Violence and Sex and Violence again: The Sexual Revolution in the Films of the Yugoslav Black Wave
Violence and Sex and Violence again: The Sexual Revolution in the Films of the Yugoslav Black Wave

Summary/Abstract: The sexual revolution, regarded as one of the main hallmarks of the 1968 revolution, left a distinct mark in four Serbian films of the Yugoslav Black Wave: Early Works (Rani radovi, 1969) by Želimir Žilnik, Plastic Jesus (Plastični Isus, 1971) by Lazar Stojanović, W.R.: Mysteries of the Organism (WR – misterije organizma, 1971) by Dušan Makavejev and Young and Healthy As a Rose (Mlad i zdrav kao ruža, 1971) by Jovan Jovanović. These films tackle the issue of the relationship between violence and sexuality, which was crucial for the course of the revolution. Sexual freedom was recognised by the revolutionaries of 1968 as a fundamental manifestation of the individual freedom for which they fought, resisting the violence resulting from the current political and cultural tradition. The directors of these films ironically illustrate how the implementation of the revolutionary demand that sex replace violence as a force shaping social life leads to a paradoxical effect: the revelation of sexuality’s organic entanglement in violence, rooted in human nature.

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