West Meets East By Niki Flynn ‘What have I got myself into?’ That was the question I asked myself over and over in the weeks leading up to my visit to Prague. I asked it again on the plane, in Ruzyn? Airport, at all the tourist sites I visited and finally, at Lupus Studios on the day of execution. What started as an offhand remark (‘Oh, maybe I can do a Lupus film while we’re in Prague – ha ha!’) was about to become a reality. I was terrified. My boyfriend William and I have enjoyed most of the Lupus films we’ve seen. We’re always impressed by the quality of the productions. The historical plots, sets and costumes are stunning. And we thought we had an authenticity fetish! It’s not the severity of the punishments that appeals to us so much as the disciplinary nature. We’re not into erotic spankings and it doesn’t work for us if the girl is enjoying it. Lupus films are very edgy and intense and that’s something we’ve never seen done well in other films. I never thought of myself as a girl who could survive a Lupus-style caning. I cringe and wince when I watch the films and say, ‘There’s no way I could take that!’ I’d heard the internet rumours, of course – about the innocent, impoverished Czech girls who are seduced by the money into being abused by the evil werewolves from the East. But I’d look at the ‘behind-the-scenes’ pictures on the website and see everyone having a good time, laughing and horsing around, even after the canings. So the rumours never seemed to have any substance. Besides, the same girls turn up again and again to do films; they clearly know what to expect. The other favorite rumour, of course, is that it’s all faked. That doesn’t have to be debunked because anyone who knows how the cane works and what the marks look like can tell, even on video, whether it’s real or not. I had been in touch with Thomas Marco and Jana Mala about the possibility of doing a Lupus film. Thomas sent me a screenplay and I loved it. It was great – just my kind of scene: a classic ‘fish out of water’ scenario exploiting the language barrier. It wasn’t just a sketchy roleplay in which we’d improvise the dialogue, but an actual screenplay with scripted lines. I hadn’t expected that. They sent a cab to fetch us from our hotel in Prague and there was a bit of comedy when we got to the building, as the entrance was padlocked. I wandered round to another entrance, where a woman at the door shouted something at me in Czech. I told her in Czech that I didn’t speak Czech and offered her Thomas’ and Jana’s names. She shook her head. She looked at the paper I had with the address of the building and shook her head again. I finally ventured, ‘Lupus?’ and understanding dawned in her face. She rolled her eyes and yelled something up the stairs, at which point Jana came running down to greet me and pay the taxi driver. We were led into a nondescript office suite and I looked around in wonderment. This was where all those poor girls were beaten and tortured? It was so normal it was surreal. Fair enough; it’s the hometown of Kafka, after all. The first person we saw was Pavel Š?astný, who needed no introduction. Then we were taken into a room filled with familiar faces. We were introduced to everyone, many of whom we recognized from various Lupus films. I finally met Tomas in person. Maxmilian Schubert clicked his heels for me. Kate?ina Tetová gave us a huge welcoming smile. Michal Valášek, executive producer, was recognizable as the warlock and the chemistry teacher who was blown up in ‘The Crime at St Thomas School.’ I recognized Zbyn?k Podskalský, the director, from a couple of videos. Alexandra Wolf was there too, as well as most of the film crew. In all there were probably between 25 and 30 people! After the dizzying round of introductions Jana gave us a shot of homemade slivovice, which was fabulous. Then we were taken into the back room to go over the contract. Stashed in a corner of the room was the infamous bench from the Headmaster’s study. I couldn’t resist bending over it. The contract was an interesting experience, to say the least. They had no English version, so poor Michal had to go through the extensive 8-page document with me line by line and translate. William and I thought my status as a ‘stunt person’ was a stroke of genius. I signed away my fate and went to practice my lines. Someone had a laptop and they were showing photos from the last film, ‘The Family Silver.’ Max was having fun with the broken English lines he had to say and it was hard to be completely serious during the rehearsal. At first the dialogue felt a little stilted and restricting to me, but once we got into the flow of doing each scene piece by piece it began to feel natural. But Zbyn?k told me I wasn’t speaking loudly enough. It’s a challenge to be meek and frightened and yet loud enough to be heard. There were several breaks and in between scenes I tried to get to know as many people as I could. I was very intimidated by Pavel until he sashayed in wearing a wig and putting on a flamboyant show. After that I found it hard to be afraid of him. I got him to help me pronounce some of my Czech lines and he tried to teach me how to say the impossible ? letter. The rehearsal went well and we hung around chatting until our cab came to take us back to the hotel. We were scheduled to be there again at 8 the next morning. I didn’t know if I’d be able to sleep. I sprang out of bed when the alarm went off, so nervous I couldn’t sit still. William had helped me practice some troublesome