The Cinematheque

New Restoration

“A uniquely disturbing experience.”

Peter Hames, The Czechoslovak New Wave

Juraj Herz’s diabolically brilliant blend of black comedy, horror, and socio-political satire is his acknowledged masterpiece. This resplendent restoration debuted at the Karlovy Vary festival last year. Adapting a Ladislav Fuks novel, The Cremator is set in the late 1930s, as Czechoslovakia’s Sudetenland is being handed over to Germany under the notorious Munich agreement. The great Czech actor Rudolf Hrušínský shines as Kopfrkingl, a mild-mannered family man and crematorium operator who becomes unhinged by ambition, the corrupting influence of Nazi racial ideology, and a delusional vision of a better future through more efficient crematoria. Herz’s Expressionist wonder, shot by Stanislav Milota, uses extreme close-ups, disorienting tracking shots, and distorting fish-eye lenses to re-create the protagonist’s deranged perspective. The film was banned shortly after its 1969 release and remained shelved until after the fall of Communism.

“Few movies have shown the capitulation to a totalitarian worldview more mordantly.”

J. Hoberman, New York Times