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| Enter 25 year-old Maximilien Rouille |
One of my latest video art projects has been to experiment with different mediums, for this project I bought lots of Barbie dolls...like a ton, bought accessories, supplies, made a custom mini bed, etc and put my camera to work.
Nine episodes filmed over the course of one week; Chloé is a miniseries about a jaded French office worker named Maximilien Rouille, who has become unfathomably obsessed with a mystery woman; Chloé.
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| Boy meets girl...at the urinal |
Episode one introduces us to Maximilien; a twenty-five year-old office worker who has become jaded and disillusioned with his tedious job and monotonous day-to-day life. It is not revealed just how Max becomes enthralled by the mysterious Chloé, however from episode one it is clear that his infatuation with the blonde is more than just an innocent crush.
Other characters in the series include Bastien Bouchard; Max's friend and odd-bedfellow. Bernard Rouille, Max's cousin whom develops a relationship with Bastien. Cecile Malheur, Max's co-worker who has a crush on him. And lastly, Cole Baptiste; a drag queen and burlesque/vaudeville entertainer.
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| Why would anyone want to puke on you? Why would you let them? |
Chloé is by all means a lighthearted indie film, shot on an smart phone with graphical and special effects added in via Movie Maker. The series is for all intent and purposes, a collective "take that" at films (think "Salo or the 128 Days of Sodom" or "Nymphomaniac Parts 1 & 2" or "The Human Centipede") that use the 'artistic license' as an excuse to push the envelope with enough blood, gore, guts, nudity and sex to practically be considered a 'snuff film' (video nasty).
While the Chloé series does indeed feature some bits of edginess purely for shock value (a scene involving the titular character laying down and allowing her male partner to defecate on her face, which is described by Maximilien the narrator, as a beautiful act of love and art). Obviously rolling around in feces is neither lovely, sexy or art (well the latter is subjective) Max's embellishments about the acts he fantasizes about is a point to aforementioned snobby art films hinging on porn/snuff. Most casual viewers would not find a woman drowning herself in dog shit to be a work of art (this is intentional hyperbole), like sewing the mouths to anuses of the person in front of you (Human Centipede) or forcing your captives to eat human waste for dinner (Salo or the 128 Days of Sodom), it's neither beautiful, appetizing or artistic. While it may make a profound political or religious statement, on the surface it is not the kind of art that one would proudly display for Grandma and Grandpa or pin on your fridge to display for all to see, Chloé takes this and runs with it.
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| Definitely NOT gay! |
While the miniseries requires little more than ten minutes to watch, further re-watching may be required in order to pick up on the subtle jabs that Chloé makes at the film industry and society as a whole. Episode nine brings the season full-circle, with Maximilien coming out of his shell as a mere observer and into the role of an active 'hunting tiger' as he describes himself.
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| Is there a future for Chloé? |
With its maiden season closing more or less all loose-ends, Chloé will be back for a second season, though it will be more psychological and less sexual/shocking - this is not an act of self-censorship, but a deliberate development in the scheme of the series going forward. Season one featured loads of shock-content from the get-go; masturbation, in episode 1, scat in episode 2, a full-on MFM threesome spit-roasting and facial scene in episode 4, regurgitation or puke play in episode 5, rolling around in and playing in dog shit in episode 6 (this episode got removed by Youtube's standards team), eating Chloé's period blood in episode 7 and lastly watersports in episode 8.
It might seem like everything that there was to do has already been done, which looking from an edgy/shocking point of view you would be correct. However, recall that in season one Maximilien is merely obsessed with Chloé, or more accurately, obsessed with an idea of her. He is basically projecting a fantasy relationship upon a person who does not actually exist. Season 2 will pick up where Season 1 left off with; paranoia, guilt, nightmares, fears, etc. Each season will have a certain theme that the Chloé series is satirizing (season one parodied over-the-top sex and highly dramatized smut advertized as 'art') and Season 2 will poke fun at films like "Jacob's Ladder", Mulholland Drive", and "Eyes Wide Shut".
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| yea...Chloé isn't quite Youtube's cup of tea |
Where can you watch Chloé? Originally it was uploaded to YouTube (lol), with removal of Episode Six, I have taken every episode and moved them over to Streamtape and have uploaded them to Myvidster as well. You can watch them all from the comfort of this blog, or on Myvidster or wherever is convenient for you. Season 2 will be back on YouTube for sure, as it will be less psychosexual in content and more psychological (there of course will still be humor and adult innuendo, but nothing as bad or worse as Season 1). Again this entire medium shift is an experiment, and nobody's singular or collective opinions or feelings on my series is affecting any of the decisions I have or will make with Chloé in the future. Every season will be a new theme and a new girl, new plots and new characters, which naturally means new jokes and situations. Season 1 was exploring the taboos of kinky or fetishistic sex and psycho-sexual behavior labeled as 'art' in the film industry. Season 2 will similarly be an experiment, but with different genres and moods.
Chloé Season 1 Links (Streamtape):
