The Balconettes

“From early on, I pictured the film as an unbridled punk farce, but it had to come to life seeing things through the eyes of characters people can relate to. So I drew on my own experiences. The rapes the characters endure – I was subjected to them. Filming them while maintaining a comedic vein was the only way to take hold of the subject and keep perspective on it. For me, comedy and satire are powerful weapons. Beyond liberating, I hope this will also be a movie that makes people feel good, as well as laugh and think.

By stepping back from established methods and ideas, I felt I was touching on a form of authenticity and honesty that seemed necessary with regard to the subjects I wanted to address in this film. I wanted to have fun with the codes of the male gaze, the objectified woman, the woman of mystery, while ducking classical narrative devices that encourage conflict.

This film is about abuse and abusers, and I didn’t want to slip into the politically correct trap of having one or several male characters who represent all the others. In my film, the abusers and oppressors leave no room for anyone else, literally and figuratively, so you don’t see or hear the others, ‘the good guys’ who have got it and who don’t abuse. Where are they? Maybe that’s the question I want people to ask themselves.”

Noémie Merlant