIERS)
And Fat Girl is not about rape. There's a lot of sexual commerce going around, but I don't think Breillat would say that any character was raped. Call Anaïs sick if you will, but the final scene of the film is nothing but the culmination of her morbid fantasy ideal of sex as nonchalance.

― Eric H. (Eric H.), Sunday, 21 November 2004 23:10 (twenty years ago)

No, it wasn't.
Big bolshy yarblockos to you.

― Every country has their stupid (AaronHz), Sunday, 21 November 2004 23:19 (twenty years ago)

I'm not saying it's not good (though I put it well into the lower half of Kubrick's body of work), but fun is definately not the first word I think of when I think of Clockwork Orange.

― Eric H. (Eric H.), Sunday, 21 November 2004 23:28 (twenty years ago)

A Clockwork Orange and A Ma Souer (Fat Girl) are both fun to watch!

― Raw Patrick (Raw Patrick), Sunday, 21 November 2004 23:49 (twenty years ago)

There are really only a few movies about suffering about which I could say they're "fun to watch" (Requiem for a Dream is one), and I distrust these films even as I enjoy them.

― Eric H. (Eric H.), Monday, 22 November 2004 00:00 (twenty years ago)

Requiem for a Dream was only fun to watch when I was forced to see it a second time, whilst stoned, and treated it like a comedy. That film makes Baise-Moi look like a masterpiece. Jennifer Connely's character gets a happy ending at least.

― Raw Patrick (Raw Patrick), Monday, 22 November 2004 00:04 (twenty years ago)

So does Ellen Burstyn's. What a drama queeny movie. Yippee! Mental illness and denial are fun! Weeee!

― Eric H. (Eric H.), Monday, 22 November 2004 00:11 (twenty years ago)

so i saw a bad, but not unwatchable johnathon demme movie that had the same basic tropes as this and thelma and louise (wild one 1989)--how new is this, can we plumb its history, is base moi a new wavey reconstruction of an american genre ?

― anthony, Monday, 22 November 2004 07:21 (twenty years ago)

fuggly barf-bad

is that your Fraggle name?

― CharlieNo4 (Charlie), Monday, 22 November 2004 07:57 (twenty years ago)

But the bit at the end when it goes slow-motion and they're shooting the shit out of people in the fuckclub and everyone is naked and there's piles of cocaine or talcum powder or something flying around is magnificent because it's like an uber-ironic take-off of John Woo crossed with Ben Dover!?!

― Sick Mouthy (Nick Southall), Monday, 22 November 2004 09:43 (twenty years ago)

Yeah, someone give Ben Dover a big budget to make a porno-action movie!

Ben Dover did direct a 'proper' film, an 80s Uk horror flick, but I don't know what it was called. I don't hink that he did it under the same name.

― Raw Patrick (Raw Patrick), Monday, 22 November 2004 13:11 (twenty years ago)

i think clockwork orange is totally fun to watch, as conflicted as i might feel about that. the scene in the record store alone is a delight

― s1ocki (slutsky), Monday, 22 November 2004 17:25 (twenty years ago)

Yes, the pre-capture Alex scenes are SUPPOSED to be fun, and they are (except perhaps the home invasion).

John Waters' opinions on others' films are generally not to be trusted ... he loved Irreversible.

Jerry Lewis' "Which Way to the Front?" is high on my all-time Pain List (and I like a lot of his '55-65 stuff). Nothing's worse than a bad comedy. "Skidoo" also -- an Otto Preminger hippies-meet-gangsters "Now" all-star turd with Gleason, Groucho, Nilsson music.

― Dr Morbius (Dr Morbius), Monday, 22 November 2004 19:59 (twenty years ago)

John Waters' opinions on others' films are generally not to be trusted ... he loved Irreversible.

so did i!

― :| (....), Monday, 22 November 2004 20:02 (twenty years ago)

I keep forgetting to bring the fucking dvd in to work girolamo!! I will remember soon, I promise!!

― Pashmina (Pashmina), Tuesday, 30 November 2004 11:36 (twenty years ago)

This is one of the worst films I've ever seen, with one of the worst performances from one of the worst actors I've ever seen.

― We Buy a Hammer For Dadaismus (Dada), Tuesday, 30 November 2004 11:41 (twenty years ago)

Gary Oldman, a true star?

― mark grout (mark grout), Tuesday, 30 November 2004 11:54 (twenty years ago)

It can't be that bad, surely? I mean, it has model trains in it!

― Pashmina (Pashmina), Tuesday, 30 November 2004 12:56 (twenty years ago)

I have added Romance to my friend's Netflix queue.

― Eric H. (Eric H.), Tuesday, 30 November 2004 13:32 (twenty years ago)

Didn't have the guts to put Baise Moi on, though.

― Eric H. (Eric H.), Tuesday, 30 November 2004 13:33 (twenty years ago)

I agree that 'Baise Moi' is one of the worst films ever. I think it's the culmination (with the emphasis on cul) of what I call 'policewoman feminism', the essence of which is 'Hey, we girls can be arrogant, violent, aggressive, uncaring, selfish assholes too, you know!' Another good term for it might be 'lowest common denominator equality'.

― Momus (Momus), Tuesday, 30 November 2004 15:17 (twenty years ago)

but the blowjobs!
the penetration!

― trigonalmayhem (trigonalmayhem), Tuesday, 30 November 2004 15:45 (twenty years ago)

three years pass...

yuck...

― Creeztophair, Friday, 20 June 2008 00:22 (seventeen years ago)

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