University of Miami

Student Life, Exhibits & Films

Directed by Gyorgy Palfi Hungary, 2006, Digital Projection, 91 minutes, Color, Hungarian, English and Russian with English Subtitles TAXIDERMIA contains three generational stories, about a grandfather, a father, and a son, linked together by recurring motifs. The dim grandfather, an orderly during World War Two, lives in his bizarre fantasies; he desires love. The huge father seeks success as a top athlete - a speed eater - in the post-war pro-Soviet era. The grandson, a meek, small-boned taxidermist, yearns for something greater: immortality. He wants to create the most perfect work of art of all time by stuffing his own torso. Historical facts and surrealism become intertwined as magical realism, like in the works of Gabriel Garcia Marquez or the Hungarian writer Lajos Parti Nagy; the script is based on two of the latter's stories. Palfi added the third story, that of the grandson the taxidermist. Please Note: This film is extremely graphic. Viewer discretion is advised.