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Sunday, 18 July 2004 |
  In the early 20th century the Victorian era, with its overbearing propriety, is drawing to a close. Ushering in a new age of seemingly unfettered mores are Johann and Victor, pornographers who make their living selling titillating photographs of naked women being "disciplined." Their clients include members of the aristocracy whose fascination with the photos betrays their haughty attitudes. The upper classes like to keep up appearances so Johann and Victor must work in secret, hawking their dirty pictures in alleyways and rear entrances. The hypocrisy of their blueblooded customers isn't lost on Victor, who takes great pleasure in disrupting their lives. Johann is more reposed, though his vacant expression hides an almost nonchalant evil. For Johann, the act of killing a man is nothing more than a minor annoyance.
Into Johann and Victor's circle of influence fall two wealthy families: the widowed engineer Radlov and his daughter Leeza, and the Stasovs: the famous doctor, his blind, cold-hearted wife, and their adopted siamese twin boys. Also bound to the pornographers are the gawky photographer Putilov and Johann's elderly lover Nanny (thankfully we're spared actually seeing their trysts).
Leeza's insular life is suffocating her and she finds release in the pictures she buys from Victor. When her father unexpectedly dies, she's easy prey for Johann and Victor. Then Victor catches a glimpse of Kolya and Tolya, Dr. Stasov's adopted sons. He's fascinated by the coupled twins, a perverse fascination actually, that leads to kidnapping and exploitation. Meanwhile Putilov schemes to escape with Leeza and Dr. Stasov searches frantically for his sons.
To delve more into the story would do this unique and compelling film an injustice. Filmed in sepia tone to better evoke the Victorian era, Of Freaks and Men plays like a collaboration between Luis Buñuel and Elmore Leonard with its conflicting social classes, concisely etched characters, and sudden plot twists. Directed by Alexei Balabanov, it's a vivid and striking trip, highly recommended to connoisseurs of strange cinema.
Starring: Sergei Makovetsky, Dinara Drukarova, Anzhelika Nevolina, Viktor Sukhorukov, Aleksei De.
Directors: Aleksei Balabanov
Studio: CTB Film Company (Russia)
Rated: UR
Running Time: 93 mins
Year: 1998
Reviewer: Steve Gonzales |
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