Review: Profane

Text © Richard Gary/Indie Horror Films, 2012
Images from the Internet

                            

Profane
Directed by Usama Alshaibi         
ArtVamp                                           
78 minutes, 2011    
Artvamp.com
profanethemovie.com
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This film touches a lot of cultural hot button topics, such as sex workers, and both the assimilation and strength of Muslim culture into the West (in this case Chicago). One of the areas not often breached is the blending of both.

Iranian-born director Usama Alshaibi takes a peek at the mixture of the two in an experimental release that is both explicit and artful. As Usama is male, it is no surprise that it also has a patriarchal perspective. There is a certain level of titillation that may not be as strong a focus if this were directed by a Muslim woman. But I jump ahead.

The story focuses on professional dominatrix Muna, beautifully portrayed by the lovely and full lipped Manal Kara (yes, I am a self-admitting patriarch). Usually accompanied by her Western cohort Mary (Molly Plunk), she moves seamlessly between her work, her life, and her boyfriend (also a Westerner), with the help of drugs, alcohol and attempting to reconcile and reconnect to her faith.

This begins to change, however, with two overlapping events. First, she starts hearing voices that she is convinced may be a djinn (an Arabic demon, pronounced as “gin”) whispering to her in the nights and when she tries to pray. The second is that on the way home one night from a gig, Mura and Mary get picked up by a cab driven by Ali (Dejan Mircea), a religious Muslim who believes it is his mission to save her both from her hedonistic life, and from the djinn (it is he who names what is occurring to Muna). She is confused and conflicted by both these happenings.

While a loosely narrative film in linear time, it is not necessarily undeviating from the story. Played more like a documentary (though not as “found footage” per se), there are many departures from the scope of the story with arty shots that under a less talented tout ledge, would be a mess, but Usama uses the additions to show that life is not all straightforward, and that there is even beauty in the unconventional.

Part of what is uncomfortable (well, for me anyway), are the explicit S&M scenes, as Mura and Mary (among others) stomp on scrotums, use clients as bathrooms, and abuse willing masked men in various ways, all in detail. In real life Kara and Plunk actually are sex workers, and from what I can tell from the credits, these are some of their real-life clients. While I am sure that this is prurient for some of those who will watch this, it is not for me. Sure, I love a horror movie where someone gets their face chewed off in close-up, but I can distinguish in my mind between the appliance/CGI and reality. Here, there is no question that what is happening to those men and their penises are real. In the credits, they are listed with such names as Slave Jeff, Slave Drum and Footpuppy.

When I worked in a movie theater in my youth, I remember that whenever there was a scene where some man was kicked in the nuts, immediately even man in the audience went “oooff,” followed by all the women laughing. I’ve never been sure if they were laughing at the action on screen, or the reaction of their partners. But I digress…

There is some interesting moments, whether intentional or not. For example, each scene with Ali driving the cab must have been done the same night, because it seems to always be snowing. I’m not sure if this means that it does all take place in one ride cut up into out of sequenced snippets, or they just taped it in one night, and it is supposed to be different times. Just part of the enigma of the film, I guess.

There have been some descriptors of the picture as being part of the Cinema of Transgression genre, which I can both understand, and yet with which I cannot totally agree, which is in no way indicative of how strong a film it is. Transgression brings to mind the likes of Richard Kern, Nick Zedd and Lydia Lunch. Most of this style is incoherent, played strongly for shock, and totally low-budget DIY. It’s for good reason it was closely associated with the New York punk and No Wave movement when it started. And none of this is meant as any kind of implication questioning its worth. Yes, this release has a lot of its elements, but there is a level of art and professionalism that raises it above Transgression, though it certainly does push some envelopes. Perhaps I am wrong, and ease of technology has redirected Transgression into a higher level. After all, the genre has been around since the late ‘70s, and change gotta come, as the band X-Teens once posited.

Now, this is a blog about horror films, so what does this piece of artiness about Islam and S&M have to do with horror, you may be asking yourself. It’s in the djinn (hey, I’m a poemist, as Tommy Smother’s said). Apparently, Muna was mistreated by someone in her faith in her youth (school? Clerics? Parents?), and was forced to undergo a traumatic exorcism, a somewhat common, albeit uncomfortable practice in some parts of the world. Perhaps she really was possessed, and the djinn returned? Or is it all in her mind?  Perhaps PTSD?

There is a lot of graphic and real sex-related content in the film, nearly all of it literally torturous. This is lingered upon what felt like longer than it needed to be, and while Muna and Mary are supposedly in charge, they are also slaves to their own, well, demons, such as the aforementioned drugs. There are also lingering shots of nudity, some sensual and others not, but it is obviously looking through the male eye. While I don’t think there will be many turned on by this, even with the publicity around 50 Shades of Grey, there are also many solo sensual shots of Muna in various states of undress that feel gratuitous at times. While I am not one to buck at a shower scene or something unjustified in something like Zombie Babies (2011) or The Worst Horror Movie Ever Made: The Re-Make (2008), it feel different here, and perhaps it would be less so with a woman’s perspective?

Anyway, it’s sort of a moot point, because despite the high level of real sadism and masochism present, this is an incredibly beautiful looking film, and if your stomach is up for it, it’s an interesting ride that will at the very least get you talking.