Vulgar Art and Cinema

Vulgarities in media are generally seen as a cheap jab at shock, or an indication of low value media. For example, violent video games like simple first person shooter games and slasher horror films like Saw are, even though widely known and often referenced to, never viewed as highbrow. But vulgarity can also be part of fine art. What about nude paintings and sculptures? They were originally deemed promiscuous and socially unacceptable, yet now they proudly take their places in museums.

Dr. Cesar A. Cruz said that art should comfort the disturbed and disturb the comfortable. So, today I will be introducing three films that I find impressive, despite their unrefined, raw nature.

Denis Villeneuve, director of the Dune series and Blade Runner, has filmed Incendies. 2010 movie Incendies is adapted from Wajdi Mouawad’s play of the same name, and is one of the best modern tragedies I have watched and read. It is assumable that the events depicted in the piece are heavily indicative of the Lebanese Civil War, which was caused by religious differences between Christians and Muslims in Lebanon. The movie bears one of the most devastating plot twists while showing the life of a tortured woman, and ends in shock. The original play ends in a slightly different note, in love and forgiveness, but I digress. Nevertheless, children and mothers are shot, assaulted and killed on screen. However, it bears a piece of history that many of us are unfamiliar with, combined with the real-life story of Souha Bechara who was imprisoned in Khiam detention center.

Lars von Trier, one of my favourite directors, has directed many interesting films. His works never fail to cause walkouts at the Cannes, or negative reviews to flow from the more conservative audience. But I do not think that his films are sadistic or downright nefarious, even Nymphomaniac and Antichrist seems to hold light to life itself in my eyes. In Dogville, Trier’s three-hour-long 2003 film, Stoicism and Nietzsche clashes in a young woman called Grace. She, presumably running away from a gang affiliation, ends up in a small town called Dogville. She is stoic in how she accepts everything the villagers do to her, including various abuses and slavery. The stoic idea that nobody is to blame, and the Nietzsche idea that pity is an excuse for lack of action is given to Grace, and she chooses one in the end. The film is unconventional, as per usual. The set is made to look like a minimalistic play stage, without walls and with little prop and a narrator to take the audience on a journey. This is part of its charm, and however dull the movie may come across due to lack of visual and auditory stimuli, it is truly an exceptional work of art.

Julia Decournau became the first solo female director to win the Palme d’Or, which is the Cannes’ top award with her 2021 film, Titane. The premise of the film itself is already odd, the main character being a young woman with a metal plate inserted in her head from a car accident injury. Since the accident, she is sexually drawn to cars. How does this turn into a family drama with a deep view on femininity and love? I don’t like to spoil, but Alexia, the main character, becomes a firefighter’s son. This is hardly a transgender story, but rather more of a gender-transcendant story. Though the movie certainly has its shocking and uncomfortable scenes, it ends in deep parental love. We have our own views on self and others, and even when they do not align, whether it be in ourselves or in relationships, it is sometimes okay to become something that you are not, and embrace what you are.

I absolutely love these movies, but it is true that the overall amount of stimulating contents have gone up with the emergence and normalization of social media and the growth of media industries. Oversexualisation and the illusion of sexual empowerment, normalisation of violence as a solution, over-the-top gore and scenes that may as well be compared to snuff films are normal now. Take for example, Amazon Prime’s hit show The Boys, or 2023 movie Saltburn. Whatever gains more traction wins, and though some of these are not critically acclaimed by any means, they have successfully gathered a cult following. And I also have to admit, they are as fun as they are crude.

My love for vulgar movies come from how violence, disgust and sexuality brings out dramatic emotions in people. I have witnessed people leave the theater during Triangle of Sadness. I have also laughed with the audience while watching Four Adventures of Reinette and Mirabelle. Just because an uncomfortable topic is shown on screen does not mean that it is not art, and art needs to be discussed by itself, unshunned and unveiled.