A man is dragged through the woods by a group of porcelain-masked
women, tied to a chair, castrated with a crude vintage device, then given
his own blood to drink. Everything is filmed by an unmasked camerawoman
who doesn't show an ounce of sympathy. And everything is set to a vintage
rendition of Charles Gonoud's (Bach-based) Ave Maria, recorded in
1902 by Alessandro Moreschi. Alessandro Moreschi, it should be added,
was castrated at age 7 to, of all things, sing for the pope at the
Basilica in Rome. And the last shot shows how the castration in the film
and the story of Alessandro Moreschi are linked ... A haunting
little movie that sets an act of extreme violence against a very beautiful
scenery, moves ahead at an intentional slow pace, treats its violent
subject matter rather lyrically, and plays beautiful music over the
proceedings - only to inform the audience towards the end that the exact
music (Charles Gonoud's Ave Maria) is the real horror of the movie. Very
creepy ... and recommended of course.
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