The Cremator (Criterion Collection) [Blu-ray]

The Cremator (Spalovač mrtvol) (Juraj Herz, 1969, 95')A poltical film, based on a novel by Ladislav Fuks, screenplay by Herz and Fuks. Starring Rudolf Hrusínský, music by Zdeněk Liska, editing by Jaromír Janáček. The film was selected as the Czechoslovakian entry for the Best Foreign Language Film at the 42nd Academy Awards, but was not accepted as a nominee. In 1972, it won the Festival de Cine de Sitges Best Film award, where it also received awards for its star Rudolf Hrusínský and cinematographer Stanislav Milota.The story is set in 1930s Prague, where the cremator Karel Kopfrkingl lives and works. The story combines features from black comedy and horror (comedy horror). It is often recognized as a follower of German Expressionist film and also as an example of the Czechoslovak New Wave. The film was banned after its premiere in 1969, and remained in the vault until the collapse of the communist system in Czechoslovakia in 1989. With the score of 90% on the Czech and Slovak Movie Database as well as praise from movie critics, The Cremator is considered to be one of the best movies ever made in Czechoslovakia.The movie takes place during the political radicalization of Europe in the 1930s, which would also kill the "golden era" of the First Czechoslovak Republic and culminate in the establishment of the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia by Nazi Germany. Spiritually, the movie is in the aftermath of the death of Thubten Gyatso, the 13th Dalai Lama in 1933. Karl Kopfrkingl works at a crematorium in Prague. Obsessed with his duties, he believes he is not just cremating the dead, but liberating the souls of the departed. With Nazi forces gathering at the Czech border, he descends into a mania that allows him to enact his disturbed beliefs.There are only two editions available to the American market, the Second Run release of 2006, which includes an introduction by the Quay brothers and a booklet featuring an essay on the film, and the Dark Sky release of 2009 (with no additional features). 142 - The Cremator (Spalovač mrtvol) (Juraj Herz, 1969, 95') - 4/9/2012

A chilling portrait of fanaticism and the rise of the Nazi party in wartime Czechoslovakia.A worker at a crematorium, influenced by Tibetan Buddhism, believes that he is liberating the souls of the deceased into a new and better life. The rise of the Nazi party provides him with the opportunity to speed-up the process by murdering and liberating those of a Jewish heritage, leading to new and exciting opportunities.Director Juraj Herz's film is the darkest of comedies, criticising the collaboration of Czechs with the Nazi regime and paralleling this to collaboration with the Soviet regime.The cinematography is superbly grotesque, whilst the editing is fast and erratic, making much use of cutaways, highlighting the main character's state-of-mind, whilst the haunting score contrasts with the darkness on screen.

Uncomfortable yet sublime.A reviewer here claims the film is 'visually unattractive' due to the 'toad-like protagonist'.He/she obviously enjoys a modern-day-Hollywood type depth to movies (maybe the title lured him in), but I think there can be a subtle beauty in the portrayal of ugliness, and this applies here. The camera work, editing (especially!) and sound are all gorgeous, as is the sinister performance of the 'toad' and the meaning of the movie in general.If (like the above mentioned reviewer) you only watch vacuous titillation starring hot young models with explosions-aplenty, steer clear.If you DO appreciate this I feel the urge to recommend Marketa Lazarova if you haven't seen it, another sensually stunning Czech film.I think this is now one of my top BFI films for an eerily unsettling atmosphere, along with Onibaba and Woman in the Dunes.

Funerary horror. The film has a dark and sinister plot and is full of all that is dark and macabre. The music is chilling and echoes all that is mysterious. The plot follows the story of a Crematorium Manager who is enticed into murdering members of his own family during Nazi occupied Czechoslovakia.

Quite an amazing, chilling film, this, by Juraj Herz. A kind of allegory of Nazism, nominally set during the Second World War, though you never actually see any German soldiers or fighting, about an eccentric cremator (hypnotically played by Rudolf Hrusínský) who gradually becomes more and more megalomaniacal as the story proceeds, shot with deliberately expressionist techniques. It convincingly shows how people were able to make themselves believe in ideas of superiority and racial purity. Of all the films I've seen that attempt to show the twisted logic that enabled anti-Semiticism to grow and become the monster it did, this is one of the most compelling. Echoes of Polanski's 'Repulsion' are hard to resist, as well as comparisons with David Lynch, who you might imagine being influenced by it ... The excellent U.K. DVD (Second Run) has a nice little intro by the Quay Brothers.

I have only watched this once but I was left speechless : the outstanding central performance, the artistic camerawork, the abrasive editing techniques, the haunting music, the complex historical,religious and political elements.This film requires multiple viewings.A true original - still has the power to shock and challenge 50 years later.A must-see!Excellent Bluray from Second Run

The DVD arrived promptly but without the case.

Top notch film!