MovieChat Forums > Taxidermia (2006) Discussion > Do Non-Hungarians get theese symbols?

Do Non-Hungarians get theese symbols?


The movie is more popular ouside Hungary, but many viewers don't know Hungarian history and might just see it as a perverted family saga and their grotesque relationship with body, meat and flesh.

This movie is not just an "art movie + Saw+ Se7en" (Lust at first, then Gluttony, which becomes Sloth after the fall of communism and Pride by the youngest boy, the Taxdermist)

This is also (just like Axis Powers Hethalia) a representation of a country's history: main characters reflect the country's situation.
Why does the pig-sodomist die, before the fat man is born? Because the Fascist Hungary was defeated before the Communist was created. (Yes, the first third of the movie is about NAZIS, just like in "Salo" by P. Pasolini.)
Germans invaded the country in 1944. The perversion symbolises the Fascist madness. When it was the strongest (the sex with the pig-woman), it was shot down rapidly (early '45).
The communism gave the country a new constitution, in 1949. Hence the Discontinuity- the father dies before the son is born, they have a different family name: Balatoni, not Morozsgoványi.

Fat women represent wealth, goods. In fascism, it was forbidden (Jewish property) in communism, countries were competing for it, and Hungary "won", so it became the Happiest Barrack, Goulash Communism. In capitalism, after 1990: no woman, no money- she went to the USA (compare to multinational companies, which take out the money from the country).

The old sick fart is still living in the capitalism- it symbolises, that the communist elite remained rich, but they are depending on the capitalist generation (the son goes to the supermarket for supply). Unlike the 1940s, there is a continuity here in history. The family name remains the same- Hungary still has its 1949 constitution. To maintain the position of the old communists, people are still under pressure, like the taxidermist.
Hungary is in serious IMF financial debt because of the communists.
The youngest generation has no future- they are working for the orders of Western capital. They cant make children- Hungary's population is declining since 1981, from 10.8 million to under 10 million.

Hungary is weak (like the body of the taxidermist) and the only thing it can do to preserve himself: Hungarian museums, art, culture is about being remembered and being known in the West.
Just like this very movie. We know that we don't have future. Hungary's never made any sci-fi movie, and in literature we never write about the future of Hungary, because we know that it doesn't exist.

Like the taxidermist, we want to preserve the past now and we want the West to look at us and study us and remember us and learn from our self-destroying mistakes.
The stuffed human is a symbol of the Taxidermia movie itself, and the snubbish crowd in white helds a mirror to the film festivals and the Western art-movie-loving audience, who like the whole thing - even when they just understand a little part of it. (Because they don't care about this insignificant little country.)

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Thanks for these interesting comments, added a lot to the movie experience for me afterwards, even though I liked the movie already as it was!

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The movie will be shown on TV this night, good to know these things before, thanks!

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I just watched Taxidermia and loved it. But to be honest I couldn't describe to anyone what it's actually about. It's just a film that I will never forget. I came here, to IMDB, to possibly get some answers about this film. Thanks for the Hungarian insight.

You mentioned this film is more popular outside of Hungary. Was Taxidermia well recieved in your country or has it slipped under the radar?

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I just watched this movie last night and like someone had previously mentioned, was having trouble describing to others what this film is really about. Your analysis is very insightful and interesting. Thank you for that!

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thanks for posting this, because there's no way I would have gotten those references

is the future of Hungary really that dark? I don't know a thing about it except from watching a few films, and I liked both this movie and Kontroll (although Taxidermia is awfully hard to like, I think it's a good movie, but I did not enjoy watching it)

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I do now. Thanks for the detailed analysis. I had a vague sense that the movie followed the political and socioeconomic conditions of the times, but the reflections on the deadly sins and on the art of taxidermia as portrayed (here, voyeurism goes full circle) really tied it together. Brilliant!

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Thanks a lot for the analysis, I was hoping someone on imdb would cover some of the political and social history of Hungary in relation to this movie. It really helps put the film in perspective, a lot of non-Hungarians don't know about some of the details you have pointed out.

I had some terrifying dreams after watching this, as I don't usually seek out such gory movies, and it became important to me that there was indeed a underlying message and not just gore for the sake of showing gore, (like Saw, Hostel, etc.) So, thanks for the clarification!

I was blown away by this film, it's so very haunting and disturbing, but I couldn't stop watching it! The cinematography was breathtakingly beautiful, great acting, editing, everything. It has earned a place alongside some pretty extraordinary movies that I felt were really vanguard films, but are so uncomfortable to watch that I hesitate to recommend them to people, like 'Irreversible' and 'Anti-Christ.'

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While I definitely agree with that Saw and Hostel are mostly about the gore for the sake of gore (and it also quickly becomes boring), I do think Saw and Hostel carry deep underlying meanings about our society as well (Western/American in this case).

I'll gladly do a write-up on the Saw forums if you are interested to hear my thoughts about it. What I think is important to understand is that ALL art, regardless if it sucks or not, is created from the minds of people, and these people live. Art are therefore social expressions and will always be. Even pop music you hear on the radio got meaning. There are studies suggesting that the reason why all modern dance music today is so repetitive is because it reflects or lack of discontinuity in the Western society. Many people today go through life without feeling anything ever changes. When we are 30, we still see ourselves as not quite grown-up. As a person who is slowly marching towards 30 myself, and left my teens not that many years ago, I can certainly understand this feeling. I do NOT understand that I am aging. This is also reflected in that we now use a new term for the people between 18-29: young adults. You are neither a child nor are you an adult. You are a young adult. And pop music can definitely symbolize this societal change in how we view time.

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Thank you very much for the analysis! I thought the film was fantastic but sensed that I wasn't getting the entire message. That's a great interpretation.

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