Conspirators of Pleasure

Spiklenci slasti
File:CONSPIRATORSOFPLEASURE.jpg Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Jan Švankmajer
Written by	Jan Švankmajer
Produced by	Jaromir Kallista
Starring	Petr Meissel
Cinematography	Miroslav Spala
Edited by	Marie Zemanová
Music by	Olga Jelinková Stephen Quay Timothy Quay
Release dates	August 1996 (1996-08) (Switzerland) 17 October 1996 (1996-10-17) (Czech Republic)
Running time	85 minutes
Countries	Czech Republic Switzerland UK
Language	No dialogue

Conspirators of Pleasure (Czech: Spiklenci slasti) is a 1996 black comedy film by Jan Švankmajer. His third feature film after Alice and Faust, it was nominated for the Golden Leopard at the Locarno International Film Festival.

Plot

On Sunday, Pivoňka drives to the country with his effigy while Loubalová takes her effigy to an abandoned crypt containing a closet, a chair with candles and a basin of water. Loubalová emerges from the closet and whips her straw effigy which, being animated, reacts. Pivoňka dresses in his chicken outfit and struts around his similarly animated effigy, eventually crushing it with a boulder while Loubalová drowns hers in the basin. At home, Malková shoves an unfeasible number of bread balls in her nose and ears and takes a nap. While Weltinská strokes her carp and feeds them the bread balls Malková later delivers, Beltinský strips naked in his workshop and rubs his objects over his body. When Weltinská reads the news, Kula turns on his machine and climaxes at the same time that she does, stimulated by the carp sucking her toes under her desk. On his way home, Pivoňka is fascinated by Weltinská's image in a television shop window and stops to buy electronic equipment magazines at Kula's shop. Kula is now covering rolling pins with feathers; Malková looks longingly at a carp in a fishmonger's windows. Pivonka discovers that Loubalová has been killed in her flat by a boulder that has seemingly dropped through her roof; Beltinský is investigating. Entering his own flat, Pivonka sees the chair with candles and the basin of water awaiting him. His closet door slowly opens.

Cast

• Petr Meissel as Mr. Pivoňka
• Gabriela Wilhelmová a Mrs. Loubalova
• Barbora Hrzánová as Postmistress
• Anna Wetlinská as Anna Weltinská
• Jiří Lábus as Newspaper Vendor
• Pavel Nový as Mr. Wetlinský

Reception

On Rotten Tomatoes the film has an approval rating of 86% based on reviews from 7 critics.

External links

• Conspirators of Pleasure at Zeitgeist Films
• Spiklenci slasti at IMDb
• Spiklenci slasti at AllMovie