Le roi des morts

'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.

"Der Todesking" is not exactly the type of film that makes you merry… Jörg Buttgereit's second cult monument in a row, which is actually a lot better than the infamous "Nekromantik", exists of seven short episodes – one for each day of the week – revolving on unrelated people's suicides. In between these already very disturbing episodes, Buttgereit inserts truly horrifying images of a severely decomposing male corpse. The episodes aren't all equally powerful but, as a wholesome, "Der Todesking" is ranked quite high on the list of all-time most depressing art-house films. Particularly the episodes on Wednesday, involving a man explaining his sexual frustrations to a total stranger in the park, and the one of Sunday, focusing on a younger man molesting himself to dead, are extremely intense and devastating to observe. The added value of this film, or any other shockumenary like it, is debatable and I'm not even sure whether or not Buttgereit had any type of message to communicate here. There's the vague mentioning of an eerie chain letter that encourages its readers to commit suicide but mostly we remain uninformed about these people's motivations to end their lives so dramatically. Entirely unlike I expected, "Der Todesking" isn't exploitative or repulsively graphic! On the contrary actually, I never could have hoped Buttgereit would be so subtle and thoughtful regarding the portrayal of pure human misery. The Thursday episode is a perfect example of this, as it stylishly shows different viewpoints of a famous German bridge while the names, ages and occupations of persons who jumped off appear on the screen. The production values are inescapably poor and the editing often lacks professionalism, but this isn't what really counts in this type of cinema. The subject matter is strong and forcing us to contemplate about the less cheerful – but also indispensable – aspects of life. GREAT use of tragic music, too!

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.

Buttgereit does a beautiful film about suicide? Who would have thought that the same director of the filthy, Nekromantik, would be capable of bringing us such a moving portrait about suicide. Well, it is also a film about violent death, not just suicide. This is subject matter that most writers and directors would shy away from because it is too dark. It took someone like Buttgereit with enough audacity to give this disturbing topic its humanity. The film itself is actually seven short films each one dealing with violent death/suicide from different aspects. There are indeed some parts that will move you to tears such as a bridge (somewhere in Germany, we don't know where but that's not important) and on film captions of the occupations (no real names given) and ages of the people who have used the bridge to meet their end. At the very end of the film you are shown photos of smiling children obviously during more happier times. This scene got me emotionally more than any other. I have to spoil one thing but as a cautionary statement, there is one scene unfortunately that has become almost a trademark for Buttgereit: the obligatory castration scene. But get past that and this film is a wonderful, emotional experience. This one certainly has earned it's place on my all time top ten movie favorites. I feel very fortunate to have been given the opportunity to see such a marvelous film. Now if only it would be made available on DVD?

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?