The Cremator (1969)

Original title

Spalovač mrtvol

Directed by

Juraj Herz

Genre

drama film, comedy film, horror film, comedy drama, thriller film

Country

Czechoslovakia

Runtime

1h 36m

Rated

15+

Rating

7.8 of 10 from 266 voters

Elsewhere

IMDb

How it feels

Set in 1930s Prague a cremator named Karel Kopfrkingl becomes increasingly insane. His twisted beliefs mix Nazi ideology with Tibetan Buddhism and he starts to see murder as a way to free souls. The film follows his descent into madness through long monologues.

darkly comicunsettlingcerebralslow-burntensebleaksatiricalnightmarish

What happens

The Cremator (Czech: Spalovač mrtvol) is a 1969 Czechoslovak dark comedy horror film directed by Juraj Herz, based on a novel by Ladislav Fuks. The screenplay was written by Herz and Fuks. The film was selected as the Czechoslovak entry for the Best Foreign Language Film at the 42nd Academy Awards, but was not nominated. In 1972, it won the Festival de Cine de Sitges Best Film award, where it also received awards for its star Rudolf Hrušínský and cinematographer Stanislav Milota. Set in 1930s Prague, Karel Kopfrkingl slowly devolves from an odd but relatively well-meaning cremator of the dead into a murderer of his family and mass murderer who proposes to run the ovens at extermination camps due to the influence of the Nazi party and Tibetan Buddhism, as he believes his murders are "liberating" the souls of the deceased into a better life. The film consists mostly of monologues from Kopfrkingl that follow his descent into madness. Influenced by German Expressionist film, it is often cited as an example of the Czechoslovak New Wave. The film was withdrawn from circulation in 1973 and not seen again until 1990, after the collapse of the communist system in Czechoslovakia in 1989. With a 90.2% score on the Czech and Slovak Movie Database as well as praise from film critics, The Cremator is often considered to be one of the best films ever made in Czechoslovakia. It has also gathered a prominent cult following. (from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA)

Trailer

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