We got gooseflesh just hearing the word StB
by Jan Zlatousty (The Executor)
It is a bit difficult to talk retrospectively about what you feel at the time of shooting. This wasn’t the first time I had such a part – the part of the executor – so it is something of a routine for me. Of course, every movie is different; there are different girls and a different story. I don’t mind it when I’m supposed to a brute according to the script, and when the director wants me to be so harsh that the bottoms are almost torn to shreds... but it is never like that anyway, because it is a movie and even though we try to be as real as possible, we must be responsible – the explicit scenes of beating cannot be shot twice. This relates to my experiences as a cane master, it is not uncommon that the rod draws blood. That’s why I’m known as the Pankrac butcher (Pankrac here doesn’t relate to the prison but to my own studio where I beat black and blue whoever asks me to).
Stalin 2 is even more authentic than other movies by Lupus Pictures. We still remember that twenty years ago we got gooseflesh just hearing the word StB. Some of us even shitted our pants. I think that an audience that understands the connotations of the word will have other than erotic feelings when watching this movie, though the erotic and spanking aims are obvious too. Foreigners will - I hope - have only erotic feelings.
My personal feelings were a bit different, as well. The movie is not just about spanking scenes and beating, but long scenes of interrogating, torturing, beating over breasts and genitalia, with lots of dialogue... It wouldn’t have been so difficult if I hadn’t felt my own recent experiences. Even though I didn’t undergo that myself, I was very close and I lived through those times.
The atmosphere during the shooting was very fitting; I was glad that the explicit scenes were dimly lit and the girls’ reactions were natural. Some people might think it’s not cruel enough; the real methods of the StB were much more brutal. But should we cover the whole range of brutality? Does our audience expect us to do so? Another question is whether we should have everything real or fake it with special effects. The first would be a different production with different actors and actresses. I think we made a nice compromise and we have enough of everything.
As for my own performance, I will be able to judge it after seeing the whole movie. For me the only thing missing was a male counterpart to the girls; I would really have enjoyed interrogating and torturing him because it’s much easier for me to beat young men and boys. And it would have fitted: many StB agents were homosexuals or perverts who enjoyed men as well. Then I could be myself, because it is not easy for me to thrash - without any scruples – the delicate and private parts of the girls (who I know well and are my friends). It would be easier and I would enjoy it much more with boys. But that’s only my wish.