I Stand Alone (Seul Contre Tous)

• 1998
• France
• 1h 33min
• 18

• Directed by: Gaspar Noé
• Written by: Gaspar Noé
• Cast: Philippe Nahon, Blandine Lenoir, Frankye Pain, Martine Audrain
• Language: French

Hardcore penetrative sex and a nauseating scene in which a pregnant woman is repeatedly punched in the stomach. Disturbing and graphic? Yes. Gratuitous shock tactics? No: only material of such uncompromising brutality can bring the viewer close to the utter desolation felt by the main character, an unemployed 50-year-old butcher who has been slammed into a dead-end existence.

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