Conspirators of Pleasure (Spiklenci Slasti) Czech Republic, 1996

Director Jan Svankmajer is best known for his short films and non-stop animations. Just like his other feature length film "Faust", Conspirators of Pleasure is a mixture of live action and animation. This creates unique special effects. This blend of real actors and animations is rare to find, but Svankmajer knows how to combine this perfectly. The surreal storyline helps enhance the pictures. Four different characters prepare themselves for a meal, but they do all kinds of strange things. Our main character creates a papier mâché head of a chicken and makes fake wings out of umbrellas; another one collects furs, nails and other kitchenware as sexual fetishes; another woman has fish in a bucket and keeps her feet inside the bucket most of the time; another man creates a machine with moving arms who he uses to caress himself. It is a film of the senses, of taste and touch, of how certain things arouse us in a sensual or even sexual way. Why these people choose to do all these freaky stuff is never revealed in the film. The ending involves a crime. The film is creepy, daring and very original.