The School of Decadence

"The desert grows ..."

(Mara Mattuschka)


Mattuschka humorously reflects upon the meaning of (written) signs, for example in Kaiserschnitt. Similarly, but on a more abstract level, in Schule der Ausschweifung numerous bugs form on Mimi’s belly as she stretches out in a landscape of cacti. We hear from off-screen that she feels herself encircled by “the little black-winged bugs dancing around her,” as well as surrounded by “even more malicious” thoughts. The last shot of the film resembles the alphabet from Kaiserschnitt: The bugs are seen directly arranged like a typeset sentence on a transparent animation cell, Minus Mimi’s body.

(Christa Blüminger)