L'incinérateur de cadavres

"The Cremator" is Karel Kopfrkingl, played beautifully by Rudolf Hrusinsky, a man who fought for Germany in the Great War (World War I) and is now a crematorium operator in Czechoslovakia in the 1930s. His friend, a member of the Nazi party, tries to steer him towards fighting for Germany again, but will Karel give up his comfortable life and semi-Jewish family?

I wasn't sure what I was getting into with this one. When I found out that Dark Sky was releasing it, I instantly found myself interested. And despite having no knowledge of Czech horror or Czech cinema in general, Dark Sky did not disappoint. "The Cremator" truly is a forgotten classic. Who knew that as early as 1968 that Czechoslovakia was releasing films that were well-scripted, well-acted and most interestingly... extremely well-shot with quality footage (decades ahead of Italian cinema).

Actor Rudolf Hrusinsky and director Juraj Herz are a perfect combination when combining black comedy, morbidity, and what the box describes as "surrealism" and "expressionism". The surrealism is evident: the first ten minutes contain many camera shots that warp our sense of safety and familiarity, calling to mind for me "The Holy Mountain". I can't think of another film that is even close to these two in this regard.

The pace is steady, with Karel's descent a gradual, but well-paced journey for the viewer. Can a "sensitive" man be transformed into a Jew-hating, violence-loving monster who can turn away from his family? I won't say how far he goes, but some key scenes involve a carnival's haunted wax museum and the unusual execution of some cats. And that's just the beginning.

Of course, those who don't like black and white films or subtitles are going to be scared away. You are missing out, my friends. "The Cremator" is visually stunning and grips you with a dead, icy hand that cannot be denied. 2009 has had a handful of good films released, but most are stinkers. "Cremator" is no stinker... this film has been embalmed perfectly and is as fresh today -- if not more fresh -- than it was on the day it was filmed. Do not rent a copy -- buy one!

Many reviews seem to miss the complicated layers of Czech culture, and hence view The Cremator only through western lens.

The politics and historical background of this film play heavily into the story. The director Juraj Herz had been a prisoner in a concentration camp and thankfully survived the Holocaust and went on to make movies. So the film was about the Nazi occupation made by a Jewish director who survived the Holocaust and later filmed during Czechoslovakia's oppressive communist regime (following the Prague Spring). Quite a complicated layer for Americans to swallow. The Czech people are a cynical bunch and understandably trust no type of government. Their culture and worldview (much like that of eastern Europe) remain a mystery to most Americans.

With that, he film was neither horrific nor depressing. It was a wicked comedy-Czech style, if you will. The cinematography was heavily stylized, almost Kafkaesque, and revealed a theatrical satire with odd moments of humor. The idea that this ordinary man with a mundane job could morph into a führer-like character illustrates perfectly the Czech skepticism toward humanity. The movie exposes the stupidity of people and politics, and its fatalistic outlook results in a clever tragicomedy.

This film of Juraj Herj, like Morgiana, has a decidedly gothic feel. Karl Kopfrkingl, the owner of a modern crematorium gets creepier by the minute. At the beginning of the film at a family outing we see a snow leopard, peacock, tiger, snake, and a lion - Karl makes a comment that "cages are for mute persons." Later at a fair everyone else seems to be having a wonderful time; Karl looks quite glum. But when they enter a "chamber of horrors" exhibit, he's quite happy and intrigued while everyone else is shocked (it reminds me of one of Charles Addams' cartoons with everyone in a movie theatre crying, except for one man who seems positively overjoyed by the cinema situation).

In a sense, Karl lives for dying - or at least lives to compassionately cremate as many people as he can, releasing and purifying their souls for another life. He seems to have a bit of an obsession with Tibetan Buddhism, carrying with him a tome on the Dalia Lama's palace and Buddhist customs.

It doesn't take much flattery and cajoling by Nazi sympathizers to put Karl totally over the edge of sanity . . .

Quite an incredible film, with good use of wide-angle lenses and closeups to indicate Karl's increasing derangement.

Hrusinsky is quite good in this one as the Tibetan Buddhism obsessed, German cremator Kropfkringl who dreams of sending people to their afterlife and reincarnation while becoming a "savior" like the Dalai Lama. It is a good political satire of the Fascists in Czechia and the Sudetenland right before WWII.

The film is both horrible and comedic, and the gruesome murders of his wife and son are done in a very comical way. The film also uses the very sexually explicit imagery that the Czech new wave was known for which only adds to the perversion. One "comedic" scene is where the cremator praises German Fascism and the very act of death itself at his own wife's funeral while his comrades hail him and cheer him on. The scene where Kropfkringl discusses the beauty of a Jewish ceremony while scapegoating them to his NSDAP comrades in an intercut scene was masterful editing.

The soundtrack to this is very beautiful. I feel Terry Gilliam must have been influenced by this film and Czech New Wave films like it because many parts of the soundtrack and cinematography reminded me of Baron Munchausen and some of his other films (including an ending shot and scene that seemed very reminiscent to me of Brazil's). Definitely worth watching, but some people just don't get it.

This film is hypnotic. The soothing voice of the lead character, coming out of his cherubic always sweetly smiling face, almost lulls the viewer into a serene calm--if not for the fact that we know in our guts that this is the calm a cobra induces in its prey before the kill. This is, after all, Czechoslovakia on the eve of being taken over by Hitler, and the main character runs a crematorium. We know what is coming next. And yet, we cannot take our eyes from the screen; we are filled with foreboding.

Like the best of Fellini, the director, Juraj Herz, frames virtually every scene perfectly; a collection of stills taken from this black-and-white masterpiece could fill a photographic art gallery with a distinguished collection indeed.

How could the holocaust ever have happened in the middle of the most "civilized" culture in the world, the cradle of elegant music? How could rational "civilized" human beings have abetted this monstrosity? This film provides a fable that can help us answer these most important questions. But do not think this movie is some boring treatise on the banal roots of evil. It is a very entertaining horror film that will keep you spellbound.