A black humour comedy by Czech New Wave filmmaker Juraj Herz, based on the novel by Ladislav Fuks. The 1930s, the Munich Agreement cedes the Sudetenland to Germany, and the army assembles on the Czechoslovak border. Karl Kopfrkingl, a crematorium worker and gentle family man, becomes convinced of Nazi ideas and sets out to realise a nightmarish vision of a better future, one that only requires a more efficient crematorium. The Cremator was completed just after the Prague Spring and banned in Moscow in 1969, so the "party" that transforms Karl Kopfrkingl into one of the most horrific villains in the history of cinema can be perceived ambiguously.
About the film
Details
- Running time
- 1 hr. 35 min.
- Country, year
- Slovakia, 1969
- Genre
- Horror, Comedy
- Language
- Czech, IW
- Subtitles
- Lithuanian, English
- Age rating
- Pegi 13
Credits
- Director
- Juraj Herz
- Screenplay
- Juraj Herz, Ladislav Fuks
- Cinematography
- Stanislav Milota, Bohumil Rath
- Music
- Zdenek Liska
- Cast
- Rudolf Hrusínský, Vlasta Chramostová, Jana Stehnová
- More information
- www.imdb.com
Director
Juraj Herz
Juraj Herz (1934-2018) made a significant contribution to the Czechoslovak New Wave, although he was older and came from the field of puppetry, and did not receive proper attention for a long time. Herz's films were censored or banned, and he based his work on his experiences in a concentration camp. The director has enriched the history of Czech cinema with his unique perspective that does not shy away from the biting grotesque.
