Boba_Fett1138 Silly me I suppose. I had no idea what I was in for. I knew nothing about the movie and it caught me off guard.At first I though this was being one of those artistic documentary like movies, in which a whole bunch of people are having deep thoughts about life and happiness. It took me a while to realize that it were all characters in this movie and it wasn't being a documentary at all. It's more a sort of satire and if you take it that way this movie is being pretty bearable and good enough for what it is.Not that this movie is just for everybody though. It's the sort of cheaply made artistic movie, that's filled with metaphors and doesn't necessarily following a main plot line in it. Some people will hate it, while others shall absolutely love it. I was stuck in the middle somewhere.Thing I liked about this movie is that it's also being the sort of movie that makes you think. It makes you think about what you're seeing and what the characters in it are trying to tell you with their actions and pieces of dialog. It's probably true that you could keep watching this movie over and over again and get more- or completely different things out of it, each time you watch it.But it's still not my cup of tea. It's being a bit too vague and odd all at times and most of its themes don't even feel all that relevant anywhere in today's world and present morals and standards. Perhaps you should look at it more as a period piece, from a time when there still was sexual repression and communism and capitalism still seemed like a real threat to the world.Still a great watch for some people. Just not for me.6/10 http://bobafett1138.blogspot.com/

Andy (film-critic) Released in 1972 overseas and deeply rooted within art-house cinemas, "WR" is not a film for mass audiences, though; one could argue that it carries more honest truths today than it did when originally conceived. Watching it today, in 2008, nearly thirty-six years later, it is difficult to watch. Not that there is anything wrong with this cult masterpiece, it is a film that is not as "modern" with its voice as it is with its message. As I do believe that this is an important film to watch, it may not initially show itself to you right away. Like myself, it took nearly two viewings to fully understand the scope of "WR: Mysteries of the Organism" – nearly the same viewings that it took when originally watching "8 ½" or even "Obscure Object of Desire" – it isn't a film for just afternoon viewing – prepare yourself for cinematic intelligence on a grand scale. This film forces you to think, look within the images, to break outside of your mold, and forces yourself out comfort zone. This is "WR: Mysteries of the Organism", who would want anything else.How deep does psychology have to go? As the film asks this question, it feverously jumps from an American visual to a Yugoslavia political. We go from our Reich-ian feminist who is in love with the ice-skater, to the simple stroll of our Warhol performer in New York, than haphazardly back to the demonstration in Yugoslavia. As our sexual moments continue throughout, Makavejev uses them wisely (and symbolically) to make political and individual statements. It is this juxtaposition that makes this film bold and expressive; growing into more than just your average "I am Curious" moment. As any of our scenes nearly climax (literally and figuratively), Makavejev takes the moment to pull us back into the "why" of the scene. It isn't American cinema, in which skin is used to fill theater seats, there is a point to the sex, and just as we think there is no rhyme to the reason, we are pulled back into Makavejev's flamboyant mind. In essence, he is answering the age old question, "do sex and politics really mesh"? Then, seemingly out of nowhere, he pulls away the carpet giving us more than the original tantalizing scenes, but replacing them with horror and grotesque … again – with a point. To stress again why "Mysteries of the Organism" demands more than one viewing (nearly right after the initial viewing) is because it isn't just your average entertainment only film, Makavejev has put himself within the feature – giving us a short glimpse of personal ideals, sexual exploits, and the power of politics … all within only about 85 minutes. It is enough to give anyone a headache, but also excitement for what was missed.Orgon Therapy? Madness or Sane formulations? "WR" questions Reich's ideals through faux-cinema and a sense of documentary styles. While some of the history is shown through factual images, i.e. Stalin as a symbol of sex, it is the directed images that really add the value to "Mysteries of the Organism". The drama of the characters that are represented demonstrate real life – the choices made and the consequences that follow. It is more than just a handful of powerful scenes … it is the option for viewers to discuss, have opinions, and agree/disagree. As I throw out these random thoughts of this film, it only seems to fit that of our director. This is not a linear film, but consistent imagery posted with symbolism. Listening to the audio commentary, it seems to add the glue to these random tangents. Criterion's addition of Richard Durgnat's words (read by Daniel Stewart), help the free-associated viewer deal with the deeper changes and movements within the film. Overall, Criterion's addition of this film to its collection continues to show their excitement towards groundbreaking cinema, nearly forgotten through the modern CGI-explosive cinema bombarded today, "WR: Mysteries of the Organism" is difficult to watch, nearly too smart for my initial view – it is challenging because of the bold words, the wild symbolism, and that wild scene that uses the song "Kill for Peace". Whew, perhaps this paragraph was random thoughts, but it seems to work with this feature.Overall, in hopes not to bore the average reader, "WR: Mysteries of the Organism" is part black comedy, documentary, political collage, philosophical essay, and a bit of science fiction. While these words hardly scratch the surface of what "WR" has to offer, this film is bizarre in a phenomenal way. This isn't your average art-house picture, but instead a film that demands debate and pulls you within the film – pushing your mind, focusing your eyes, and challenging your intelligence. Using political scenes that are dated, Criterion's release gives you the opportunity to explore from different angles, so that you can see the universal language that "WR" uses. This is a challenging film. It seems to be pulling from every genre, in a way that is difficult to explain. The final scene of this film still remains in my mind, the stern Stalin image that leads us into a darker world. I still don't think I fully understand what Makavejev was trying to say, but what astonished me about this film is that I didn't want to just put it aside. "WR" pulls you, it yanks at your heartstrings, it opens your eyes, and one viewing is never enough for such a subtle (or is it?) engrossing film. While it would not be for everyone, it still remains relevant today, and I am excited that Criterion has chosen to add it to their collection. "Mysteries of the Organism" is an excellent film for those angered by the idiosyncratic destinies of Hollywood.Grade: **** ½ out of *****

