The second experimental full-length film by Czech-born, Australian-based surrealist Dusan Marek, following from 1967's Cobweb on a Parachute. According to Alex Gerbaz in 'Innovations in Australian Cinema', And the Word Was Made Flesh
contains no dialogue or voice-over narration (except for a brief prologue statement). The tone is lighter than Cobweb, but the series of events is more intricate and bizarre. One of the most striking shots (repeated with variations) shows a bearded anthropologist writhing and falling down sand dunes; filmed in reverse, he seems to be falling up instead of down. The camera's poetic use of framing and space, its exploration of the nooks inside empty houses, and its occasional unexpected movements from side to side help create a compelling visual style. The music, while used sparsely, adds a rich texture: a flute-and-guitar melody in a strange scale starts up suddenly to indicate madness or obsession; a percussive tune with rattling bottles and light bells accompanies the pursuit of the anthropologist by two faceless men. Occasionally, the film evokes Woman in the Dunes (Teshigahara, 1964), with its desert landscape, erotic, abstract images of locking bodies, minimalist avant-garde music, and intermittent shots of spiders and insects.
In his overview of Australian and New Zealand horror films, Robert Hood says of And the Word Was Made Flesh,
A surrealistic experimental film intended to show, according to Marek,
"man's attempt to retain his inside freedom ... and not be moulded by
the outside". A scientist finds a cocoon. An idealised woman comes out
of it. She is harassed by two faceless monsters who are collecting
specimens for a museum. She and the scientist make love on a vast
stretch of sand, while a killer stalks them. Make sense of it if you
can.
Sources:
Gerbaz, Alex. 'Innovations in Australian Cinema: An Historical Outline of Australian Experimental Film'. Journal of the National Film and Sound Archive, Australia 3.1 (2008): 1-12.
Hood, Robert. 'Killer Koalas: Australian (and New Zealand) Horror Films'. Tabula Rasa (http://www.tabula-rasa.info/AusHorror/OzHorrorFilms2.html). (Sighted: 29/6/2012)
