Director of the Pornographic Film with Michel Houellebecq: “We Signed a Contract”

Surprised by the legal proceedings initiated by the French writer, Dutch artist Stefan Ruitenbeek agreed to respond: “Perhaps someone advised him to frighten me, to intimidate me.”

It was a film that should have enlivened the springtime conversations of the small Saint-Germain-des-Prés literary milieu. Directed by Dutch artist Stefan Ruitenbeek, KIRAC 27, scheduled for release on 11 March, presents itself as an adult film featuring Michel Houellebecq. A trailer posted online in late January shows the writer in bed with a young woman. But it seems to be the voice-over, above all, that infuriated the author of Annihilation.

In this short excerpt, the director claims that Michel Houellebecq contacted him after having to cancel a sex-tourism trip to Morocco arranged by his wife, who, according to Ruitenbeek, “had started a month in advance to arrange prostitutes for him”. The novelist did not appreciate these statements. He decided to file a complaint in early February and is seeking the removal of the trailer and a ban on the film. Ruitenbeek considers this an error of judgment and laments: “I have the impression of seeing the old writer, the poor man, getting things confused here.”

L'Express: How did you learn that Michel Houellebecq was suing you?

Stefan Ruitenbeek: I sent him the trailer for KIRAC 27 on 20 January, a few days before putting it online. For two weeks, there was no negative comment. Then, later, he sent me his objections, which he also published on his website. A few hours after that, a letter from his lawyers arrived.

How did you react?

I did not call him. To my mind, that letter, clearly written in a lawyer's office, is a declaration of hostility in response to my message of 20 January, in which I was simply opening a conversation. From that moment on, we are no longer in what I call a normal conversation.

How do you explain this situation?

In my view, neither Michel nor the media nor anyone else should look at all this the way people currently are. It does not matter whether prostitutes are mentioned in the trailer, because I am making a work of art. I make no claim to journalistic truth. I am not making a documentary.

My film should be regarded as though it were a book, with the same distance and a distinction between author and character, between the real world and art. Michel himself writes, in his letter to me, that he is an actor in my film. He has an acting career; he has appeared in various feature films, including Guillaume Nicloux's The Kidnapping of Michel Houellebecq, and he is not actually kidnapped in that film either! I rather have the impression of seeing the old writer, the poor man, getting things confused here. That is my view.

When did you first meet him?

During the filming of the first scene. Of course we had exchanged many emails beforehand, but we had not yet met.

What was that first meeting like?

I want to save that story for the film. I am in the midst of an artistic process at the moment. You know, to be entirely honest, I am a very theatrical, extroverted person. So when a journalist from Vice asked all those questions about our relationship, I played the role of the uncultured Dutch director, while Michel played the cultivated French writer.

It is all a sort of role-playing. In the same way that he, in his letter, plays the role of: “I am so nice. I should have thrown your camera into the canal, but because I was so nice, I didn't.” In fact, we are both very theatrical people. Michel plays the role of this introverted, silent victim of society and love. And I play this happy idiot. I think that is part of the artistic process between Michel and me.

What did you talk about together?

We talked about everything: politics, art, cinema, literature ... Our conversations will form part of the film's narrative.

Does that mean the film is not finished yet?

No, I am in the middle of the creative process. I do not make a film like a conventional director; I do not write a script to be followed afterwards. My experiences during filming create the film. I am currently discovering what this film is becoming, just as you, on your side, are trying to understand it.

So you are going to continue the film?

Of course. Why wouldn't I?

The complaint filed by the leading actor, for example?

Oh yes, that frightens me. It frightens me enormously.

You don't look frightened ...

I am constructing a work of art. Earlier, I mentioned artistic freedom and the need not to take everything literally. What applies to a book applies to a film, and specifically to this film I am making. Michel is an actor in my film. His name is Michel Houellebecq. And I do not think it is ridiculous or unreasonable for his character to spend a day having relations with prostitutes. He talks about it himself in his books. We shot sex scenes in the Netherlands; prostitutes took part, so I do not understand why it is such an enormous taboo.

Do you think Michel Houellebecq's reaction may have been influenced by someone?

Possibly his publisher. Perhaps there are commercial interests behind it; perhaps he was advised to frighten or intimidate me. I do not know ...

Have you responded through your lawyer?

Michel Houellebecq and I signed a contract. But I do not want to go into the details. For now, I just want to keep all this within an artistic discussion.

Do you think he feels persecuted, a victim?

In general, his books reflect a certain victimisation, with this image of an ugly man unable to seduce women. Women read his books and think: “Well, perhaps he isn't attractive, but he isn't as ugly as he claims!” So they look for compliments to whisper to him, and perhaps some go beyond a mere compliment to help him by offering sexual favours. And why not? Art also exists to offer artists a better life in the real world. In fact, one of my female friends told me that she saw Michel Houellebecq at an airport. She loved his books so much that she went up to him and said: “Can I give you a blowjob?” All of this is at the heart of what he writes in his books.

Which of them, Michel or his wife, first told you about the honeymoon mentioned in your trailer?

That is a translation error! It was not their honeymoon but a little romantic-erotic trip. As for the rest, I do not want to talk about it at the moment. You will discover it.

What did you discuss with Mrs Houellebecq when you met her?

Sex, mainly. A little about the writer Thomas Bernhard as well, and of course Michel.

Has she tried to speak with you since this affair began?

No, she has not tried to contact me.

How did you discover Houellebecq's books?

When I was fourteen, I read The Elementary Particles. I then read all his books except the latest, Annihilation, which has not yet been translated. I liked The Map and the Territory, The Elementary Particles, Whatever and The Possibility of an Island. I did not like Submission because it is too problem-driven, too conceptual in a way.

Are you sad today?

In my own way, yes. I am not saying that sarcastically. Michel Houellebecq is a complicated person. We all know that.