The Bunny Game (2010)
Director: Adam Rehmeier ; Written by: Adam Rehmeier and Rodleen Getsic ; Featuring: Rodleen Getsic, Jeff Renfro, Coriander Womack
R: 76 mins ; US: Unrated ; UK: Refused Certificate
7/10
A drug addled prostitute, living from john to john and fix to fix, is abducted by a sexual psychopath. She is chained , tortured and tormented…hilarity ensues.
When considering how successful or otherwise a film is, we should probably take into account the intentions of the filmmakers. The Bunny Game intends to shock and unsettle its audience with a variety of bizarre and brutal images. We are presented with two people who make choices and we are then given the opportunity to observe the consequences of those choices. From then on, it’s an endurance test whether the viewer wishes to see it through to the end or not.
It’s a perfectly valid use of the form to be shocking for the sake of shocking. Many have presented unsettling images with limited context, from the Film Brat experiments of Scorsese, Lucas and DePalma to the Cinema of Transgression of Nick Zedd, Richard Kern and Beth B through Nine Inch Nails’ Broken movie and the music videos of Chris Cunningham.
So, artistic intent, then? The film was apparently improvised from a basic outline by the director and the woman who plays the central victim. One can’t imagine that this outline was much more detailed than the synopsis above so it definitely fits the criteria of experimental film.
The aesthetic also suggests so: presented in black and white with minimal dialogue; fractured editing that removes the comfort of a narrative arc; occasionally imaginative camerawork where the zoom moves almost imperceptibly as if to suggest the breathing of an unseen observer (us?); thoughtful mise en scene in both middle and wide distance shots; no semblance of back story other than the intercutting of truckers home movie of a previous horror show; a shifting from a black metal soundtrack for the early scenes to an ominous, musique concrete score during the main torment; no schlocky gore shocks; little in the way of titillation. Whilst we are ultimately presented with a hint of explanation, it is one that’s obviously open to interpretation but is a denouement of sorts.
There is an intriguing mix of styles to the various scenes. The opening blow job scene is shot in a way that will be recognisable to anyone who’s seen a similar scene in porn and the other scenes of the hooker with her various johns are shot in a variety of different ways, one utilising an angle that is generally used by more traditional (read: major studio) directors to film rape scenes (shot slightly from the side, focussing on the victims face to avoid accusations of sensationalism or titillation) another is a shot of a back alley blow job shot in the middle distance and a further scene is simply observed.
Are we in metaphor territory? Is the film an intended statement on how governments treat their subjects in a similar way to Salo or A Serbian Film? Am I just attempting to intellectualise to justify sitting through it? Probably.
Understandably, the filmmakers and distributors were delighted by the refusal of the UK censors to provide a certificate for distribution (http://www.bbfc.co.uk/AVV283039/), apparently there is still some cachet to the phrase “Banned in the UK”.
Reading the BBFC judgement certainly brings home that they have an apparent belief that a significant majority of the male population of the United Kingdom are closet sexual sadists who will be driven “monkey see monkey do” to re-enact what they see in feature films. Unfortunately for me, I happen to have slightly more faith in the majority of my fellows but if you shared the opinion then, you would have to agree, that the pervasiveness of the piece makes it impossible to cut.
However, their rationale for doing so is open to question and actually strikes me that it gives an insight into the psyches of the people who sit in judgement on our entertainment.
There is much play on the terms “sexual and sexualised violence” and “eroticise or endorse sexual assault” in the write up, what I actually saw in the film does not back this up – the opening scenes of the victim’s day to day life aside where she is consensual under financial or addiction duress, there is no suggestion of rape or sexual assault. If anything, our crazy guy seems to be in awe and fear his captive’s sexuality and her careless use of it. To the extent that he has to remove secondary sexual characteristics (hair) to dehumanise the victim to be able to proceed with his actions.
I’d have to say, if you’re turned on by The Bunny Game, you have a fairly specialised view in what you consider erotic and should probably seek professional help.
But does it do anything new?
The scenario is an easy one for low budget flicks, psychological torture doesn’t need an FX budget and there are myriad, shot on video examples of this very same basic set up. The actual infliction of pain and mutiliation again brings to mind Kern or Zedd and by extension GG Allin and Bob Flanagan.
During the central torture, the indoor sequences were strongly reminiscent of the Laura Palmer murder scene from Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0105665/ )and the outdoor scenes in the desert seemed derivative of a variety of flicks, the most notable one that sprang to mind being Nico B’s Pig (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1540987/) a comparison that is heavily accentuated when the film reaches the titular Bunny Game.
In addition, the amplified-to-distortion screams of the victim way above the volume of the dialogue and music were similar to tricks adopted by the August Underground films, though not as interminable.
The fractured nature of the leaps in time and the wandering of the prostitute from one soul destroying, survival enabling tryst to another reminded me of the opening 15-20 minutes of Simon Rumley’s Red, White & Blue (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1465505/) without the satisfying coalescence of story as things we are drip fed become clearer.
The ultimate conclusion, with the dehumanised and now quite possibly insane victim laid naked on a cross brought to mind the ending of Bernard Rose’s Snuff-Movie (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0403267/), thankfully without the sappy coda.
Ultimately, there is some interesting stuff going on here and the commitment of Rodleen Getsic to her art has to be admired.
I’d recommend it to those who appreciate the challenge of enduring a film rather than enjoying it. As long as they were mindful that, because we’re that type, then there’s not a lot we haven’t seen before. If you’re coming into this expecting Cannibal Holocaust, Nekromantik or Serbian Film, it’s likely you’re going away disappointed because it’s not that type of film.
