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| From http://www.nzbmovieseeker.com/images/poster/0063633.jpg |
Dir. Juraj Herz
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A cremator Kopfrkingl (Rudolf Hrusínský), already disconcerting
in his attitude and strive for "goodness", becomes more unhinged when,
as the Nazis invade Czechoslovakia, he is pushed to become a
"greater" citizen, more so when a friend and Nazi party member points
out the restrictions that would be put on him for marrying a Jewish woman and
having children with her. The Cremator
is a disturbing, disturbing film, further proof to the incredible filmmaking
that grew out of Czechoslovakia/Czech Republic, creating films complete
different in cinema from any other nation. Existing in its own world as well as
ours, jumping forward in time continually as we see the world through
Kopfrkingl's worldview entirely, The
Cremator shows the worst in humanity, in a man who is only obsessed with
the incineration of dead flesh and sees no difference next to the living,
through an expressionist, abstract style. Like a lot of Czech cinema, there are
so many types of flourish used, from fish eyed lens to cut-out animation
opening credits, that it's difficult to list it all in a short, cohesive
review. It straddles a fine line whether its technically a horror film or not,
but the foreboding dread one feels pounded my heart, watching it for the first
time, in ways far more powerful than mere jump scares.
Just listening to the
protagonist's first words, close ups of his body, his wife's body too,
alongside close ups of caged zoo animals, chills the spine. He is someone who
doesn't even doubt his own words. His desire to free souls through cremation forgets
the concept of life's existence itself, the innocuous nature of his behaviour
even more disturbing than if he was threatening. If studying Nazism in college
history taught me anything, it was the perceived notion, through the Hitler
Youth movement to national sport events, that the leaders were normal people
who believed they were merely providing something positive for their people
that allowed the ideology to gain mass support, and offers a frightening mirror
of how malleable people are if any idea hides its true nature through messages
of healthy living, family values and positivity as a collective that cannot
accept negative criticism. Kopfrkingl, brought to life fully by Hrusínský with his baby round face and
immaculate comb over, does what he does under the belief of selflessly helping
others and being a role model. He is a teetotaller, doesn't smoke, believes in
being there for others, and caring for his family and friends, and is intellectual,
but he does so with a morbid lack of humanity where he is the centre of the
world and always right. Yet he is still secretively malleable when accused of
not being enough of a model citizen, his perceived kindness foul and above
others, and his wisdom distorted. He can make excuses for blood, Slavic to
Germanic, being different but sees human ashes, after cremation, being the
same. He is two of the worst aspects of humanity in one person - he who
justifies any action, and someone who perceived themselves to be educated and
enriched, but who is actually more trapped in the society by embracing it. A
mysterious, raven haired woman is only seen by him continually, a possible way
of salvation ignored as he presumes to have his independence by helping free
souls under a new Nazi state. Stuck in his continuous thoughts and dialogue,
the actions and conversations of one scene starting the next, disrupting time,
it is both sickly humorous but gruesome in viewing. It is horror at its fullest
by imaging how many people actually act like Kopfrkingl in small pieces in real
life. Housed in such a vivid, highly creative film of visuals and moments, realism
against the abstract scored subtly by Zdenek
Liska, it's a terrifying parable that still has a lot to say about
humanity.
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| From http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_AjnduKa6j48/TIcYnJyt3HI/AAAAAAAABU4/ pgboNkfPlSc/s320/The+Cremator+(1969).avi_snapshot_00.26.15_%5B2010.09.07_05.10.32%5D.jpg |
It means more for the fact that
this film, black comedy, Expressionist horror, is about the Holocaust and never
neglects this fact. It never neglects the uncomfortable truth behind its
strange tone. It also never becomes unsubtle, paradoxically so off-kilter,
lavish in its style, but never hammering its message. A film like The Cremator distils familiar ideas of
human corruption with great craftsmanship and impact than most films don't, and
that it was a low budget, small film causes me to realise how a real
"great" film stands up and are so different from anything else.
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