By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 4.25 cats
Director: György Pálfi
Country: hungary
Year: 2007
Running time: 90
IMDB: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0410730/
Bruce says: “György Pálfi’s HUKKLE remains one of the most off-the-wall films I have ever seen; needless to say I was excited that he had a new film at Tribeca. In ways TAXIDERMIA is every bit as interesting in concept; in execution TAXIDERMIA falls into grotesque territory, losing several cats from me in the process.
“Pálfi claims he wants his audience to see that human bodily functions are just another part of life and not something to cringe over; he feels that we should be more disgusted by the taboos relating to the human body that society has so carefully constructed. For my money, Pálfi should have stopped short of self disembowelment and self beheading no matter how cleverly executed or how well they might illustrate his point or, for that matter, the film’s title.
“TAXIDERMIA is the story of three generations of men each more bizarre than the others. The first, Vendel (Csaba Czene), is a mentally unstable soldier who is an orderly for an army officer. He is obsessed with sexual fetishes and imagery. When his is not finding unique masturbation opportunities, he fantasizes about pop up fairytale books in which he is the protagonist doing things like sexually abusing the little match girl shortly before she freezes to death. In real life, he seduces his boss’ wife who gives birth to a young boy.
“The boy Kálmán (Gergely Trócsányi) grows up to be trained as a speed eater who can never get the proper hang of bulimia and consequently never becomes a champion. In his twilight years he is so extraordinarily obese that he cannot move from his eating position. His tragic end involves two comparably obese cats. Kálmán’s son is the taxidermist. Thin as a rail, Lajoska (Marc Bischoff ) has some of the family screws loose as well.
“TAXIDERMIA, in spite of its horrific moments, is an incredible fantasy, beautifully envisioned and beautifully filmed. One montage in particular is nothing short of pure genius. The trough is mounted on a wall which turns over and over each time revealing a different use for the trough – one second it is used for kneading bread, next it is for feeding pigs, then it is a coffin, suddenly a bathtub…and on and on. WARNING: If you are even slightly squeamish, this film may not be one for you. 3.5 cats
“TAXIDERMIA screened at the 2007 Tribeca Film Festival”
Thom says: How best to review this very bizarre film without turning off those that might want to see it? The director was also responsible for HUKKLE (2002) which certainly was well-received. This film was also Hungary’s official submission to the Best Foreign Language Film Category of the 80th Annual Academy Awards (2008). Taxidermia is a superb, imagination-filled attack on middle-class values, discernment, and moderation in cinematic images. This gross film follows three generations of a family through the male members. The first is a forlorn soldier during WWII assigned to a country farmhouse where he spends his free-time endlessly masturbating that results in fire shooting out of his penis. He later rapes the farmer’s wife who gives birth to a boy with a pig’s tale who grows up to be a speed eater of huge success. The speed eating sequences are truly disgusting; please don’t see this film after eating. To win the contests the participants have to continually force projectile vomiting into barrels. The eater falls in love with a lady speed eater and their child is the taxidermist of mammals. He’s completely ashamed of his father who now weighs some 900 pounds and is on a mission to turn cats into speed eaters. The taxidermist works himself into a psycho frenzy and what befalls him is a very ugly happening indeed. There has been much talk, especially from Hungarian fans of the film, that the three men represent the history of modern Hungarians but that wasn’t clear to me. The film is absolutely not a horror film any more than the brilliant SAUNA is a horror film. This is an Hieronymus Bosch world where everything takes on a sinister air. Highly recommended for those that want to explore the strange & off-the-wall. 5 cats”