I love this movie so much

A great movie, one of the best of this year. There was a bit of confusion at one point in the plot, but nothing serious.

The thing I enjoyed most about the film is the fact that it doesn't shy away from being a super-sized-cliche;

By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.

I have never actually seen this movie before now in 2015, although I understand that it apparently did inspire a heap of other movies. So it was with some expectations and anticipation that I actually sat down to watch it.First of all, I will say that the story was actually good and the characters equally so. And the two women lead talents were doing really nice jobs with their given characters.That being said, then the potentially great movie was really butchered by the explicit sex scenes. It was just too much and too nasty. It was so tacky and sleazy. Director Virginie Despentes really massacred the movie with this adult contents.If this movie had been without the explicit sex scenes, then the movie would have received a seven out of ten stars rating from me. But given the sleazy level of the movie then I am compelled to rating it a mediocre five out of ten stars only.The DVD does come with a warning stating 'be warned - this film contains vivid scenes'. A warning that indeed should be taken to heart before watching the movie.

Mixing extreme violence with hardcore sex, Baise-moi is a taboo busting piece of French cinema that exists purely to shock. And shock it does! Following the exploits of hooker Nadine (Karen Bach) and rape victim Manu (Raffaëla Anderson), two man-hating killers on the run, this movie, directed by and starring real porn stars, delivers moment after moment that one doesn't usually find in films that have been passed by the BBFC (albeit with 12s of cuts) and released legitimately on UK DVD.Beginning with a harrowing and explicit scene depicting the rape of Manu (and her junkie pal), the film starts as it means to go on—by unflinchingly showing everything, however seedy or violent. As the film progresses viewers are treated to more full-on sex, some nasty killings (innocent victims are killed for fun), and a gob-smacking finale in which our modern day Bonnie and Clyde (or should that be Bonnie and Bonnie?) enter a sex-club, guns ablazing.Baise-moi is PURE exploitation. As far as I could see, the extreme content has no sub-text or hidden message; it is simply there for the purpose of entertaining viewers who like to watch films that push the boundaries. Some people may have a problem with this kind of entertainment, and if so, they should stay well away. I, however, was mightily impressed by this unpretentious piece of dangerous movie-making and recommend it to anyone wanting to try something a little less 'safe' than the usual fare offered at your local video store.

