This week we’ve got a film from a filmmaker that I am very familiar with, the great Jan Svankmajer. For those unfamiliar, Svankmajer is a surrealist Czech filmmaker and animator, known for his odd and artistic films which vary between stop-motion animation, live-action, puppetry, and sometimes a mix of two of them or all three. While most of his short films err towards animation, his features are often live-action with animation used in certain sections or for specific effects. Conspirators of Pleasure is, of his features that I’ve seen, probably the one with the least amount of animation, but definitely not the least amount of Svankmajer strangeness and symbolism. Like many art films, it’s not going to be for everyone, especially due to its taboo subject matter, but it’s a solid Svankmajer creation that is definitely not one to miss from his filmography. To start off, I’ll give a general idea of the stories this film tells, as there is more than one.
The film tells the story of several people living within a Czech city that all have strange kinks, fetishes, and/or interests. There’s the bald, bearded man who makes a chicken-man costume out of clay, paper mâché, and real chicken feathers with umbrellas for wings, and takes a dummy in the likeness of his neighbor out to an open forest area, zooms around it imitating flying, chokes it and more. His neighbor, meanwhile, takes a dummy in the likeness of him out to a cave for a round of BDSM (worth noting that the man had to ask the neighbor to kill the chicken he intended to use for the feathers). Meanwhile, a mustachioed gentleman spends most of his time making odd objects out of various household materials and rubs them all over himself. His wife, a news anchor, feels neglected by him and buys herself some live fish that she keeps in a wash basin, allowing them to nibble on her toes. A shop owner, on the other hand, has a thing for the news anchor lady, and creates a device to touch him while he watches her on the screen. Last, but not least, a local mail lady makes little balls out of bread which she stuffs into her nose and ear-holes for an hour while lying on her bed. Most of the film is just watching these folks discover and indulge in these very weird interests, though the ending goes in a direction that you might not expect, so I’ll leave that out. Alright, time to talk about my impression of this film.
Like I said, this film seems to be about the hidden deviant interests that people have or develop behind closed doors. Some of the fetishes depicted in this film are certainly crafted in a Svankmajer way, what with the strange household objects being used as massaging tools or shoving bread balls into one’s orifices (though, I don’t know, maybe some folks are into those), but the main idea does come through, even if the presentation is delightfully out there. It seems to be making several different statements about these sorts of deviant behaviors: the mail lady shows how these interests can be strange and not entirely orthodox but ultimately harmless and enjoyable if used sparingly and privately, the mustachioed man and his wife show how one can get too absorbed into their own interests that they can neglect those close to them and those that are neglected will sometimes seek gratification elsewhere, the shop owner who loves said wife represents the fantasy that can never be and how much we’ll do to simulate this fantasy, and the bearded man and his neighbor show us hidden wants for power and dominance between each other as well as serving as something of a cautionary tale in the end (though, again, I won’t spoil this aspect). Interestingly, there seems to be a recurring element of a closet in the bearded man and neighbor’s story. The bearded man has a wardrobe that he seems to have the compulsion to enter at various points in the movie, though only does so for very brief periods or stops himself from doing so at all. Also, the wardrobe shows up in the cave that the neighbor takes her dummy to, and when she goes inside of it, she changes into a dominatrix outfit. Now, the obvious meaning that on would draw from this is it being a literal version of “in the closet,” that being the term used for someone who is of a different sexuality than hetero but has not admitted to it yet. The only thing with this interpretation is that I’m not sure if that term is well-known within the Czech Republic or not, so I’m not sure how true or not that intention would be. Still though, whether or not that was the specific intent, it does still get across a similar idea. I also wanted to note a moment where, just before entering the closet, the bearded man looks at a Jean-Claude Van Damme poster he has on the wall. I figured this could mean one of two things: one, he could be secretly gay or bi or something else of that nature, or two, he is ashamed of his kinks and feels that, by having them, he is “not man enough.” There might be other ways to view this, maybe my interpretations are a bit too surface level or something, but those are what came to mind for me. This is definitely one of those films where you have to glean meaning based on what is being presented rather than what is told out right. Actually, on that note, this film literally has no telling, since there’s hardly a scrap of dialogue to be found. It appears at certain moments, such as during the news broadcast, but it’s mixed so far behind the music that you can’t make it out anyway, and to be honest, I don’t think you’re meant to. This isn’t really a film that’s concerned with what people say, but more so with what they think and do, and this isn’t uncommon for Svankmajer, as most of his films have sparse or no dialogue, including the two features he made before this one. They’re the sort of films that, I’ll admit, you will need to be in the right mood for, as they are notably surreal and/or symbolic. Very much arthouse material, but still very interesting and engaging if you have a taste for the weird or have the want to interpret/analyze film. I should note that Svankmajer’s trademark stop-motion animation is not as present here as it is in some of his other works. I can only think of a few occasions in which it’s used, those being bringing the dummies to life during the bearded man and his neighbor’s fantasies, the bearded man’s movements when he’s in his chicken garb, the shop owner’s self-pleasure machine, and the bread balls going inside the mail lady’s nose and ears. This also isn’t uncommon for Svankmajer’s features, as they tend to be live-action at the base with stop-motion being used as an effect or to bring to life certain characters that couldn’t be done otherwise. Personally, I’ve often enjoyed mixed media, especially in non-digital contexts, but I know that it can be off-putting to some folks, so I figured I’d mention this, since it takes a while for the stop-motion to show up and you might not be expecting it. Overall, I do think this is an interesting film, and one that deals with the nature of abnormal fetishes/interests and how people often handle them for better or worse. Before I wrap up, I do want to bring up another aspect I thought was rather interesting. The mustachioed man, as stated before, creates amalgamed objects out of household items and uses them for sexual pleasure. These creations range from a rolling pin with nails in it to a strange circular alignment of rubber gloves with the tail from a fox pelt in the center. When I saw what he was making, it made me think back to such art objects as Man Ray’s The Gift (which is an iron with thumbtacks glued onto it) and Oppenheim’s Object (which is a teacup, saucer, and spoon all covered with fur). These are classic examples of Surrealism and even Dadaism, both of which were not only out to challenge how we perceive objects, but also seemed to represent a “perversion” of the object away from its intended use and towards something completely different. Given that this film is all about “perversion,” I thought this aspect was very appropriate (plus, Svankmajer is a surrealist himself, so it makes all the more sense this way).
I would recommend that you check this film out if you’re either into the arthouse world or are willing to step in and check things out. I probably wouldn’t recommend this as a first Svankmajer, as I think that most people should start with some of his short films before moving up to the features. I’ve been thinking about doing a director filmography review for Svankmajer, like I did for Yuri Norstein, but he has a much larger portfolio in comparison. I might just do a selection of shorts, or maybe make it a recurring series in parts, but I haven’t decided yet. Anyways, keep a look out for more Svankmajer content in the future, as there’s plenty more to talk about, and go check out Conspirators of Pleasure if you’re interested. Much like what it talks about, it’s probably not going to be for everyone, but it can end up meaning a lot to the right people. Just remember not to take your interests too far, as our animated friends in this film would tell you if they could (you’ll understand what I mean when you see it).