Movielogr

Four Unloved Women, Adrift on a Purposeless Sea, Experience the Ecstasy of Dissection (2023)

Directed by David Cronenberg

Experimental | Short

Most recently watched by sensoria

Overview

Cronenberg’s speculative historical work draws inspiration from the anatomical waxworks at the La Specola museum in Florence, Italy. These wax models, traditionally used for medical demonstrations, are given a new perspective in the film. Cronenberg’s work reveals the vibrant and surprising aspects of these female wax corpses, which were previously seen as static and serious.  As David Cronenberg explains: “The Specola wax figures were created as a teaching tool, capable of revealing the mysteries of the human body to those who could not access … real cadavers held in universities and hospitals. In their attempt to create whole, partially dissected figures, whose body language and facial expression did not show suffering or agony … the sculptors ended up producing living characters apparently overcome by ecstasy. It was this surprising stylistic choice that captured my imagination: what if it was the dissection itself that induced that tension, that almost religious rapture?”

Length 4 minutes

Viewing History (seen 1 time)

Date ViewedDeviceFormatSourceRating
04/07/2025TVStreamingVideo on Demand7 stars
 

Viewing Notes

Humorous Cronenberg short mixing religion with the perverse and grotesque.

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