fileroom.org - Dusan Makavejev's "W.R.: Mysteries of the Organism"

It also contains scenes of nudity and explicate sexuality weaved in with documentary footage of communism. As a whole, "W.R." is a critique of communist sexual repression. It is not a sex film, but rather a film about sex.

"> Name: Dusan Makavejev's "W.R.: Mysteries of the Organism"

Date: 1951 - 1975

Location: Russia and Central Asia

Subject: Explicit Sexuality ,Nudity,Political/Economic/Social Opinion

Medium: Film/Video

Artist: Dusan Makavejev

Confronting Bodies: Yugoslav Ministry of Culture

Date of Action: 1973

Specific Location: Yugoslavia

Description of Artwork: The W.R. in "W.R.: Mysteries of the Organism" stands both for World Revolution and for Wilhelm Reich, who the film starts with a documentary about. Reich was a Marxist who believed in free love. The use of this footage is to make statements on social and sexual liberation, totalitarianism, and free love in a communist atmosphere. Later in the film one of the characters declares, "Communism without free love is a wake in a graveyard."

Description of Incident: "W.R." was shown at Yugoslav film festivals, but not released further due to Soviet pressure. The graphic sex was the biggest concern of the Ministry of Culture. Even President Josip Broz Tito had left during a screening of the film, calling it perverted. It also caused an uproar from concerned citizens. In 1973, a veteran's association who had been offended by the masturbation and homosexuality brought up a lawsuit against Makavejev.

Results of Incident: The film was shelved by the Ministry of Culture and Makavejev was exiled until 1988. "W.R." was shown in the West, but even there, the sexuality found objections and was cut.

Source: Censorship: A World Encyclopedia. Ed. Derek Jones. Chicago; London: Fitzroy Dearborn, 2001.

Submitted By: NCAC

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