O Rei da Morte

I read a small ad in some horror magazine in the early nineties about Liebe des Totes (the love of the dead) or something similar. This of course awoke my curiosity so I ordered Nekromantik 1 & 2 and Der Todesking (The Death King). The Nekromantik movies are Ok, even kind of interesting and unique in their approach to the subject Necrophilia (even if they obviously are horror-opera entries rather than intended to invoke fear in the viewers mind, they are actually quite funny.)

TODESKING, on the other hand is, in my opinion, one of the best films ever made. It consist of a series of scenes depicting the many facets of death. Death as an enemy; Death as a reliever, Death as the very fysical decomposition of the body. The film is a metaphor over life. It shows how fragile life is and how short our lives are. It reduces its viewers to the childs they (we) actually are. The fact that we cannot really understand the nature of Death, and hence neither the process of dying, is the core message of the film. This is a most realistic film. Never does Buttgereit try to hide death behind white roses or whatever. No matter what moral standards you set up, death is unevitable, and will sooner or later be not a fiction but YOUR reality. This applies to YOU, Dear Reader, like it applies to the viewers of the film. Some juvenile reviewers seem not to grasp this, which is fully excused, since they of course will live forever...

This is no exploitation movie. Why? Because death does not exploit us humans. It harvests us. We grow for seven days, then we are brought back to the schopenhauerian state of pre-birth, that is Death. Buttgereit gives us his version of the oldest of tales. Whether you choose to regard it as "optimistic" or "pessimistic" is up to you. At first glance it may seem very dark. Consider though, that in order for something to live, something else must die. "Who wants to live forever?"

I believe that when Buttgereit shows a body, that are being consumed by maggots, he shows not only decomposition, but GENERATION of new life. Is it not better to die and give life to maggots and then birds and eventually become soil, than to remain the living dead zombie that is one of the the favorite pets of the genre?

When you realize this, you see Der Todesking it its right context.

Sieben Tage hat die Woche, siebenmal letzte Stunden. Seven are the days of week (weak, mortal !), seven times the last hour.

Dont fear the Reaper, Buttgereit tells us, because the Reaper takes only what is ripe. And apples that are not plucked for food will rot!



Have a good life, fellow IMDB'ers !

(And watch this film, that compares only to Ingemar Bergmans "The Seventh Seal" in terms of depth and universality)

I wouldn't care if Spielberg, Scorsese and Coppola never made another film (actually, I'd be rather grateful), but the possibility that Joerg Buttgereit might never direct another movie is truly upsetting. It's been 13 years since his last film, Schramm, but I live in hope.

Der Todesking is one of Buttgereit's most accessible films. That could be the very reason why I was so disappointed with it when I first saw it. After the filth and carnage of Nekromantik, Der Todesking seemed almost timid. The film is a collection of vignettes relating to suicide and death, linked by footage of a rotting corpse. The gore is very mild in comparison to Joerg's other movies and the violence is largely implicit. Strangely enough, the film has grown on me immensely over time and despite my initial misgivings, I now consider it to be my favourite Buttgereit opus.

This is a cerebral and beautifully constructed film. Buttgereit has always exceeded in making the most repulsive act (having a threesome with a rotting corpse, for example) visually appealing. This film is no exception, containing some truly brilliant imagery. The scene where a man shoots his wife and then puts an empty picture frame on the blood splattered wall is one example, the man who screams and beats his head against a wall for literally five minutes is another. The film also benefits from a higher standard of acting than some of Buttgereit's other films. The director himself even has a nice cameo in the Ilsa inspired video.

Hopefully Germany's most fabulous pervert will get off his butt and make another film in the near future. In the meantime, Der Todesking is a great reminder of Joerg Buttgereit's skill and genius.

'Der Todesking' is my first experience with Jorg Buttgereit. I have no idea whether it is representative of his other work or not, but after watching this puzzling movie I intend finding out. A verbal description of this movie does it very little justice. Scenes of suicides by various individuals are interspersed with footage of a decomposing corpse. That really gives you NO idea how thought provoking, repellant AND beautiful this movie is in places.

I'm not sure if I fully understand Buttgereit's "message" or indeed, if there really IS one. But I did get something from watching this movie. It is much more than just a collection of disturbing images. Maybe it is like a painting or a poem, and everybody who experiences comes away with their own ideas or emotions about what it's "about".

Whatever your reaction to 'Der Todesking' I don't think you will regret having watched it. There are moments in this movie that will stay with you for a VERY long time... I was fascinated. A movie that blurs the distinctions between art and exploitation, and makes you question yourself. Yes, I was impressed.

A movie about suicide! Actually it's seven movies about suicide. We get to follow Buttgereit in to his strange world of death, it's not a fun trip, but I can guarantee you that it's not meant to be an enjoyable film. The film is divided into different short stories, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday... If you haven't seen any of Buttgereits earlier movies this one can be pretty hard to sit through cause it is pretty bizarre although not as graphic as his other movies, Nekromantik, Schramm. Needless to say; I love it, I love Buttgereit for making death into the blackness that it's doomed to be, he's not joking around. Another thing that needs to be praised is the soundtrack; beautiful. Buy this film, then buy his other movies.

Jorg "Nekromantik" Buttgereit continued his serious obsession with death on this harrowing suicide-fest. One suicide per week day. Der Todesking, however, is far from being any sort of video nasty. Rather, it is a brooding, raw, brutally frank art-house hysteria punctuated by avantgarde delivery, particularly the recurring interludes of a decomposing corpse. There is also a spoof on "Ilsa, She Wolf of the SS," which is weird and totally unexpected if you consider Buttgereit's nationality. In any case, utterly depressing, plodding atmosphere and unnerving lack of dialogue bring this work even further into the category of obscure cult classics, not for the weak of heart or mind. But would you expect anything less from the man who gave us "Nekromantik," "Schramm," "Hot Love?" Indeed. "This is the Death King. He makes it so that people don't want to live anymore." Can YOU look him in the eyes?