The Criterion Chronicles - The Cremator

This is an ongoing series in which I chronicle the films of the Criterion Collection that I watch. I will include a brief synopsis and my thoughts. I usually watch these films on Hulu Plus' Criterion Channel..... I am currently paid by neither..

Karel Kopfrkingl works in a Czechoslovakian crematorium in the late 1930's in this 1969 film by lesser known Czech New Wave director, Juraj Herz. He thinks of himself as a pillar in his community and considers his job and the process of cremation to be cleansing of Earthly suffering. He loves quoting the Tibetan book of the dead during funerals. He reconnects with an old friend that he served with in the first World War who convinces him to assert his supposed Germanic heritage and that his half-Jewish wife, Lakme has been hindering his career.

I've seen quite a few films of the Czech New Wave movement and quite a few of them deal with the German occupation during WWII. I will say that these film, including this one are some of the most fascinating you will ever see. The retrospective viewpoint of the artists of an occupied country 20 to 30 years removed is seen with a very unique attitude. It's akin to watching a group of people open up a time-capsule and commenting on its contents. Keep in mind that most of the filmmakers of this time were only babies during the occupations. I think a lot of this movement was fueled by their drive to rebel against their parent's generation that allowed a nation to be taken over by the most evil force in recent history. I would also suggest Ján Kadár's "The Shop on Main Street" and Jirí Menzel's masterpiece "Closely Watched Trains" for a bit more of what I'm talking about. I think the Czech filmmakers were the first to have the courage to add comedy to these stories.

This film is off putting to say the least. This guy is a complete weirdo and the filmmaking supports the

audience's general feeling of unease and discomfort. Karel is obsessed with death and the macabre alike. He likes to groom himself and sometimes his children with the same comb he uses on the corpses awaiting the furnace. His round smug expression permeates the film with a combination of extreme shallow focus and a plethora of fish-eye lens shots. He also seems to be engrossed with his own strange version of antiseptic cleansing. He believes in the cleansing power of his furnace and of death itself and as such makes it a point to cleanse his own house and crematorium. And he manages to do this with the same indifferent smirk throughout. 

This film and specifically the performance of Rudolf Hrusinsky will get under your skin in the best way possible. I highly suggest it but you may want to keep an episode of your favorite sitcom handy to cleanse your palate  afterwards.... unless you prefer nightmares... You've been warned.

Enjoy.