...of charm and strange: the blog

I can't in good conscience rate The Raspberry Reich any higher than this, because it's a terrible, terrible movie. Then again, it's not really a movie, it's a porno. Not only that, it's a terrorism-themed gay porno, populated by left-wing extremists who say things like "Heterosexuality is the opiate of the masses!" in order to segue into some man-on-man action. (A nearby minion who responds "I thought opiates were the opiate of the masses" is naturally ignored.)

Yes, this is a true blue hardcore porno, replete with penetration, cumshots and all. Nobody under 18 admitted. Of course, I don't know a lot of 18-year-olds besides my brother and his friends who run around checking out self-described "porno-political-paloozas" (though we did run into someone else from their high school, which is quite possibly the funniest thing ever).

The Raspberry Reich is a group of German terrorists led by Gudrun (Susanne Sachsse), a nymphomaniac psychopath who organizes the kidnapping of the son of the head of a major corporation. He's incredibly hot, of course, and when one of the terrorists is forced get in the car trunk with him after "accidentally" handcuffing them together, there is obviously enough room in there to get fully naked and perform oral sex on each other, while the others get burgers at a fast food joint and pray that Gudrun doesn't find out.

Like I said, this movie is terrible. The editing approaches epileptic proportions. The dubbing doesn't even come CLOSE to syncing up. It's loud, sloppy, and ugly. Even if it wasn't a porno, the brazen disregard for any sort of craftsmanship should get everyone involved blacklisted from the film industry. It is that bad.

But.

You may be familiar with the work of Bruce La Bruce, the director of this film. He addressed the audience before the screening, explaining the work he's done so far in his career and why he decided to make The Raspberry Reich. The man is just not interested in making a "good" movie. He set out to make a new and different kind of porno, and I have to hand it to him, this movie is all kinds of new and different. I'm not sure I've ever seen someone masturbating with a gun before.

And I have no problem with this. I'll tell you right now that I loved this movie! Gudrun's political slogans, usually howled either while having sex or at people who are having sex, are outrageously funny and should all be made into t-shirts. "Private property cannot be stolen, just liberated!" she screams at her subordinates as she orders them to steal vegetables from a supermarket.

Garish scrolling text assaults the screen throughout most of the film, especially during the sex scenes (of which there are many). CORNFLAKES ARE COUNTER-REVOLUTIONARY! (This is actually explained in the movie.) THE REVOLUTION IS MY BOYFRIEND! THERE CANNOT BE A SOCIAL REVOLUTION UNTIL THERE IS SEXUAL REVOLUTION! There is so much political ideology packed into the film that at a certain point you start wondering when it stopped being funny and started being, yes, a little bit interesting.

NOTE: Daniel Baetscher, Andreas Rupprecht, and Susanne Sachsse, three of the stars of The Raspberry Reich, appear together in another SIFF movie this year, Paternal Instinct, a touching documentary about a gay couple searching for a surrogate mother to bear their child. Make of that what you will.