lines the night before and I was ready for the shoot. Ready to experience first-hand either a faked caning or abuse by savage wolves. One thing that surprised me right away was the shooting sequence. I had assumed that the canings were shot last, that caned girls would be incapable of doing anything else afterwards. But we went through the screenplay page by page over the course of the 14-hour day and none of us were damaged or traumatized by what we suffered. The thing that impressed me most of all was the consummate professionalism of everyone involved. This was not a group of pornographers making dirty pictures, nor was it a cruel band of misogynists delighting in taking advantage of girls who couldn’t say no. This was a real film crew working on a real film. In addition to the director, producer, script supervisor, makeup artist, properties and wardrobe mistress, caterer, cameramen, boom operator, still photographer, actors and (ahem) stunt girls, there were people on hand to offer us refreshments, comfort or anything else we needed. At the risk of dispelling some of the mystique, I think it’s important to say that the canings were not shot all at once. After every 10-15 strokes Zbyn?k would cut and someone would run over to make sure I was all right. There was some discussion about the position of my hands, which they changed at the last minute because they were worried about accidentally hitting my arms. They couldn’t have been more concerned for my safety. Kate?ina was even there to hold William’s hand during the worst moments of my caning from Max. I’ve never considered myself to be a masochist. I never think I can take much pain, though I constantly surprise myself. I like being in the mindset of a girl who has no choice but to take it. The feeling of being out of control is extremely heady and intense. Comparing the Lupus shoot to other punishments I’ve taken in my personal life, I’d say this was in the top 5 as far as intensity and pain. And even so, I felt I could take more and I find myself wanting to try. Did it hurt? Of course. Did I enjoy it? Absolutely not. Do I regret it? Not for a moment. In fact, I had the time of my life. So did William. I knew exactly what I was getting into and I did it because this is what I like. And when it was over and I lay sobbing over the desk, I felt what mountain climbers must feel when they reach the peak. I was so high on the feeling of accomplishment and so lost in the roleplay that I nearly wished I could have some more! And when I look at the marks now I have a sense of pride and achievement. I savor the marks. No one who isn’t into this can ever truly understand. Boxers and footballers suffer broken noses and concussions. No one criticizes them or calls their sport unhealthy. What we do is so much safer. It’s really a shame so many people misunderstand. My second caning wasn’t nearly as hard, but on top of what I’d already taken from Max, it was no less painful. And again, the Lupus crew couldn’t have been more accommodating and concerned for my safety. But the gold medal goes to Šárka, a first-timer who took 40 hard full-arm strokes from Alexandra Wolf. It always looks worse when someone else is getting it and I was cringing and wincing the whole time, though I was meant to look smug and triumphant. Renata, the other student, took her 40 strokes just as bravely, but this was her third film. And, just as with me, after every 10-15 strokes someone came to check on them, to make sure they were okay. Both girls survived and it wasn’t long before they were laughing and joking. We had to film some flashback scenes where they were picking on me and fighting with me and we were all having a good time playing around. The ‘after’ shots on the website will show us all smiling, laughing and posing for silly pictures with visible, vivid tramlines. Abused? I think not. It was exhausting, but I didn’t want it to end. (I think Zbyn?k must have been the most exhausted of us all because he had to speak two languages all day. And he did an excellent job.) At first it was difficult to tune out the cameras and the technical things, but once you’re actually in the scene it’s very easy to get lost in the character. Especially in the scary scenes. The lines were blurred many times for me and those are moments I treasure in any roleplay. It was very easy for me to be the unfortunate English exchange student because I don’t speak enough Czech to understand everything that was being said around me, so when I was meant to feel alienated, I did. I enjoyed the mini-lessons from all the Czech actors, which only enhanced the ‘exchange student’ feeling for me. Emotionally, the hardest scene for me was where all the girls were laughing at me. Next to that the caning was nothing! I can’t say there was anything annoying or bothersome about the shoot. Sometimes technical problems had to be solved and that often took several minutes. Waiting is never fun. Overall I consider the shoot to be one of the most enjoyable experiences of my life. Pavel and Max were hilarious and I had a blast ‘fighting’ with Renata and Šárka. Doing the silly posed pictures with everyone was loads of fun too. The next day William and I went to Karlštejn Castle – a most uncomfortable train ride, I can assure you. But even though we enjoyed the trip we were a little low in spirits. It was over. It was like a fantastic party that had ended and we were coming down from an incredible high. We were both thinking the same thing: When can we do it again?