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Baise-moi (2000)

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4 articles from 2002

14 May 2002 | From Studio Briefing | See recent Studio Briefing news

The Australian states of Victoria and New South Wales appeared powerless today (Tuesday) to overturn a ban by the country's censorship board of the French film Baise-moi. Victoria Attorney-General Rob Hulls told Melbourne's The Age newspaper, "We don't have any power to review the review. We will adhere to the ultimate decision of the umpire, but the process has been appalling."

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13 May 2002 | From Studio Briefing | See recent Studio Briefing news

Australian movie theaters showing the controversial French film Baise-moi (Rape Me) were ordered to shut the movie down Sunday following a ruling by the Commonwealth Classification Review Board on Friday. The premier of New South Wales, Bob Carr, vowed to fight the board's action. "We don't want to go back to the bad old days when books were taken out of book shops as they were in Victoria in the early 60s or when stage shows were closed down, as they were in Sydney under the Askin government," he told reporters. Australian exhibitors also said that they would carry the matter to court: "We're trying to find out if there is any room for appeal," Ronin Cinemas director Andrew Pike told the Sydney Morning Herald. "Independent cinemas need access to film like this." And Mark Spratt of Potential Films, the movie's Australian distributor, told the Australian Broadcasting Corp.: "It's grossly unfair and unjust, I think, that on a Friday night cinemas can be told to stop screening a film which they have until that moment been legitimately advertising."

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29 April 2002 | From Studio Briefing | See recent Studio Briefing news

Threats by the Australian government to effectively ban the controversial French film Baise-Moi resulted in its taking in more than three times what had been expected over the weekend, distributor Potential Films said today (Monday). Mark Spratt, head of the distribution company, told The Australian newspaper: "The public react very strongly against being told what to do, particularly by politicians and minority groups who wish to curtail adult freedom." The operator of a theater in Melbourne that is screening the film said that the movie was generating more ticket sales than any other film in the theater's nine-year history.

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25 April 2002 | From Studio Briefing | See recent Studio Briefing news

Word that the controversial French film Baise-moi (released -- unrated -- in the U.S. under the title Rape Me) may be banned in Australia, resulted in sold-out screenings of the film in Melbourne Wednesday. Earlier in the week, Attorney General Daryl Williams called for a review of the decision to allow the film to be released with a classification that allows persons 18 and older to see it. A member of Wednesday's audience told the Melbourne newspaper The Age, "I saw it because of a combination of the hype surrounding it, and I have a life-long attraction to films that push what is expected in cinema and what is 'acceptable.'" The manager of the Lumiere Cinema, where Baise-moi was being shown, remarked, "It would seem silly to be complaining about it, but at the same time ... we've got seven other films on and they are really good films, and you risk people not wanting to see the other films because you're showing a controversial film at the same time."

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4 articles from 2002