French New Extremity “Bava as much as Bataille, Salò no less than Sade seem the determinants of a cinema suddenly determined to break every taboo, to wade in rivers of viscera and spumes of sperm, to fill each frame with flesh, nubile or gnarled, and subject it to all manner of penetration, mutilation, and defilement.” Origins • James Quant originated the term when describing the current trend of overly violent and sexualized French films made since the late 1990s • Alain Robbe-Griller is considered the founder, being one of the first (most main-stream) to include graphic scenes of sex and violence in films like: – C'est Gradiva Qui Vous Appelle (2006) – The Blue Villa (1995) – The Beautiful Prisoner (1983) • Can be defined as “crossover between sexual decadence, bestial violence and troubling psychosis” • Has origins in art house cinema and horror films • American ‘torture porn’ can be considered a cousin movement Influences • A great variety of earlier filmmakers have been credited as influences such as: – – – – – – – Luis Bunuel Georges Franju Alain Resnais Kenneth Anger Dario Argento Maya Deren Mario Bava • French author Marquis de Sade (where the word ‘sadism’ comes from) has also been listed as very influential, especially in his use of sexually graphic passages Themes and Characteristics • Themes: – Home invasion – Fear of the other – Fear of our own bodies • Characteristics – Subversive attitude towards mainstream French society and politics – Extremely graphic portrayals of sex and violence – Sensationalized content • NOTE: though the movement is most often associated with horror films, many New Emtremity films are considered dramas or thrillers Influenced • The term ‘New Extremity’ has been used to apply to European directors in general (i.e., Lars Von Trier, Michael Haneke) • Films have also been influenced by the movement – Antichrist – Funny Games – [REC] – Wolf Creek • Films – – – – Key Films and Filmmakers Inside Them Ma Mère Intimacy • Filmmakers – Alexandre Aja (The Hills Have Eyes, Mirrors, Piranah 3D) – Alexandre Bustilla (Inside, Livid) – Claire Denis (Firday Night, Beau Travail, The Intruder) – Xavier Gens (Hitman, The Divide) – Pascal Laugier (House of Voices, The Tall Man) Baise-Moi (Fuck Me/Rape Me) (2000) • Directed by Viriginie Despentes and Coralie Trinh Thi • the two main characters are female and are brutally gang-raped which triggers them to go on a killing spree • The rape scene has been criticized for being arousing, using shots that are mostly only seen in hard core porn Trouble Every Day (2001) • Directed by Claire Denis • Two Americans are honeymooning in Paris, where the husband tracks down a doctor. The doctor’s wife suffers from an obsessive sex drive that ends with her cannibalize her sexual partner (always a stranger). This triggers the honeymooner’s own obsession. • Surprisingly well received by critics, but because of its blend of sex and violence it is considered New Extremity Irréversible (Irreversible) (2002) • Directed by Gaspar Noe • Two men try to avenge the brutal rape of one of their girlfriends • Presented in reverse chronological order • The rape scene has been both praised for showing the brutality of the act and criticized for the length of the scene • The film has been accused of being homophobic (gay man rapes a woman, several transgender women are shown doing drugs and working as prostitutes) Haute Tension (High Tension) (2003) • Directed by Alexandre Aja (also attributed to torture porn) • Two college friends visit one of their families, only for a masked man to kill the family and kidnap one of the friends. The other friend goes after the killer to rescue her friend • Criticized for being overly violent – The filmmakers had to cut 5 minutes to achieve an R rating from the MPAA Frontiere(s) (Frontiers) (2007) • Directed by Xavier Gens • After an extreme right wing president is elected, riots break out in Parisian suburbs (where the extensively Arab immigrant population lives). A group of Arabs flees Paris and stops at a secluded motel (run by neo-Nazis) They are kidnapped and try to escape. • Open criticism of the conservative politics of the French government during the last decade • Criticized for its overt political message and comparison of the French government to the Nazi regime – Includes an Arab character being killed in a gas chamber Martyrs (2008) • Directed by Pascal Laugier • American remake in the works by the producers of Twilight (?!?) • Two women who were kidnapped as children track down their kidnappers 15 years later. After they kill their main kidnappers, they discover that they were kidnapped and tortured as part of a cult ritual. They are then recaptured by the cult and are tortured in various ways. The cult believes that one can achieve ‘transcendence’ by being put through an extreme amount of pain. • Again, the amount of violence was heavily criticized (scenes include the skinning of a human while she is alive) • Connected to torture porn, but the director describes it as ‘anti-Hostel’ – My film is very clear about what it says about human pain and human suffering. [...] The film is only really about the nature and the meaning of human suffering. I mean, the pain we all feel on an everyday basis - in a symbolic way. The film doesn't talk about torture - it talks about the pain Catherine Breillat • Novelist and filmmaker – Acted in the film The Last Tango in Paris, a film noted for graphic sex scenes • Considered a New Extremity director because of her use of graphic sex scenes to explore female sexuality • Fat Girl (2001): A young girl discovers her sexuality through voyeuristic acts (mainly watching her sister have sex). Ends with her family being killed and she being raped, which she denies happened when questioned by police. • Anatomy of Hell (2004): a woman is prevented from killing herself and is watched over by the man who stopped her. She precedes to explain her views on sex and sexuality to him. – Contains unsimulated sex (the actors actually have sex during shooting) Sources • http://mubi.com/lists/new-french-extremity-influences • http://thepiratebay.se/torrent/5671099/10_French_Horror__Thriller__New _French_Extremity_And_Fantasy_Fil • http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_French_Extremity • http://subtitledhell.wordpress.com/tag/new-french-extremity/ • http://www.bonjourtristesse.net/2010/10/new-wave-of-flesh-andblood.html • http://thesplitscreen.wordpress.com/2011/06/28/confronting-mortalitythe-new-french-extremity-the-hostel-series-and-outdated-terminologypart-2-of-3/ • Quandt, James (February 2004). "Flesh & Blood: Sex and violence in recent French cinema". Artforum. http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0268/is_6_42/ai_113389507. Retrieved 2008-06-10. Also available on the ArtForum website • Palmer, Tim (2011). Brutal Intimacy: Analyzing Contemporary French Cinema. Wesleyan University Press. • Horeck, Tanya; Kendall, Tina (2011). The New Extremism in Cinema: From France to Europe. Edinburgh University Press