Conspirators of Pleasure

Not reviewed at press time. This 1996 film by the Czech director and madman Jan Svankmajer (Faust), who is better known for his animation, is a mostly live-action and mostly silent exploration of the secret erotic fantasies of some ordinary Prague citizens. Belatedly slipping into Austin as a midnighter, Conspirators of Pleasure is already out on video and DVD. However, the opportunity to see six actors used as cartoon characters who accumulate strange objects for use in weird autoerotic rites sounds like an experience best appreciated on the big screen, surrounded by others in the dark.