Having seen Svankmajer's LITTLE OTIK, ALICE, and a few assorted short-films, and reading a brief synopsis of this film - I had a bit of an idea what I was getting into with CONSPIRATORS OF PLEASURE. An interesting director for those unfamiliar with his work, but I'm always left a bit cold and unfulfilled with his works...
A group of six more-or-less tenuously linked individuals are introduced - each with intricate and bizarre fetishistic tendencies. One man dresses up like a chicken and enacts a fantasy of murdering his female neighbor. His neighbor enjoys S&M games with a life-size stuffed doll. Another man builds a sex-robot because of his obsession with a female television personality. A female postal-worker is enthralled with rolling up little balls of dough and snorting them. A disenfranchised husband enjoys to create strange sensory "toys" out of fur and other materials to arouse himself - and his wife has a thing for fish. Eventually the connection between these individuals is revealed, and they find that their singular fetishes may not be as "singular" as they seem...
A relatively entertaining and often funny/quirky film about desire and shame - CONSPIRATORS OF PLEASURE is worth a look to serious art-house style film fans. There is no dialogue in the film - but the goings on are often strange enough to keep things "interesting" - and the narrative of the film is pretty clear by the end. Personally - I'm just not a big fan of this sort of thing. Though many of the scenarios portrayed were interesting or amusing, I found myself bored after awhile and wishing for a hastier conclusion. The ending ties things up well, so no real gripes there either - I think my relatively mediocre rating is more just a matter of my own personal taste. I can see why some love this sort of thing, and others hate it - I'm more on the fence. Definitely worth a look for surreal-film lovers, or those that have seen some of Svankmajer's other works and really enjoyed them...6/10
A group of six more-or-less tenuously linked individuals are introduced - each with intricate and bizarre fetishistic tendencies. One man dresses up like a chicken and enacts a fantasy of murdering his female neighbor. His neighbor enjoys S&M games with a life-size stuffed doll. Another man builds a sex-robot because of his obsession with a female television personality. A female postal-worker is enthralled with rolling up little balls of dough and snorting them. A disenfranchised husband enjoys to create strange sensory "toys" out of fur and other materials to arouse himself - and his wife has a thing for fish. Eventually the connection between these individuals is revealed, and they find that their singular fetishes may not be as "singular" as they seem...
A relatively entertaining and often funny/quirky film about desire and shame - CONSPIRATORS OF PLEASURE is worth a look to serious art-house style film fans. There is no dialogue in the film - but the goings on are often strange enough to keep things "interesting" - and the narrative of the film is pretty clear by the end. Personally - I'm just not a big fan of this sort of thing. Though many of the scenarios portrayed were interesting or amusing, I found myself bored after awhile and wishing for a hastier conclusion. The ending ties things up well, so no real gripes there either - I think my relatively mediocre rating is more just a matter of my own personal taste. I can see why some love this sort of thing, and others hate it - I'm more on the fence. Definitely worth a look for surreal-film lovers, or those that have seen some of Svankmajer's other works and really enjoyed them...6/10