France has always been at the cutting edge of extreme cinema. New French Extremity is a term coined by Artform critic James Quandt to describe a number of very transgressive French films that were made around the turn of the 21st Century. The term was meant to be a derogatory one, but many film critics have praised these films so they are not without merit. A cross between horror and arthouse, the films mix sexual depravity, extreme violence and a measure of psychosis. They draw inspiration from a wide selection of sources - Bataille, de Sade, William S Burroughs, Michel Houellebecq in the literary sphere, and in the cinema sphere - Bunuel, Polanski, Franju, Pasolini, Clouzot, Borowczyk and Zulawski - a rich heritage indeed. I have picked nine films for you that I think do a good job of representing the New French Extremity - for good or bad. For me, it is a highly exciting area of cinema where taboos are pushed and boundaries broken. If you feel the same or disagree, please leave your comments below.
9. Haute Tension (2003)
A film that I remember causing great excitement among horror fans when it was released, Haute Tension is one of the more famous members of the New French Extremity club. It features the tale of Marie and Alex - best friends who head to Alex's family home to do some studying. A knock on the door late at night prompts Alex's father to open the door and in doing so, he lets in a killer who massacres the family. Alex and Marie manage to escape and end up trapped in the killer's vehicle as he locks them in and drives away. He stops at a petrol station. Marie gives Alex the knife and goes to seek help. The killer brutally kills the petrol station attendant. Marie gets into a car and there is a bit of a chase scene between her and the killer until they get to a forest and Marie manages to clobber and suffocate the killer. Then the director - Alexandre Aja - puts his head up his ass and in a 'shock' twist has Marie as the true identity killer who has caused all the mayhem. And then there is a dopey conclusion - Alex versus Marie in a fight to the better end - and we all have a snooze. With a plot twist so stupid, so unbelievable and impossible, High Tension is fine if you want to watch some mindless gory deaths and you don't care about the storyline. It actually fills its remit with plenty of shocking and bloody violence. But the plot twist.... I just cannot assimilate it into my understanding. It is foisted upon the audience in a lazy manner, like the screenplay writer was drunk when he decided to chuck it in. It renders the plot nonsensical - there has to be major suspension of disbelief - that Marie could be in two different places at the same time for mot of the film. The writer must think we re totally dumb. I cannot believe the critics and fan praise heaped upon this piece of crap. It's putting me in a bad mood so I will shut up now.