Over the weekend, I dragged my wife to see ‘Himalayas’, which has been playing in the movies for quite some time, and I wanted to see it because of my recently found fascination with mountains and mountaineering. It was a very well done movie (in Nepalese, with subtitles) produced by a French team. The scenery was just breathtaking. The movie was about the “Old” vs the ‘New’, in the end they meet halfway. I will highly recommend it.
But the theater in the East Village where this was playing had 2 other movies going on at the same time. One was ‘Come Undone’, a Homosexual love story, and the other ‘Baise Moi’ (which in French literally means “Rape Me”). That movie was banned in France after some initial showing, but subsequently won critical appraises at various festivals, including Toronto. The movie is about 2 prostitutes who lure clients, have sex, and then kill them brutally.
It made me think (even though, I haven’t seen the movie, nor do I wish to see it) that France (in particular) and Europe in general is supposed to be this liberal society (when it comes to Arts, movies, etc.) how come this movie was banned in Europe and is playing in New York City?
Pathwari Yaara. It is true, but Mein Kampf is a best seller in many countries, including the US. I read many reviews (out of curiosity) of the “Baise Moi” and my understanding is that the Ban on this movie in France has to do with the Violence and not over the ungussied expression of female sexual rage. Although, I would probably not watch something like this, but I am now getting curious to see it just to understand the big deal that it has contrived. To make the case more interesting, the two female actresses are actually very well known French Porn stars. Not withstanding their sexual actions, their ‘acting’ has gained them a lot of praise.
Infoman..there is no such thing as Censor in the USA. There is a board that rates movies, but does not censure its contents. Most moviemakers censure their own work to get good ratings (e.g., R rating down from NC17 or X). to attract more audience. Very rarely a work (art, theater, etc.) gets banned, that only happens when someone tries stepping outside of his or her bounds with an intention to cause harm to someone. There are plenty of plays and movies of sexual extremes playing all over NYC. Even the defamatory material about religions is also not touched just to preserve the right of free expression. There are many examples of that.
In USA, for pieces of art, censor basically refers to if a museum refuses to host a particularly controversial painting. This can be for loss of federal funding or public pressure.
For feature films, the ratings are done by MPAA. Mainstream theatres in USA do not show unrated movies.
So what's the problem with these movies? If you are uncomfortable with such issues, you can always walk out or simply don't go. Is there a country in this world where Homosexuality/Prostitution does not exist? And Its a well known fact that most crimes are sex and drug related so where is the surprise? Pick what you like and discard the rest.
The UK 'Board of Film Classifications' have the most stringent censorship for any country in Europe... Did you know the Exorcist was banned in the UK when it was released?
This film is coming out in the UK very soon. I recently read a review of it. I do not think it is banned throughout France. The French ARE v. liberal when it comes to sex (as is most of Europe) but may be not violence as much (same throughout Europe).
The BBFC has recently become very liberal. It has passed a host of French films uncut and released previously banned films for video release uncut such as the Exorcist and many others-- even A Clockwork Orange.
I know that the US censors are much more stringent when it comes to sex scenes. Even Basic Instinct had scenes cut from it to get a US rating but here we saw it uncut. The French films Romance, Intimacy and Baise Moi, the Swedish The Idiots--all apparently featuring scenes of hardcore sex including penetration and/or fellatio--have been passed uncut for public viewing.
As for the film Baise Moi it is supposed to be a 90s Thelma and Louise with hardcore sex added in and obscene violence. They apparently shoot one guy buy placing a gun in his rectum and pulling the trigger! Yuck. THAT I don't want to watch!
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Originally posted by NYAhmadi: and the other ‘Baise Moi’ (which in French literally means “Rape Me
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Good grief man!!!! Your French is hideous!!!!
Having done French for 13 years, I can quite safely tell you that "Baisse Moi" does NOT mean "Rape me." It merely means "F*** me".
If that's what it exactly translates to,
then maybe that's precisely why the film got banned in the first place.
Not cuz of the content .. just cuz of the title, abusive lingo and all.
Mad Scientist, I know what it means, but in the context of the movie it means what I said that it does. When you watch it, give us some feedback. And by the way, what is French for Rape?
Asif, I also read that the Ban in France was lifted, but that had more to do with the violence and less to do with hedonistic sex.
maybe that's precisely why the film got banned in the first place.
Not cuz of the content .. just cuz of the title, abusive lingo and all.
kohal, if the film can get passed with content such as shooting someone in the ass I don't really see why a title such as F*** me or Rape me would cause squeamishness. In fact I would say , although it might be considered abusive, it's pretty much used by a large chunk of society every day. But in fact shooting someone in the rectum is a less regular occurrence. At least at the moment.
if that's the case xtreme .. then ummm why is it all the movies that have come out in the movie world so far - not even one of them has a movie title which has a swear word in it - though it's content is pretty , you know sexual or violent or wat not.
I've never heard/seen of a movie with such a title where a swear word would be in it - have you??
it's weird don't you think ... the material of the movie is all at liberty for the public to get their hands on here in the West (and east)... but the second the title is eww-y , like poof, it's banned. the irony.
Dude… the reason why the movie is not mainstream in the USA
is because of the graphical content. The only
way it made it to America was cuz the freakin
fruits up in the Village wanted it to be.
Its about two lesbians(played by two French
porn stars) who are sick of men… since they
are always played by them… and now they
run an “American psychoesque” storyline
where they lure men… screw em… and then
slaughter them. So… the “artistic” community
the village wants itself to be is a false
facade
It is the fruitiness that appealed the film
to be displayed. There you go!
I am laughing my eye balls out at this reply, but indeed, it is so true. Secondly, NYC( like most cosmo cities) tends to be on the liberal side when it comes to art, call it theatrical, aesthetics, etc etc. We have plenty of examples of so called “way out of control art forms” in New York, for example, the most infamous or famous Virgin Mary display at Brooklyn Museum. To some New Yorker artists, I am sure, the French movie is an insult but to many, as Y2mu has said, is a sacred text.
