Cremaster 4

As the setting for Cremaster 4 (the penultimate part of the Cremaster Cycle, but the first film that was made in the series), Matthew Barney chose the Isle of Man, located between Ireland and Great Britain, which has been home to the Isle of Man TT motorcycle races for over a century. In this peculiar film, two competing teams take part in the race: the Ascending Hacks (the yellow team) and the Descending Hacks (the blue team). As soon as the race starts, in opposite directions, the Loughton Candidate-a satyr in an Edwardian suit-sets off on his own underground journey. He traverses a narrow, winding tunnel smeared with a Vaseline-like slime (reminiscent of the birth canal). The strange creature's entourage includes three androgynous fairies. The atmosphere of Cremaster 4 oscillates between a kind of slapstick comedy and an exciting sporting event broadcast. The entire story, which alludes to local folklore, is a metaphor for the anatomical condition in which the human internal reproductive organs have not yet differentiated. It is an illustration of that moment of suspense and indeterminacy.