Aleksei Balabanov's film, set in turn-of-the-century St Petersburg, is an elegant yet enigmatic subversive look at the then ruling classes, a doctor and an engineer, whose families and servants are infiltrated and corrupted by the increasing appeal of pornographic photographs and, later, moving pictures peddled by the mysterious Johan. Filmed with a sepia effect.
Of Freaks and Men is a Film programme that first aired in 1998 and has been classified a 18 certificate.
