Banned movie Baise-moi to air on World Movies channel

Controversial French movie Baise-moi, which is banned from screening in its entirety in Australia, is set to screen on the World Movies channel.

The 2000 film about two French prostitutes who avenge their rape was banned by the Office of Film and Literature Classification Board in 2002, three weeks after it was released with an R-18 classification.

A review ordered by then Attorney-General Daryl Williams banned it on the grounds it contained “harmful, explicit sexually violent content.”

The original film included a close-up shot of a penis entering a vagina during a rape scene, a scene showing a gun being pressed into a man’s anus before being fired, and an erect penis combined with scenes of violence.

But World Movies channel has slated an R18+ edited version as part of its week of “Films That Shocked The World.” Baise-moi will screen alongside The Human Centipede (2009), Kids (1995), Cannibal Holocaust (1980) and Deep Throat (1972).

All five will screen for the first time on Australian television.

As a narrowcast subscription TV channel, SBS-owned World Movies is the only channel in Australia permitted to play R18+ films on television.

Under the ASTRA Subscription TV Code of Practice 2007, “Programmes classifed as R18+ will not be broadcast by licensees until parliament has approved the broadcast of such programs on subscription television.”

“World Movies is in a unique position to give Australians the chance to see some of the world’s most controversial movies with our narrowcast license,” said World Movies General Manager Chris Keely. “People want to see these films and make up their own minds about them, so we are presenting them without judgement over one unmissable week.”

The Human Centipede (Netherlands, 2009) 9.30pm Monday 19 August
This horror film tells the story of a German doctor who kidnaps three tourists and joins them surgically, forming a “human centipede”. It was claimed to be “100% medically accurate” upon its release, and has been described as “the most horrific film ever made” by critics.

Kids (US, 1995) 9.30pm Tuesday 20 August
Written by Harmony Korine (Spring Breakers), this was controversial director Larry Clark’s first film and was only released in the US without a classification. Depicting adolescent sex, illicit drug use and extreme themes, Kids was called both a “wake-up call to the modern world” and “morally bankrupt”.

Cannibal Holocaust (Italy, 1980) 9.30pm Wednesday 21 August
This cannibal film caused a storm of controversy in the 80s, after being labelled a “snuff film” in which actors were allegedly killed in front of the camera. The director was arrested for murder, and despite being acquitted after the actors were proved to be alive, the film was banned in many countries around the world, including Australia until it was reclassified in 2005.

Deep Throat (US, 1972) 9.30pm Thursday 22 August
The infamous Linda Lovelace shot to notoriety for her role in this classic, which is the first pornographic film to feature a storyline. Tame by today’s standards, Deep Throat was banned throughout the US and UK and was labelled by one critic as “a Sodom and Gomorrah gone wild before the fire”.

Baise-moi (France, 2000) 9.30pm Friday 23 August
Receiving intense media coverage for its graphic depiction of sex and violence, this film tells the story of two women who embark on a road trip of revenge through France. Its banning in Australia was met with outspoken protests against censorship, while it was cut-down or banned completely in many other countries. World Movies presents an R18+ cut of this controversial film.