Thursday, October 7, 2010

New French Extremity: A New Wave of Flesh and Blood

Irreversible (2002)
Irréversible (2002)
In the February 2004 issue of ArtForum Magazine, James Quandt wrote an article detailing this growing trend in French cinema featuring films crafted with the apparent primary intention of shocking or provoking the audience. He labeled it derisively as the New French Extremity, and went on to describe the genre as:

"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. Images and subjects once the provenance of splatter films, exploitation flicks, and porn ... proliferate in the high-art environs of a national cinema whose provocations have historically been formal, political, or philosophical."

Some call it art, some call it trash, others might call it torture-porn.  Myself being a huge horror fan, welcome this New Wave of French Horror with open arms.  A refreshing change of pace in a monotonous world full of countless rehashes, remakes, and sequels of sequels.

I will be keeping track of and showcasing these so-called New French Extremism films here. Some good, some bad, some downright awful, but all push the boundaries of cinema with disturbing, vivid, and graphic depictions of sexual and violent imagery. 

The Films of the New French Extremity

Process (2004) C.S. Leigh
Vinyan (2008) Fabrice Du Welz *

* Belgian

12 comments:

Yoshika~ said...

Let's wait for the Halloween season then.

ashleyspace said...

Great review i am looking forward to the next few

Michele said...

Keep up the good work!

remzi said...

"A refreshing change of pace in a monotonous world full of countless rehashes, remakes, and sequels of sequels"

Agreed

Max Steel said...

Love halloween themed posts

Michael Casspir said...

I have seen the movie in your photo, and it's gruellingly-realistic rape scene, but completely forget what it's called. Before your update, can you (Or any other reader) remind me? I kind of want to watch it again...

Unknown said...

@Michael Casspir

The screenshot is from Irreversible by Gaspar Noe.

Light Weight Baby! said...

When it comes to your post, GTL can also stand for "Great Thoughts at Length"... keep it up!

Discerning Gentleman said...

You've made some interesting points... I also have some points (actually bubbles) on Enhanced by MS Paint :)

Drackar said...

About time SOME culture accepted reality as fiction.

Jimmy Volmer said...

I have to agree with you here. Check out my other TS blog, Swift Fanatics!

http://thegiannamichaels.blogspot.com/ said...

Looks interesting

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