A Dutch arthouse film abandoned for more than 30 years after its extreme content and the death of its leading actor has finally been released in cinemas.
Diary Of A Weak Yogi was directed by Pim de la Parra and Ronaldo la Silva and first screened at an independent film festival in 1993. Its story of jealousy, sexual frustration and partner-swapping was accompanied by graphic nudity and sexually charged scenes.
The film follows two apparently contented couples whose relationships deteriorate as tensions grow between them. Derek, played by Kamaran Abdulla, is a university professor married to Audrey, a successful novelist, while their friends Robert and Loes are also drawn into the breakdown of their relationships.
The couples eventually swap partners, leading to encounters involving sadomasochism and BDSM. Among the film’s more disturbing sequences, Derek is whipped by a group of people wearing bondage clothing while strapped to a desk, while Loes is shown riding her racehorse naked.
Its content prompted the conservative Dutch Film Fund to refuse money needed to complete the production. The film was left without basic finishing work, including its soundtrack and opening and closing credits.
De la Parra and la Silva later won lawsuits against the fund, with courts ordering it to provide the grant money. Despite those rulings, the payment was not made and the unfinished film remained unreleased.
The death of lead actor Kamaran Abdulla
The production was also overshadowed by Abdulla’s death by suicide, aged 34, only days after filming ended. His death sent shockwaves through the cast and crew and contributed to the film’s troubled history.
Screenwriter Paul Ruven, who secured the film’s release this year, said Abdulla had agreed to take the leading role just one day before filming began.
“I called him around midnight for the role,” Ruven said. “He was willing, but he had just called his parents in Iraq to tell them he was going to commit suicide… But as far as he was concerned, the suicide could wait until after filming.”
Ruven added: “Because of that, Kamaran felt no shame whatsoever, because he wouldn’t be around anymore anyway when the reviews came out. No other actor I know would expose himself like that.”
Diary Of A Weak Yogi remained largely forgotten for decades. Ruven said he had brought it to cinemas as part of a promise to de la Parra, who died three years ago and did not live to see the film receive its theatrical release.
The release also gives audiences the opportunity to see Abdulla’s final leading performance in a film that spent more than three decades in limbo.
