Eroticon

Summary

Eroticon (Erotikon, 1929), a silent “love drama in seven parts” made by Gustav Machatý in 1928–1929, was supposed to help its author achieve international renown. The scandalous film was anticipated so eagerly that it was sold to foreign distribution companies even before it was finished. Its “cosmopolitan” nature and ambitions were only strengthened by its international casting, led by Slovenian beauty queen Ita Rina. The original story in the form of a “film manuscript” titled Panenství (Virginity) was written by Vítězslav Nezval. He is, however, not listed in the credits as he was afraid of a conflict with his colleagues from the avant-garde association Devětsil who were opposed to collaborating with filmmakers. Eroticon tells a banal story about a romance between a naïve country girl who gets pregnant with a reckless farmer. Even though the “seduced and forsaken” woman later happily marries a noble, wealthy and staid gentleman out of gratefulness, she nearly succumbs to the treacherous lover again. It is not until the very end of the film that she realises that “fickle love cannot give a woman the happiness provided by the calm harbour of marriage”. In its form, Eroticon is a similarly ground-breaking work as the director’s most famous film Ecstasy (Extase, 1932) and, in terms of theme, could be considered its prequel. On one hand, Machatý didn’t dare include such “obscene” scenes as he did in Ecstasy, but with its aesthetic means of expression and “strong erotic inventiveness,” the film explored some taboo themes. Eroticon’s exclusiveness lies mainly in its modernist form. It takes a slushy romance story and transforms it into a film that’s exceptional to this day (although mainly thanks to its first twenty minutes; the rest conforms to the period mondaine salon dramas about infidelity). Compositionally resourceful shots, details of yearning faces, suggestive light contrasts and captivating usage of visual symbols (two raindrops merging into one on a window at the moment when the lovers engage in intercourse) and dynamic montage demonstrate the directorial and cinematographic mastery that made Eroticon a film of worldwide significance. The official premiere was held in Prague on 3 January 1930 (the first screening was held in Karlovy Vary on 27 February 1929). Its distributor, Slaviafilm, was speculatively sitting on the film for nearly a year. However, by the time of its premiere, the Czech capital had already been mesmerised by sound films. Despite the praise Eroticon received from critics, its reception was below expectations and not even providing the film with sound, which finally happened three years later, didn’t help attract attention. In 1993, the film was reconstructed and technically restored. The nitrate copy, which the National Film Archive bought after 1989 from collector Milan Wolf, is 400 metres longer than other available versions. The original music by Erno Košťál accompanying the sound version from 1933 was unfortunately lost. It was replaced by a score that Jan Klusák composed for the reconstruction. After the film was released on DVD by Filmexport Home Video (premiere 10 May 2007), the Association of Czech Film Clubs re-released it on 13 January 2011 as a part of its Project 100-2011 with a new musical rendition by FORMA + Café Industrial. The CD with the score was included in the package, but there was also an option to book a live performance. -tse-

Synopsis

Note

The première was held in Karlovy Vary. Its Prague première took place on the 3rd of January 1930. It was shown again in 1933 in its Czech and German sound versions with the music of Erno Košťál. Both versions were substantially cut. In the National Film Archive Prague is also preserved a copy of the German version (print 1 860,0 metres), a copy of the Czech version on the video.

During the years 1993 – 1995 the film was reconstructed by the National Film Archive Prague.