MisterWhiplash WR is not exactly a full-blown "perfect film". It is, without a doubt, one of the most in-your-face forms of personal, artistic and political expression put out in the period. Only Godard can be compared for something as demanding and daring as W.R., but even then there could be compromises due to his penchant for drawing out the facet of the cinematic essay. Writer/director Dusan Makavejev goes fearlessly into making a hybrid of documentary and fiction, where one sees a truly raw form take place in how he places his camera on subjects and on locales, and an attitude of recklessness in how he edits together the fictional segments (a free-love inspired communist Yugoslavian meets a more uptight male ice skater and fall somewhat in a kind of love surrounded by semantics) with archival footage and the documentary. It's this same reckless quality and adherence only to throw out any typical narrative that makes W.R such a crazy milestone in the avant-garde (which, by the way, Makavejev says is only relative to other films). He could have just made a serious work about the writer/sex therapist Wilhelm Reich, or a romantic drama about two differing sides of the personifications of communist ideas played out, but he's discontent with making either or and does both, and more. It's a film of its time, but not trapped in it.One of the best things that also comes out right away from W.R. is that it is, in the tradition of another cinematic anarchist like Godard, a full-blown satire. This is essential because without this spirit of mocking and criticizing the very things that Makavejev is praising (i.e. Leninist and Stalinist propaganda footage is inter-cut with footage from what must be committed folk at an asylum getting electroshock and knocking heads against the wall), the film would very quickly become preachy and didactic, and might have actually been more-so accepted by the Yugoslav censors. It's the very act of humor about it all, of having sex as if in a kaleidoscope put to dry narration, or the crazy bearded guy with a helmet carrying around a gun and sometimes giving it a 'good time, or how some weird drunken neighbor literally crashes through the wall of the communist girl's apartment while he and the ice skater talk politics and her (very naked) friend does leg exercises, that makes it on the surface seem so outrageous.And believe-you-me, it didn't get the "Luis Bunuel award" at Cannes for nothing! Going between a gay guy telling about his prime sexual experiences to seeing women and men in the throws of Reich's 'method' of releasing pent up tensions (this may be the only repetitive portion of the film, not s shocking to anyone who's seen any given episode of HBO's Real Sex, albeit for the period it's quite absorbing), and then back to Reich's theories that were crushed and burned as he died in a prison, and then back again to the Yugoslav 'love' story that ends with a few image that Jodorowsky might wince at.And as this is all going on, Makavejev doesn't let the audience stop thinking, either. Behind a sequence like when Milena riles up the men in the building complex to have a free and healthy attitude towards communism is some truth, contained within what is obviously a parody of communist propaganda films are points that the viewer has to take into account, or at least to fill in some blanks as the film goes forward.The lack of structure then, in a sense, is structured as such, and it becomes an act of participation to guess what might come next, of what might be either informative- like the history of Reich as writer and controversial figure, almost by bad luck, or about the delirious technique of the 'box' used by Reich on his patients- or entertaining, in ways that only a provocateur can handle. Now, take this as a fact, know what you're getting into before you seek out the Criterion DVD. It's quite a graphic film in terms of showing full on sex, aroused genitalia, and sometimes not in always the playful manner intended. But it's not simply that to look out for, though even by today's standards it's a bit surprising. What makes W.R. such a unique and warped bird of art is how it challenges the viewer, provokes fully if not discussion then some kind of collision of intellectual and visceral reaction for those who at least meet the filmmaker halfway. Once in a while frustrating, but never ever boring, W.R. is a cinematic shock from a go-for-broke iconoclast.

NateManD WR: Mysteries of the Organism, is one unique if not messed up viewing experience. Part documentary and part fictional surrealist philosophical sex comedy, Serbo-Croatian director Dusan Makavejev assaults the viewers senses with imagery, music, politics and satire. "Mysteries of the Organism" is on many top 1000 film lists, but for some odd reason it is nearly impossible to track down. Just like Makavejev's other film "Sweet Movie", I was put on a several month waiting list on Amazon. Thank god for ebay! This is a film that screams for a DVD release, but I don't think many distributors want to touch it due to it's explicit sexuality and subversive elements. The film starts off as a documentary on Wilhelm Reich, a scientist who studied the orgon and used the human orgasm as a method for healing. Of course, similar to the scientist Tesla; his books were seized and burned by the U.S. government and FDA. Then the second part of the film deals with Milena, a sexually liberated Yugoslavian girl who makes revolutionary speeches on her apartment balcony. She says "The October Revolution failed by not excepting free love". Later she falls in love with a Soviet figure skater who's afraid to express his sexual feelings. So this film is a comedy, based on the politics of human sexuality. It mocks capitalism and communism for suppressing people's sexual desires. Now if only I could find the soundtrack. My rating is 10/10, which means I'll watch it again!