WR: Mysteries of the Organism [Criterion Collection]

WR: Mysteries of the Organism [Criterion Collection]

Director: Dusan Makavejev Cast: Milena Dravic
Milena Dravic
, Ivica Vidovic
Ivica Vidovic
, Miodrag Andric
Miodrag Andric
, Jackie Curtis
Jackie Curtis
Dusan Makavejev
WR: Mysteries of the Organism [Criterion Collection]

WR: Mysteries of the Organism [Criterion Collection]

Director: Dusan Makavejev Cast: Milena Dravic
Milena Dravic
, Ivica Vidovic
Ivica Vidovic
, Miodrag Andric
Miodrag Andric
, Jackie Curtis
Jackie Curtis
Dusan Makavejev

DVD

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Overview

"W.R." is pioneering sexologist Wilhelm Reich, whose precedent-breaking theories concerning carnal behavior and politics (including the invention of the orgone box) made him persona non grata in most psychoanalytic circles. By all accounts, Reich began his career brilliantly - as the next great successor to Freud and Jung; he then delved into extraordinarily controversial work that divided his critics, leading some to conclude that Reich had experienced a psychotic break from reality. Dusan Makavejev is the equally controversial Yugoslavian director fascinated by Reich's theories. This essay film by Makavejev - his first major work - constitutes a witty, free-form riff on the director's perception of Reichian philosophies as the basis of individual and collective sexual liberation. Makavejev elucidates the Reichian mindset via interviews with the doctor's relatives and colleagues (we even hear from Reich's barber!) Also illustrated is the ongoing conflict between the free-thinking disciples of W.R.'s sociopolitical attitudes and the adherents of sterile Stalinism. Over the course of the picture, Makavejev journeys to the U.S. and interviews such American sexual liberationists as Screw magazine editor Al Goldstein and Betty Dodson. Woven into the factual proceedings is a fictional plotline concerning the romance between Reich adherent Milena and uptight Soviet athlete Vladimir Ilyich. Though the film was never released in Makavejev's native Yugoslavia, WR: Mysteries of the Organism firmly established the iconoclastic filmmaker's international reputation.

Product Details

Release Date: 06/19/2007
UPC: 0715515024228
Original Release: 1971
Source: Criterion Collection
Region Code: 1
Sound: [Dolby Digital Mono]
Language: English
Time: 1:25:00
Sales rank: 17,004

Special Features

New, restored high-definition digital transfer, supervised and approved by director Dusan Makavejev; Audio commentary assembled from Raymond Durgnat's 1999 book on the film; Hole in the Soul, Makavejev's 1994 tragicomic autobiographical short film, originally made for the BBC; New and archival video interviews with Makavejev ; New and imporved English subtitle translation; Plus: An essay by critic Jonathan Rosenbaum

Cast & Crew

Performance Credits
Milena Dravic Milena
Ivica Vidovic Vladimir Ilyich
Miodrag Andric Soldier
Jackie Curtis Herself
Jagoda Kaloper Jagoda
Zoran Radmilovic Radmilovic

Technical Credits
Dusan Makavejev Director,Producer,Screenwriter

Scene Index

Disc #1 -- WR: Mysteries of the Organism
1. Joy of Life [1:17]
2. "Who Will Police Our Judges?" [2:43]
3. Filme Der Sexpol [3:10]
4. The Orgone Accumulator [2:12]
5. The U.S. vs. Wilhelm Reich [3:56]
6. "Down With the Orgies!" [3:44]
7. The Orgonon [2:20]
8. Sharaf, Dodson, Ollendorf [6:34]
9. "Marx Factor!" [1:15]
10. Jackie Curtis [2:20]
11. Communism With Free Love [4:34]
12. Milena's Speech [4:50]
13. Stalin's Vow [2:11]
14. Bodily Feelings [5:02]
15. Moscow Ice Follies [4:31]
16. A Visit From the People's Artist [8:21]
17. Radmilovic [2:23]
18. Screw Gary Cooper [3:01]
19. Jim Buckley and Nancy Godfrey [4:45]
20. "Our Glorious Party" [2:15]
21. The Appasionata [6:55]
22. "A Genuine Red Fascist!" [2:08]
23. "O Lord, Thou Art All Knowing" [3:43]
1. Begrade, Ex-Yu [8:26]
2. Trieste, 1973: Exile Begins [4:15]
3. "How to Dress for Success?" [4:36]
4. Film as Manic-Depressive Activity [3:45]
5. Dennis Jakob [6:12]
6. "What Is Yugoslavia?" [15:49]
7. Rambo Amadeus [9:35]
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