W.R. - Mysterien des Organismus

W.R. Mysteries of the Organism

"W.R. – Mysterien des Organismus" ("W.R. Mysteries of the Organism") is four (or even more) films in one: Dušan Makavejev’s documentary take on the USA; an educational film about Wilhelm Reich; a feature film about Milena, a Yugoslavian Marxist who calls for free love in the spirit of communism; and an essay on exactly that – the relationship between communism and sexuality. This relationship – spirit and matter – is given cinematic shape, driving both mind and body between analytic-satirical editing and sensuous excesses of colour and form. The many strands of the film come together in a deliberately bewildering, overwrought montage that would rather spin a brightly coloured tangle of images, excesses, jokes and shock moments than follow any one thread consistently. "Beneath the film’s light-hearted frivolity and marvellous humour lurks a more serious ideological intent: opposition to all oppressive social systems". (Amos Vogel) It is likely not just Milena’s fiery castigation of Stalinism that earned "W.R. – Mysterien des Organismus" a 16-year ban in Yugoslavia.

Source: 70. Internationale Filmfestspiele Berlin (Catalogue)