WR: Mysteries of the Organism

W.R. – Misterije organizma

Drama and documentary are woven around each other in Makavejev’s extraordinary smash-hit – a cinematic artefact about radical politics and sex.

  • Director

    Dušan Makavejev

  • With

    Milena Dravic, Tuli Kupferberg, Jackie Curtis

  • Yugoslavia 1971. 85min

  • 35mm

  • Certificate

    18

  • English subtitles

The revolutionary, psychosexual-analytic philosophies of Wilhem Reich provide the glue to this wide-ranging film that combines documentary with fiction, and takes us from Warhol Superstar Jackie Curtis’ trans experience to radical left-wing politics. A montage approach to documentary and dramatisation ensures a distinct liveliness to the proceedings, as Makavejev mixes interpersonal encounters and a strident editing style. We get Curtis, NYC artists Nancy Godfrey and Betty Dodson, Tuli Kupferberg from The Fugs, and the tale of a Yugoslav woman who seduces a Soviet ice-skater. Makavejev’s masterpiece, which includes nudity, explicit scenes and frank discussions about sex, screens from a 35mm print with a slight yellow hue and occasional clicks on the soundtrack, but which otherwise looks fantastic.

William Fowler

Contains nudity and sex scenes.

Access information

A printed transcript of the curator’s introduction to this screening will be available on entry to the screen.