Perhaps rather undeserving of being labelled one of the most controversial and "vivid" movies of all time, "Baise Moi" is perhaps most challenging in its' depiction of a seductive immorality, than in any particular "vividness" of imagery. (Altohugh it does have distinctly adult moments, with a rather alarming regularity.) This is one of those rare films which courts sensationalism, and mines it for all the perverse pleasure our characters take from being as far removed from humanity as is possible to depict. Like "A Clockwork Orange", "Baise Moi" is rather uncomfortable watching, although I can't help thinking a less explicit version could still have told the same story, and, in so doing, doubtless have attracted a far wider audience, and may not be wreathed in notoriety. Because a lot of the most successful moments in this disturbing thrill ride, are those when the power of suggestion is at its' strongest. Violence is depicted with the usual blood and thunder, but there is definitely a conscious attempt to mask some of the more extreme moments - such as our protagonists delightfully stomping, droog style, a man to death after he has suffered a particularly unpleasant and humiliating fate.The point here, is that this is indeed a very graphic film, but if the same effort had been made to mask the sex in this movie, that is made for the violence, the whole thing may have been more palatable. As it is, it's difficult to sincerely recommend this movie to someone else, because it's little short of pornography in places. This, it seems to be, need not have been the case. "Spring Breakers", by Harmony Korine, deals with a similar subject - disaffected, over-sexualised, bored girls going on a voyage of pointless, emotionless violence - but is far more successful because it knows exactly what it is doing, and is careful in its' depiction of both sex and violence, and is a truly scary movie. Instead, "Baise-Moi" is a frustrating experience, because, not only is its' depiction of sex rather striking, it is also rather unnecessary in the telling of this story, especially in its' rather single-minded obsession with oral sex. This rather makes our protagonists seem a lot less believable, because there is little empowering about this particular practise. Instead, the violence is shocking, and powerful, and the sex just seems like someone felt the need to put as much sex as possible in the movie to get it to sell. Which it doesn't need, because parts of this movie shine in unique ways.At its' best, this movie seems to recall "La Haine", five years previously, and far better constructed, in its' depiction of ennui amongst seedy, borderline criminal cases. Nadine and Manu drift around in a truly horrific world, in which things have become so bad, that they have all but lost their grip on reality. The subsequent "road trip" which they go on, is as each for purpose, for glamour, and for kicks. In a particularly harrowing scene, Nadine even finds that rape has lost its' power to shock her.The relationship between Nadine and Manu is tender, and fresh: They hang about lethargically, debating the life they are undertaking, before exploding into a fresh act of violence. NAdine discusses their "lack of good lines" during their kills, in a rather postmodern sequence which is at once chilling, funny and mesmerising. Both girls give stunningly good performances, and their friendship seems so realistic, yet strange, that it helps carry us through about twenty minutes of solid sex scenes. A more established director would have devoted far more time to their relationship, because, when they are together, these two really, really shine, but instead, they are given a few scenes together, and largely are relegated to standard interactions with other infinitely less interesting characters. The sudden frazzling out of their desires is disappointing, yet totally in character: These are two characters who, from the first time we meet htem, are combating suicidal urges, from sheer boredom, and their clinical discussions about how they are going to "go out big" are again stunning and clever.The climax is rather unsatisfying, in that it delivers a decidedly unremarkable ending to a unique story. It does little to really address the realities of these characters, instead providing a simple closure on the lives of these fictional characters. Which is a shame, as the film has courted allegory from start to finish, and raised some dangerous points. Its' rather a chapter 21 case (Clockwork Orange reference), of closure for closure's sake. But ultimately, although frustrating in its' pandering to lower common denominators, this is a vivid film in that it is morally complex in its black-for -white world view. It is still powerful, altohugh its' power to shock is rather muted by its' tendency towards stylised sexual violence. Disappointing, and tricky to watch more than once, but still a valuable movie in its' depiction of a genuine human evil.

Everyone who defends this (needlessly) controversial film likes to say that it's absolutely, definitely not porn. They say this because "the film is not meant for masturbation" or some other legally defining excuse. Even the filmmakers have cried out, "This is not porn!" in their own defense.But the thing is… this movie is totally porn. It gleefully fetishisizes violence, rape, drug use, lesbianism, domestic abuse, sodomy, robbery, gambling, blow jobs, punk-music, revenge, menstruation, patriarchal oppression, suicide and your good old fashioned non-simulated sex. Most of the time the script feels like it's just ticking off boxes on some all inclusive list of kinks. And it's all done for the money shot, baby… every time. You know why it's porn? It's porn because it shows all of those things in detailed close ups… but it has nothing to say about any of them.Directed in a classic DIY style and squarely falling into the "New French Extremism" movement, it was made by two-women. One a former punk turned massage-parlour hostess and the other an ex-porn star. It features two other female porn actresses mass-murdering and fornicating (imdb won't let me use the word I want to use) across France, all in "trash" aesthetic video and shot in available light. It's a female power fantasy. An act of sexual reclamation that reverses the conversation on gender violence and it's created by actual sex-workers. So that, in and of itself, is interesting… the actual film, however, is tedious and artificial.At times the movie does seem to show a passing interest in addressing genuine gender-war rage, but that's all thoroughly lost in its own appetite for shock imagery and its desperate need to be offensive. I've read interviews where the filmmakers claim the movie speaks to all kinds of social injustices, from class separation to racism, and I suppose those ingredients are there in the mix, but in the end this movie is really only concerned with being more pornography in a porn saturated world.Although the fact that the movie has been banned in several countries, including France, suggests that it's just the sort of artistic exercise society needs. Sadly. So there's that.If you're into camp, actual on camera sex (Raffaela Anderson is pretty hot) and you don't mind a very intense rape scene (why is the sex so real and the violence so cartoonish in this movie?), I guess it's a pretty intriguing thing to watch.