The film begins in a remote Hungarian military outpost, where orderly MorosgovÃ¡nyi Vendel lives a wretched existence of servitude beneath the heel of his lieutenant, Ãreg Balatony KÃ¡lmÃ¡n. Condemned to performing menial duties for the officer and his family while sleeping in an unheated shack next to the latrines, MorosgovÃ¡nyi frequently escapes into fantasy. So realistic are these fantasies that in one ambiguous instance, MorosgovÃ¡nyi sleeps with and impregnates the lieutenant's wife and "wakes up" to find himself engaged in an act of sodomy with a slaughtered pig. Upon seeing this, the lieutenant promptly executes MorosgovÃ¡nyi and raises the son, Balatony KÃ¡lmÃ¡n, as his own.
Decades later KÃ¡lmÃ¡n has grown into a champion Hungarian speed eater. Coached and influenced by the strict JenÅ, KÃ¡lmÃ¡n's life revolves around training for the eventual day when the IOC recognizes speed-eating as a legitimate sport. After a bout of lockjaw at a Soviet event and eloping with fellow speed-eating champion AczÃ©l Gizi, KÃ¡lmÃ¡n resumes his rigorous training, even as Gizi gives birth to their son, Balatony Lajoska.
Decades later, Lajoska has grown into a dedicated, professional taxidermist. In contrast to both his parents' girth, Lajoska appears pale and impoverished, with a thin anemic frame and haunted visage. When not working from his taxidermy shop or failing in his attempts to lead a normal life, Lajoska purchases groceries for his father KÃ¡lmÃ¡n, who has grown so monstrously obese that he cannot leave the chair in his claustrophobic apartment. KÃ¡lmÃ¡n, who feeds butter to his caged cats, has nothing but harsh words for his son who, upon reaching his breaking point, abandons his father to his own prison. Returning later, he discovers that the cats have escaped their cages and, desiring meat, have eviscerated his father.
Lajoska stuffs his father and the cats. With little left to live for, he locks himself in a homemade surgical harness and through the use of sedatives and painkillers, begins removing his own internal organs. Pumping his body full of preservatives and sewing himself up, he activates the machine that decapitates him, leaving behind a preserved statue. His body is displayed in an exhibit along with the cats and his father.
Does the IOC recognize speed-eating as a legitimate sport?
No