I don't have all the words right now but this film is a work of art.

Far from Perfect, Far from Terrible

As Good As It Gets

Unshakable, witty and deeply felt, the film will be paying emotional dividends for a long, long time.

After I patiently endured having Sweet Movie's sexual carnage (that included cruelty, hatefulness, and humiliation) repeatedly ground into my face for 100 minutes - I am now completely convinced that its director/writer, Dusan Makavejev was nothing but an absolute peasant of the lowest calibre.And the degrading, white-trash, gutter-level attitude that prevails throughout this film's storyline proves my accusation against Makavejev to be 100% correct, over and over again.I mean - It really figures that this picture is so vile and sick-minded in nature that one of its most triumphant "highlights" is for the viewer to witness the exuberant celebration of the depiction of multiple bowel movements at close range. (Spare me!)C'mon - Let's face it - Because 1974's "Sweet Movie" is a foreign film - The snobs-of-cinema gloat all over it and self-righteously christen it as being "Art House".But - You can be sure - Had "Sweet Movie" been an American release it would have promptly been reduced to the level of pure "Trash-House" of the trashiest kind.*Note* - I think it's really disturbing to find out that the National Film Board of Canada was actually involved in partially financing this despicable production.

I gave this movie a 6 out of 10. Not because I'm sure that it merits that score but because I'm not sure that it doesn't. Then I decided not to score it at all. I didn't hate it but I didn't love it either. So "no score" wins for now.Be forewarned that there are some very disturbing scenes. This is a movie that would never be made today because of some of the pedophilic imagery. And I admit to having a weak enough stomache that I had to fast-forward through some of the scenes involving feces, urine and vomit.If you can get past that I am quite sure that there is a message in there somewhere. Except when I think it's a piece of crap, that is. The trouble is that I can almost get what it's saying but I can't quite make the leap. Possibly it would have been easier to understand closer to the time it was filmed.I am pretty sure that it is a simultaneous indictment of both the former Eastern Bloc and the West. You can feel the filmmaker's hatred of the Soviet system and his disappointment with the West. Or not. Maybe I have that completely wrong! It comes down to one basic fact. It left me thinking.I didn't really like it and I don't think I entirely respect it either. Nonetheless I came away from this cinematic enigma with something. I just don't know if that something is worth having :) However I don't regret the time I spent watching it.My advice is just to watch it for yourself. The reviewers that call it "brilliant" are probably just poor self-deluded victims of their own pretensions. The ones that call it crap or garbage are probably at least honest about their feelings but they likely didn't even try to understand. Make up your own mind.

I must say that this film is nothing like what I expected. It seems to be a film-play commentary on the subjects of sexual boundaries and Marxism.The importance of virginity, the bizarre nature of water sports, and a naked starlet covered in liquid chocolate. Captain Anna Planeta makes her way through the canals of Amsterdam on her ship Survival, a quasi-communist, sugar soaked den of debauchery and murder. She picks up the hitchhiking Potempkin, and declares him her sexual proletariat.Meanwhile Miss World 1984 after being traumatized by golden phallus is karate-chopped by a large black man, packed into a suitcase and shipped to Paris, where she engages in public sex, ends up traumatized as a result, and is shipped off to a Therapie-Commune for compassionate care while she recovers. Here we find a group of people who seek therapy in all sorts of overt sexual, natal, and scatological situations. There is actually a pooping contest! Meanwhile Captain Anna Planeta has managed to entice some 10 year old boys onto Survival, and in a ribbon-suit that would make Sam Lowry of Brazil envious, she proceeds to seduce the children! Very dangerous film-making, even by todays standards. According to the actress who played the seductress, the scene was enough to cause a scandal in her home country of Poland, getting her banned for 7 years.Intersperse all this with actual footage of the exhumations of the mass graves of the Soviet Katyn Massacre, and there you have it in a nutshell.The term Art House shocker has never had a more appropriate film behind it, and I have seen a lot of them. Not for everyone, but certainly for the avid Art-cinema fan.

Almost every review I see is just the person describing the bizarre scenes that you witness. And, I don't blame them. Sweet Movie is almost beyond words. It has weird scene after weird scene followed by a weird song. The Planet Earth and Birth song was especially likable, it had me humming and singing almost immediately. In Sweet Movie you basically follow these two women, one who appears to be a virgin to almost all things in life, and then you have another woman who is completely just taking advantage of all that life has to offer. And by the end, each lady seems to reach a pretty realistic conclusion. Like many others, probably 80% of most people who watch this, I was confused more than anything else. I did enjoy the bizarreness of it all, but at the same time I really didn't find myself enjoying the movie a whole lot. Sweet Movie is definitely not for everyone. It's without a doubt way too hard for the average person to appreciate. But if you're a movie buff, open-minded to outrageous ideas and can stand a little bit of the perverse, Sweet Movie could be a nice treat for you. The only way I see myself seeing this movie again is if I can watch it with commentary.