The BBFC has classified Baise Moi ‘18’ for adults only. A cut, however, was required to the scene of violent rape early in the film.
The Board’s policy on sexual violence (published in its Classification Guidelines in September 2000) warns that, where the portrayal eroticises sexual assault, cuts are likely to be required at any classification level. Additionally, any association of sex with non-consensual restraint, pain or humiliation may be cut. This policy is in part informed by the evidence of media effects research that violent pornography may excite aggressive responses from some male viewers. But the Board also recognises that the graphic presentation of violent non-consensual sex is unlikely to be acceptable to the British public at any level. For these reasons, the Board concluded that one particular shot was unacceptable. Its extreme sexual imagery is unmatched elsewhere in the rape scene. Without it, the sequence remains a compelling portrayal of the ugliness and horror of rape. With it, the scene takes on a more explicitly pornographic dimension and is a matter of serious concern. As a matter of policy, even the Guidelines set by the BBFC for R18 sex videos (pornography which is available only through licensed sex shops) prohibit such explicit sexual violence.
There are graphic sexual images elsewhere in the film. The important difference, however, is that none of them occur in a context of rape or violence. It is also relevant that the two female protagonists remain in control of events: the most serious concern identified by effects research, which is male sexual aggression, is not an issue in the rest of the film. Furthermore, the explicit shots which remain in the latter part of the film are in line with the precedents already established by the Board in passing films such as The Idiots, Ai No Corrida and Romance. These have been generally accepted by the public. It should also be acknowledged that Baise Moi, contrary perhaps to early reports of its reception in France, is a serious and well-made film. It concerns the reaction of two young women to the violence and humiliation habitually visited upon them by men. It represents an important viewpoint. The explicit images illustrate the theme which is bleak and, for many viewers, profoundly unpleasant. It would be less effectively rendered if cuts were made to the later scenes to reduce its angry frankness.
The context (and therefore explanation) for these images is not the same as in pornographic works where the purpose of the images and of the work as a whole is to excite the male (or, possibly, the female) viewer. In contrast to pornographic works, the explicit images in the latter part of Baise Moi are brief, very occasional - they in fact only occupy a small part of the film’s time - and clearly do not have the primary purpose of providing sexual satisfaction to the viewer.
There will be many different views about the merits of this film. Indeed, media comment in this country has so far been largely critical. The Board’s view, nonetheless, is that the film has a serious cultural purpose and offers an important perspective. We regret, however, the necessity to censor part of a film directed at a mature adult audience who may reasonably expect to make up their own minds about it.