WR: Mysteries of the Organism (1971)

‘Comrades, fuck freely!’ The eclectically bold classic W.R. unfolds as an intertwined web of multiple plotlines, documentary material and free-form narratives. At its core lies Wilhelm Reich’s theory of Life Energy, linking sexual liberation to communism and revolution.

The film opens with an investigation into Reich’s controversial ideas, which locate mental health in the liberation of the libido. Through a hybrid and metaphorical structure, director Dušan Makavejev constructs a razor-sharp satire in which sexuality and politics collide. Scenes of orgasmic scream-therapy sessions, the public masturbation of a rifle, the plaster casting of Screw magazine founder Al Goldstein’s penis, and the sexual awakening of a communist Yugoslav woman all argue that sexual repression mirrors fascism. Makavejev’s humorous yet incendiary commentary on open sexuality and the communist state of Yugoslavia led to the film’s banning and his exile, which lasted until the regime’s collapse.

– Nasrin Reshadi