Taxidermia (2005)
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81% of critics liked it
(47 reviews) -
76% of users liked it
(5,742 ratings)
A strange young man takes his family's long tradition of bizarre behavior to new heights (or depths) in this wildly perverse and explicit horror comedy from director György Pálfi. Kálmán Balatony (Gergo Trócsányi) is a grotesquely fat gentleman who was fathered by an angry hospital orderly… More A strange young man takes his family's long tradition of bizarre behavior to new heights (or depths) in this wildly perverse and explicit horror comedy from director György Pálfi. Kálmán Balatony (Gergo Trócsányi) is a grotesquely fat gentleman who was fathered by an angry hospital orderly getting revenge on his boss by having sex with his wife. While the embittered husband killed the orderly when he was caught in the act, Kálmán was born as a result of the wife's indiscretion, and when he grows to adulthood he earns a modest fame as a competitive eating champion. At an eating contest, Kálmán meets a female competitor, the freakish Gizi (Adél Stanczel), and the two fall in love. Kálmán and Gizi marry, and she gives birth to a son, Lajos (Marc Bischoff), who grows up to be just as skinny as his parents are fat. Lajos studies taxidermy and takes up preserving animals as a career when he isn't busy taking care of his elderly and increasingly massive father. Lajos also raises a handful of unusually large house cats, and when they begin to turn on their master, Lajos uses his talents to keep them around the house without the danger of their bothering anyone. Taxidermia received its North American premiere at the 2006 Toronto Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi
- Directed By
- György Pálfi
- Written By
- György Pálfi, Zsofia Ruttkay
- Genres
- Drama, Horror, Art House & International, Comedy
- In Theaters
- Feb 3, 2006 Wide
- Studio
- Regent Releasing
Critic Reviews
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Eddie Cockrell, Variety
Taxidermia sets a benchmark for body horror in the cinema.
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Kevin Thomas, Los Angeles Times
Taxidermia is a brilliant, often grotesquely bizarre allegory on life in Hungary from World War II to the present, a surrealist fantasy exploring the limits of the body and its desires and altogether a darkly funny comedy.
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V.A. Musetto, New York Post
And now a word of advice from your friendly film critic: If you go to see the Hungarian black comedy Taxidermia, don't plan to eat afterward.
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Stephen Holden, New York Times
Produces nightmarish horror and formal beauty in a surreal, Central European blend.
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Joshua Rothkopf, Time Out New York
Those who pride themselves on iron guts will want to trek down to Cinema Village for this surreal, stunty endurance test, occasionally redeemed by a darkly Pythonesque sense of humor.
See more critic ratings and reviews on Rotten Tomatoes
Fresh (60% or more critics rated the movie positively)
Rotten (59% or fewer critics rated the movie positively)
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Cast
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Csaba Czene
as Vendel Morosgoványi, Vendel Morosgovány...
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Gergo Trocsanyi
as Kálmán Balatony, Kálmán Balatony, Kťlm...
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Marc Bischoff
as Lajos Balatony
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Istvan Gyuricza
as Hadnagy/young lieutenant
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Piroska Molnár
as HadnagynĂ©/lieutenant's wife, Hadnagyné/...
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Gabor Mate
as Old Kálmán, Old Kálmán, Old Kťlmť
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Géza Hegedüs D.
as Dr. Andor Regöczy, Dr. Andor Regöczy, D...
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Istvan Hunyadkurthy
as Jenõ Bá, Jenő Bá, Jenť Bť
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Zoltán Koppány
as BĂ©la MiszlĂ©nyi, Béla Miszlényi, Bťla M...
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Adel Stanczel
as Gizella AczĂ©l, Gizella Aczél, Gizella A...
- István Znamenák
- Péter Blaskó
