Taxidermia.

Well, since watching Der Todesking and Nekromantik one and two a few weeks ago, I decided to carry on with the 'disturbing' film genre. The best and funniest part of me picking out this film to watch was that I actually found it in my Uni's library! Anyway, onto the Taxidermia review. 

I briefly remember hearing this film being mentioned on one of Horrible Review's 'most disturbing movies' countdown (I recommend these videos if you are bored, wanting to check out the genre or are just a bit stuck on what to watch) and decided to give it a watch. The film starts off with a man who is innocently washing himself in a freezing cold troth (well, it looks like a troth). Here we see that he is dominated by a hard faced middle aged man that asks him to explain the order of actions that happen in a day, which gives off the feeling that both men are at war. However, this thought is shattered when we see two ladies having a bath together (calm down fella's and you ladies!) which obviously wouldn't happen in an active war zone, and definitely not in front or near men!  The story goes on to follow the submissive male and his very radically varying and 'unique' sexual fantasies and ways in which to get himself off. Although those of you that have read my blog thus far know that I review and watch 'disturbing' movies, I will, just because I am a nice lady, warn you that this section of the film is definitely a struggle to watch, mainly because there are many parts with children in, although these scenes are carefully shot, the obvious reasons for them being used are not hidden, so be careful if you are really triggered by that kinda thing.

The shots used in this segment of the film is utterly beautiful, and very creative indeed, which is one of the reasons why you keep on watching through the more slow paced parts of the scene. The narrative is interesting, a little strange but more or less believable, and leads perfectly onto the next segment of the film. 

In the next segment we see the young child that was conceived and birthed in the previous section as an adult, and guess what he has grown up to be? A famous speed-eater! We see Balatony take on many other males from around europe to win not only the title of the best speed eater, but that of the plump woman that he loves. After passing out, I assume from possible heart problems, or just from being obnoxiously full, we see this plump miss, Aczél Gizi, at his bedside, which signals to us that they will become love birds (aww, how romantik). 

We see these two get married and a child is conceived (is there a pattern here?). The scenes where both Aczél and Balatony are enjoying a nice day out with each other at the beach, swimming in the sea and on a Ferris Wheel are truly love to see, and well, is something that is never really shown in many films. Usually it's how the two thin, handsome/pretty actors that get paid thousands of pounds (or dollars) act in a romantic comedy about two people meeting, hating each other and then falling in love.... So seeing a romantic scene, in a disturbing movie, between two overweight people is a pretty wonderful sight to see, for me anyway. None the less, this segment is the worse out of the three, its story isn't extremely believable, it sort of cuts and changes a little (although this may be used to create the illusion of memory...) from the previous scenes in the segment, and well, although it sets both the previous and the following parts up, it just didn't light my fire. 

Onto the third and final segment of the film. The past where we actually get to the taxidermy. We see a grown up Balatony (named after his father... so let's just call him Balatony JR) practising what he is best at, stuffing animals! When he is not performing his art, Balatony JR goes to the local super market to buy his Dad and his beloved cats some treats. After giving his Dad these essential food items, we see that their relationship isn't very strong, often because Balatony SR's love for his fat cats exceeds the love he shows for his bony son. After another scene of BJ[hehe]R's buying of food, being annoyed with his Father for bad mouthing him and feeding cats that are bad tempered he storms out and tells his Father that he is never coming back. 

These is one of the most bizarre segments of the film, mainly because the artistic shots really are a bit challenging to watch. Let's just say you might not want to cut any meat up after watching this... That together with the gross extreme polar opposites of bodily forms between Father and Son and the uncanny sense of seeing human taxidermy (spoiler) really makes you exclaim 'What the shit did I just watch?!' which is a good indicator for me that it was indeed a strange, slightly disturbing film. 

I definitely recommend Taxidermia for those of you who want a bit of a mind fuck with beautifully shot scenes, however, I must admit, it wasn't particularly disturbing, more bizarre and a bit uncannyish if anything, which doesn't take away from the film, I'm just trying to tell you how it is (for me anyway). A great find, especially in my Uni's library (where the only other horror related films are Day of the Dead and Alien...) and definitely worth a watch if you like the genre.

Until next time,

Jessiefer. 

PS, LOOK AT THIS SCREEN SHOT FROM THE FILM! 

 (What a wonderful World we live in!)