Criterion restores a cornerstone of the Czech New Wave with Juraj Herz’s classic The Cremator, a chilly dark comedy set in 1930s Prague which features a morbid, fanatical crematorium manager who embraces the rise of Nazism. Featuring an eerie performance from Rudolf Hrusinsky, its paralleling of totalitarian ideology aligns with the rising nationalistic fervor spanning the globe today.
Shot and edited with striking, idiosyncratic frames by editor Jaromir Janacek and cinematographer Stanislav Milota, it’s an exercise in elegant morbidity, a Kafkaesque classic on the cyclical formations of dangerous regimes.
Based on a novel by Ladislav Fuks, crematorium manager Karel Kopfrkingl (Hrusinsky) finds himself swept up by the radicalization beginning to sweep Europe.…...
Shot and edited with striking, idiosyncratic frames by editor Jaromir Janacek and cinematographer Stanislav Milota, it’s an exercise in elegant morbidity, a Kafkaesque classic on the cyclical formations of dangerous regimes.
Based on a novel by Ladislav Fuks, crematorium manager Karel Kopfrkingl (Hrusinsky) finds himself swept up by the radicalization beginning to sweep Europe.…...
- 5/12/2020
- by Nicholas Bell
- IONCINEMA.com
Horror films aren’t only about vampires and goblins — Czech director Juraj Herz’s mind-chilling study of a Fascist opportunist communicates truths about aberrant psychology and Fascists, that audiences would never read in print. A bourgeois burner of cadavers leverages his Reich-useful trade into his own little warped empire of evil. Karl Kopfringl’s modus operandi hardly needs to change, to conform to Nazi standards — the elitist hypocrite already has both his family and employees passively accepting his sick ideas about cremation as the solution to all human ills. Cinematically brilliant, this late picture from the Czech New Wave is one of the best movies ever about conformists, collaborators, and assorted other ghouls.
The Cremator
Blu-ray
The Criterion Collection 1023
1969 / B&w / 1:66 widescreen / 100 min. / Spalovač mrtvol / available through The Criterion Collection / Street Date April 21, 2020 / 39.95
Starring: Rudolf Hrusínský, Vlasta Chramostová, Jana Stehnová, Miloš Vognič, Zora Božinavá.
Cinematography: Stanislav Milota
Film Editor:...
The Cremator
Blu-ray
The Criterion Collection 1023
1969 / B&w / 1:66 widescreen / 100 min. / Spalovač mrtvol / available through The Criterion Collection / Street Date April 21, 2020 / 39.95
Starring: Rudolf Hrusínský, Vlasta Chramostová, Jana Stehnová, Miloš Vognič, Zora Božinavá.
Cinematography: Stanislav Milota
Film Editor:...
- 4/28/2020
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
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