By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 5 cats
Director: Juraj Herz
Starring: Eduard Kohout | Helena Anýzová | Ilja Prachar | Jirí Lír | Jirí Menzel | Míla Myslíková | Milos Vognic | Rudolf Hrusínský | Václav Stekl | Vladimír Mensík | Vlasta Chramostová
Original language title: Spalovac mrtvol
Country: czech_republic
Year: 1969
Running time: 95
IMDB: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0063633/reference
Thom says: “Out-of-hand I see all Criterion releases that come out if previously not watched by me. Most of their releases are anywhere from good to extraordinary (although very occasionally they are poor) and this one is an outright masterpiece. So the service they provide is indispensable to the serious film community. That such a Czech classic as this should have been inaccessible for years is due to the vagaries of the world distribution problems. This film was banned for decades due to obvious reasons of its harsh criticism of religion, war politics, and the government. Besides Criterion’s role in advanced film restoration techniques they also include many extras with most of their entries. Here we learn that director Herz & amazing lead actor Hrusinsky were banned from leaving the country which seriously limited their careers.
“This gothic, dark tale into the depths of Hell concerns itself with a World War II Eastern European cremator of a most demented nature who believes cremation relieves human suffering on earth. His favorite pastime is reading the Tibetan Book of the Dead and he loves espousing his weird homilies and pronouncements. The film opens with a kaleidoscope of close-up shots with Kopfrkingl (the cremator) & his family (wife, son, & daughter) at the zoo. Later at some State function he runs into Reineke a war buddy from WWI, who is now a Nazi operative. When Reineke discovers that Kopfrkingl’s wife is half-Jewish he starts to convince him that she is a serious detriment to his career. Startling imagery thrusts the picture into a nightmare world, but what really leaps the film to the stratosphere is the performance of the mesmerizing Hrusinsky as one of the creepiest villains in the history of cinema. His strangest running routine besides his ominously soothing voice coming out of his cherubic ever-smiling face, is when he has a one-on-one with one of the other characters he pulls out a comb which he not only runs through his own hair but also the hair of his companion. The foreboding that runs though the film is enhanced by the imaginative editing and arch photography with its unforgettable close-ups. A number of Hieronymus Bosch paintings are intriguingly placed in the mise-en-scene. Here is one film you will not easily forget. 5 cats“