The Baby of Mâcon (1993)

Willful weirdness doesn’t get much more stringently strange than in The Baby of Mâcon (1993), not to be confused with the equally odd flick The Baby (1973). Under the pen and direction of famed British filmmaker Peter Greenaway, this historical drama is presented as a play within a movie. The action kicks in when a wandering troupe of thespians stage their creation in the 17th century court of Cosimo III de’ Medici (Jonathan Lacey). In the first act, a fair maiden abducts the beautiful newborn whelped by her crone mother and claims the baby as her own virgin birth. When the kid performs small miracles in exchange for small fees, an evil Bishop (Philip Stone) sends his son to interfere, and events twist into an intractable knot of sickness. The fictional performance is propelled across the line separating actor and audience, climaxing with the virgin being repeatedly attacked in real life so that she will be eligible to be hung until death. The corpse of the actor who played her infant brother is then chopped up and the pieces distributed as talismans of good luck. You know, your run-of-the-mill story. Needless to say, this is a tough job for the tyke, but at least he’s in showbiz. The film stars Julia Ormond and Ralph Fiennes who showcase their acting chops and bare bodies when they go for a literal roll in the hay. As you can see by his abs, ass, sack and shaft, the naked Mr. Fiennes is looking mighty fine!