By Karolina Gruschka
The Aborsky Produktion Oltre La Follia by Luigi Zanuso, is a celebration of the abject. Introduced by the film’s promotion as “a surreal Porno/horror impregnated with the artistic/conceptual vision of the author”, Oltre La Follia displays death, (moral) decay, abject identities and various body fluids and functions in an explicit manner. The hour long feature divides into eight episodes which are conjured up by the auteur – Luigi Zanuso – in a state of nightmarish jouissance. Each section is introduced with a philosophical quote about madness, taken from Zanuso himself or Erasmo da Rotterdam.
Episode one takes place in a red room; performer Rosario Gallardo pleasures herself surrounded by on lookers and serves up her lower region’s bodily fluids in glasses to those ‘guests’.Episode two is set in the dining room; performer Michelle is biting, licking, stabbing, slapping and masturbating with offal while masked men observe (and get off).
Episode three shows Michelle having a nightmarish vision within Zanuso’s nightmare. In episode four a predator like and red-eyed Michelle is involved in a gory ‘three girls and a dead cow’ sequence. Episode five shows four couples having outer- and intercourse with each other; their moments of pleasure leading not only to the loss of body fluids but also to the loss of life.
In episode six Michelle’s dinner party has grown darker and more absurd as she wears goggles made from eyeballs and inserts eyeballs into her vagina. In episode seven Michelle wears a super-massive strap-on and dominates one of the men. While she sodomizes him, another guy and then a pig head fuck her. Last but not least, episode eight displays Zanuso conducting an orchestra of mannequins.
I must admit that Oltra La Follia is my first ‘porn’. So far, I had only seen sexually explicit material in the shape of the odd graphic internet pop-up or a random scene whilst zapping through TV channels at night. Although porn graphically displays sexual organs and sexual activity with the intention of sexually arousing the viewer, I find that it has the opposite effect on me. The genre magnifies a real and natural act to such an extent that it transforms it into something ludicrous and repulsive. Oltre La Follia, too, is farcical and disgusting, yet with the difference being that the director intended to generate those responses. Luigi Zanuso mentions in an interview (which will be available as a DVD feature) that he approached the production with the goal “to see the absurd” by letting “madness itself speak[…]”. Creating this material is his way of looking at and addressing the crazy nature of the world, which is also inherent to our selves.
Further to visceral disgust, Oltre La Follia evokes moral disgust – an affect responding to people or conduct that transgress social norms. A great deal of the movie contains dead animals which are being (ab)used as part of the sexual activity, touching and penetrating various orifices of the human body. The press release indicates that this is a “protest” against the “killing of innocent animals” in our “corrupt and decadent society;” however, Oltre La Follia does exactly as what it condemns. As an animal lover (not the perverted kind … just saying) I found those scenes extremely disrespectful.
Contradiction appears to be a theme that runs steadily through the production. In his movie, Zanuso approaches realism (real sex, real bodies and real meat) by means of surrealist mediation. The unconscious wandering mind, irrationality; qualities in opposition to corporeality, though one could argue that surrealism is the interior counterpart to the ‘outer’ reality. What is more, Oltre La Follia is a cross between the two binary fields of artistic vision (creativity, conceptual approach) and pornography (sex for sex’s sake, focus on the material act). On the one hand Zanuso is trying to counter his dissatisfaction with existing porn; on the other, he is creating a work with a foul and absurd aesthetic. As a consequence the film becomes somewhat stuck in purgatory, being too visionary and philosophical for common porn as well as too generic for a piece of performance art. Zanuso, however, is aware that his filmmaking style only appeals to a very niche audience, stating in the aforementioned interview that “some people can appreciate this movies”. It seems to me that he shoots films not for an audience, but guided by an urge to “express the madness”. Consequently, Oltre La Follia won’t be everyone’s cup of tea. Did I like it? I believe that this movie not only goes beyond madness but also beyond questions such as whether it is a good film or not. What I am saying is that Oltre La Follia is probably more likely to interest somebody who appreciates ventures into different sensibilities.
After running the film festival circuit, Oltre La Follia will be released on DVD and include the feature, an interview with Zanuso, an interview with one actor, two short films and the teaser trailer.