Dead Birds Flying High

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Amateur taxidermist, Walter Potter, became an unlikely success by putting his creatures in human positions and scenarios, referred to as anthropomorphic taxidermy. Potter's Museum, filled with his creations and collection of oddities and curiosities dazzled millions for over a hundred years until the collection's unfortunate separation in 2003. While largely about the man and his creations, the film also takes a look at the obsessive nature of collecting, as well as the controversial history of stuffing dead animals.

Human beings are the kings of all animals, at least if you ask us humans. Our vanity is given something to mirror itself in, but does not escape without a scratch or two in this documentary, which observes a taxidermist, a deer farmer and a museum curator at work. Three jobs that have one thing in common: turning animals into aesthetic objects, alive as well as dead. When the work is done properly, it is impossible to tell the difference. Dead pets are mummified. At the zoological museum, the animals' glassy eyes stare back at us from the showcases. Even a plastic alligator has its natural place in the human master plan.

An inside look into the world of taxidermy and the passionate artists from all over the world who work on the animals.

What do we have to learn from dead things and the people who love them? For some, vulture culture offers a deeper connection to nature. For others, it is a way of confronting death and processing grief. For others, the ultimate form of artistry.

Paris interdit follows the pattern of the Italian mondo style documentaries which began in 1962 with MONDO CANE. The film jumps from one strange scenario to the next, including a woman who goes publicly nude on a bet, a family man wearing an anti-radiation suit in fear of the end of the world, a orgy-indulging cult with a kissing fetish, a role-reversal wedding of performing transvestites, a middle-aged man who gives striptease lessons to housewives, a self-absorbed loner who believes he’s a vampire, a ritualistic funeral procession involving the burning of a mannequin, a mass swimming pool baptism, etc. Probably the most fascinatingly grotesque bit, which at the same time is strangely touching, is when a woman has her beloved deceased medium sized dog stuffed by a pipe-smoking taxidermist (shown in graphic detail) and installed with an electronic barking device!

A quiet, epileptic taxidermist plans the perfect crime. All he needs is the right opportunity. An accident, perhaps…

Three stories. Three ages. Three men. Grandfather, father, son. One is an orderly, one is a leading sportsman, and one is a master taxidermist. One desires love, the other success, and the third immortality.

The former famous painter Frenhofer lives quietly with his wife on a countryside residence in the French Provence. When the young artist Nicolas visits him with his girlfriend Marianne, Frenhofer decides to start again the work on a painting he long ago stopped: La Belle Noiseuse. And he wants Marianne as model.

When larcenous real estate clerk Marion Crane goes on the lam with a wad of cash and hopes of starting a new life, she ends up at the notorious Bates Motel, where manager Norman Bates cares for his housebound mother.

A mother wolf breaks into a hunter's den and takes back her cub, only to find it a motionless trophy. She sings a lullaby hoping that the cub would finally sleep. Little does she know that a young hunter stalks them back from the den.

While old Oliva tells a group of children about his life as a sailor and how he met Diana and her cat with sunglasses, a strange circus arrives in town.

An aging woman attempts to regain her youth through her taxidermy and spell books.

Jenks has been pushed to the brink by a system that does not care about him. Desperate for life-saving medicine, he resorts to robbing a small-town drug store. But when he injures a mysterious woman involved in a black market pharmacy, his attempts to save her life may end up jeopardizing his own.

Kevin, a recluse with a peculiar hobby, gets in a heated confrontation with his neighbor.

Manchester is a struggling photographer with charm to spare who falls for Noon, a sweet but spunky woman who works as a taxidermist. Noon is also drawn to Manchester, and together they enjoy a wildly enthusiastic sexual relationship that reflects their innocent but deeply passionate love for one another.

Peppino, a diminutive taxidermist with a reputation for sleaziness, meets Valerio, a handsome if artless much younger man fascinated by the trade. Peppino offers him a large salary to be his assistant—the job burgeoning into a budding friendship he mistakes for something more. When Valerio gets a girlfriend, their fledgling romance will be threatened by an insanely jealous third wheel.

Rising executive Tim Conrad works for a boss who hosts a monthly dinner in which the guest who brings the biggest buffoon gets a career-boost. Tim plans on not attending until he meets Barry, a man who builds dioramas using stuffed mice. Barry's blundering but good intentions send Tim's life into a downward spiral, threatening a major business deal and possibly scuttling Tim's engagement to his fiancee.

A young Peruvian bear travels to London in search of a home. Finding himself lost and alone at Paddington Station, he meets the kindly Brown family, who offer him a temporary haven.

A lonely isolated taxidermist suffers from false sense of reality, mental illness and control issues. He has an obsession with a waitress that turns into murder, he uses taxidermy to keep her around forever.