MUTZENBACHER

Several men respond to a broad casting call by filmmaker Ruth Beckermann, who is looking for men between the ages of 16 and 99 for the film adaptation of the controversial Austrian erotic novel Josefine Mutzenbacher oder Die Geschichte einer Wienerischen Dirne, which was published anonymously at the beginning of the 20th century, was until recently still on the list of writings harmful to minors and was long believed to be by Felix Salten, the author of Bambi.

These men read aloud, sing, act (some more unabashedly than others) passages with explicit sexual content, often embodying the female character, while the director asks penetrating questions about the feelings and memories these texts evoke in them. Some auditions take place individually, others in groups, but the majority in pairs, and the result of these interactions brings out another layer of meaning in the film. Surprisingly, this method allows most participants to talk openly and frankly about intimacy, sexual fantasies, taboos or toxic masculinity. It is also interesting to observe when this openness and vulnerability proves uncomfortable.

This thought-provoking deconstruction of the concept of masculinity represents an unexpected turn in Ruth Beckermann's work, which is usually associated with a more open political debate. Susana S. Rodrigues