There's no spoken language in this unconventional black and white film. The cinematic images are stark, crisp and unrelenting. The soundtrack is a combination of classical and electronic music. The plot deals with a young man - perhaps a farmer, or maybe a seminarian, or simply a lonely dropout - who spends his day hanging around a desolate barnyard, playing weird games, feeding animals, putting doll-heads on pigeons, killing chickens, getting naked and chasing his pig around, collecting dead things in jars, making food and drink from his own feces, often vomiting, and - of course - having sex with the aforementioned pig. No reason is given for the man's behavior. So as a result, the movie is open to symbolic interpretation [for those viewers who can get beyond the shock and disgust].

Critic Jay Talastra wrote: The film is essentially about transformation, or the overcoming of death. The young man's vomiting indicates a rejection of his voyage, and so he hangs himself in despair (or, as his body seems to be rising higher and higher like a kite in the final moments, he is being transported to another plane?). Some audience members won't bother with the symbolism as they will be too emotionally distressed by the earthy elements of the film, but that doesn't mean the director isn't interested in conveying a message ... In VASE DE NOCES, we see the young man's attempt to unite the human and avian (specifically by sticking doll-heads on birds). Then later he tries to make human/pigs by having sex with the sow, but the experiment doesn't work according to his 'divine' plan (maybe that's why he kills them).

But, despite such a serious attempt by some critics to find meaning or symbolism here, the film is almost indefensible especially with regards to animal cruelty. For example, when the young man discovers that the piglets prefer their mother's attention to his, he kills them by hanging [for real]. This causes the sow to go into depression and drown herself in a muddy pool [again, for real]. While there are no actual, graphic scenes of bestiality in this movie, the plot is clear. And there are a significant number of gross-out segments that will even offend the most jaded genre fan. A strong stomach is highly recommended. You will never be able to unsee these images.

This was the first feature for Thierry Zeno (here he is both director and actor). After this film, he made numerous documentaries (mostly dealing with death, e.g., Des Morts) before his own death from cancer in June of 2017 at age 67.

  

A Belgium film; no dialogue; fully uncut (80 min)
fullscreen format, DVDs encoded for ALL REGION NTSC,
playable on any American DVD machine.
Extras include trailers from X-Treme Films.

    

Violence/Graphic Male Nudity/Animal Cruelty/Strong and Offensive Segments
Adult Audiences Only 18+