Michel Houellebecq, famous author of Submission (2015) and Serotonin (2019) has just lost his lawsuit to ban in the Netherlands a pornographic film in which he appears.
Directed by the Dutch collective KIRAC (Keeping It Real Art Critics) known for their controversial videos, the film Kirac 27 features the writer in erotic scenes. We see him in particular in the trailer appear shirtless, languidly kissing a young woman in a hotel room in Amsterdam, a city known for its ostensible prostitution. A scene deemed shocking by many Internet users, unaccustomed to seeing the author in this posture!
But that’s not all: by watching this teaser, we immediately understand the plot of the film. Michel Houellebecq would have contacted the director following the cancellation of a sex tourism trip to Morocco. Stefan Ruitenbeek would have offered him a relief orgy in the Netherlands, in exchange for having “ permission to film everything », what the writer would have accepted. But is it a staging or a real story? “ It’s all true “says director Stefan Ruitenbeek to the Figaro.
Arguments deemed insufficient for Justice
This Tuesday, March 28, 2023, the Amsterdam court therefore rejected the request of the writer, who explains that he agreed to play in this film by signing a contract “ provided that [son] anonymity is preserved “. Condition which was not respected, according to him. Moreover, the author claims to have signed this contract when he was under the influence of alcohol and totally depressed.
Faced with the evidence provided by the writer, the summary judge of the Amsterdam court refused ” the requested injunctions and condemns Houellebecq to pay the costs of the proceedings, estimated to date at 1393 euros “, judging ” incomprehensible that Houellebecq took part in the recordings if he found the contract really problematic”.
Indeed, the Court ruled that the contract signed by the writer “is unbalanced but not invalid” in the words of Maître Schaap, the author’s lawyer. A grotesque decision for her, because it was about ” one of the most unequal and inadmissible contracts I have ever seen she reports.
For his part, the director of the film Stefan Ruitenbeek claims that the writer had given his consent in full knowledge of the facts. For him, this legal action is “ a form of censorship “, as explained by his lawyer Maître Chirstiaan Alberdingk Thijm, who had argued ” that as a writer, Michel Houellebecq has extensive experience of contracts and that he was not entitled to cancel it “.
Faced with the decision of Justice, Stefen Ruitenbeek says he is very relieved. ” I always intended to make a portrait with integrity. I hope Michel will be happy with the result “, he said in a statement released by his lawyer.
A difficult decision to digest
Depicted as a “porn star” in the film, Michel Houellebecq judges the verdict “ very disappointing » and now wishes to appeal this decision. For the author, this film would be defamatory and would strongly harm his private life and his reputation as a man of letters, approached for a time for the Nobel Prize.
The author must therefore wait for this second decision to hope for the prohibition of the film. Case to follow!
LR