De humani corporis fabrica (2022)
27KDe humani corporis fabrica (2022). 1h 55m
“u0026quot;I am convinced we are all voyeurs. Itu0026#39;s part of the detective thing. We want to know secrets and we want to know what goes on behind those windows.u0026quot; -David Lynch, interviewed by Newsday, 1997. I wanted to begin with this quote as the line basically sums up my entire experience and evokes both awe and a grim feeling.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eBefore the film u0026quot;De humani corporis fabricau0026quot; I was familiar with the filmography and worldview of director duo Véréna Paravel and Lucien Castaing-Taylor, I saw only two of their films u0026quot;Leviathanu0026quot; and u0026quot;Canibau0026quot;, and I confess, based on the assessment of only these films, I had very contradictory feeling about the style. After the first viewing of Caniba, I did not like it much and since the weird, uncanny, experimental cinema is my realm i mostly swim in. I felt the cinephiles hype didnu0026#39;t seem justified for u0026quot;Canibau0026quot; but with their latest i must say the duo testing unorthodox methods of shooting and pushing the boundaries of what Cinema can and should be is commendable to create their own space.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eA documentary on health system, a shockumentary, body horror, slapstick comedy and a few other tags that u0026quot;De humani corporis fabricau0026quot; falls under, still cannot summarize all of its significance and genre nature for example the last sequence of doctors in the bar and the mutiple motifs in the scene. Taking inspiration from Andreas Vesalius (1514-1564) 16th-century anatomist, physician, and author of one of the famous book De Humani Corporis Fabrica (1543), the director duo have created a canvas that causes shock and awe. The surgery footages is presented so real with Cronenberg symbolism which literally permeates every frame.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eLike i said the multi-genre feel instantly knocks the mind out of a comfortable slumber. It will be contrasting when surgeons perform operations when human body is reduced to scalpel blade, man playing god, ranting, discussing about the probability and possibility of the surgery. A Kaleidoscopic look at how human beings reborn after the anatomized, excoriated surgery of disfigurement combined with 21st century medical technology. The camera work is brilliant, it is visceral to witness all the colors they make when it turns macabre with every detail shown on the screen. Shocking to see behind the scenes of the health system, the crisis and many more commentary. I am not ready to revisit it for second viewing at the moment but will check it out sometime later and it might not have the same impact on me, maybe even stronger.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eTo summarize, those who accustomed to seeing Mondo films, Aroma Planning/ Baroque Studio and Shockumentaries, also those who watched Kiyotaka Tsurisakiu0026#39;s works, Susumu Saegusa films, Der Weg nach Eden (1995) by Robert-Adrian Pejo, John Alan Schwartzu0026#39;s Faces of Death (1978), A Certain Kind of Death (2003), Damon Foxu0026#39;s Faces of Death, Stan Brakhageu0026#39;s The Act of Seeing with Oneu0026#39;s Own Eyes (1971) will appreciate this unsettling piece of work.”