2003
(13 min.)
Synopsis:
18th Century experimentation with electricity led to speculation that it could ‘repair’ the impaired body. This transgressive farce (a parody of the costume genre as well as ‘Freaks’ and ‘Frankenstein’), is set in the C18th Gothic Sanatorium of a Physician and his apprentice, Harvey. The film opens as the Physician experiments on himself, is electrocuted and dies. His final request is for Harvey to release his human guinea pigs - the Electricians - who take over the asylum.
Harvey cranks up the Generator to administer electricity to feed the Electricians’ addiction. Infused by their fix they conduct a raucous party, raising toasts to past Electricians such as Luigi Galvani and Benjamin Franklin. A storm breaks out overhead and Harvey lowers a chain from the ceiling for the group to cling to in a circle. Lightning runs down the chain and dramatically electrifies them all.
The final scene parodies an ‘arthouse’ film as the Electricians, prostrate on the ground, bask in the afterglow of the electrical storm and their electrocution. Lightbulbs grow from various body parts as the camera roams around them, the bulbs flickering on and off as they sigh and twitch with satiation.
The Electricians is a transgressive, delerious panto that parodies medical science narratives around disability and impairment.