Directed by:
Juraj HerzCinematography:
Stanislav MilotaComposer:
Zdeněk LiškaCast:
Rudolf Hrušínský, Vlasta Chramostová, Jana Stehnová-Čechová, Miloš Vognič, Ilja Prachař, Zora Božinová, Eduard Kohout, Jiří Lír, Dimitrij Rafalský, Jan Vlček (more)VOD (2)
Plots(1)
Czechoslovak New Wave iconoclast Juraj Herz’s terrifying, darkly comic vision of the horrors of totalitarian ideologies stars a supremely chilling Rudolf Hrušínský as the pathologically morbid Karel Kopfrkingl, a crematorium director in 1930s Prague who believes fervently that death offers the only true relief from human suffering. When he is recruited by the Nazis, Kopfrkingl’s increasingly deranged worldview drives him to formulate his own shocking final solution. Blending the blackest of gallows humor with disorienting expressionistic flourishes—queasy point-of-view shots, distorting lenses, jarring quick cuts—the controversial, long-banned masterpiece The Cremator is one of cinema’s most trenchant and disturbing portraits of the banality of evil. (Criterion)
(more)Cast
Rudolf Hrušínský
Czechoslovakia
Best movies:
Higher Principle (1960)
The Elementary School (1991)
Journey into the Depth of the Student's Soul (1939)
Vlasta Chramostová
Czechoslovakia
Best movies:
The Cremator (1968)
Hrdinové okamžiku (1961) (series)
The White Lady (1965)
Jana Stehnová-Čechová
Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia
Best movies:
The Cremator (1968)
The Millennial Bee (1983)
Birds, Orphans and Fools (1969)
Miloš Vognič
Czechoslovakia
Best movies:
The Cremator (1968)
The Borstal (1969)
Lítost (1970) (TV movie)
Ilja Prachař
Czechoslovakia
Best movies:
The Cremator (1968)
Ubohý pan Kufalt (1981) (TV movie)
Král Krysa (1979) (theatrical recording)
Zora Božinová
Denmark
Best movies:
The Cremator (1968)
Ball Lightning (1978)
The Portrait (1947)
Eduard Kohout
Austria-Hungary
Best movies:
The Cremator (1968)
The Fabulous Baron Munchausen (1961)
The Stolen Airship (1966)
Jiří Lír
Czechoslovakia
Best movies:
Amadeus (1984)
Marecek, Pass Me the Pen! (1976)
The Cremator (1968)
Dimitrij Rafalský
Czechoslovakia
Best movies:
The Cremator (1968)
Ronin (1998)
The Story of My Life (2004)
Jan Vlček
Best movies:
The Cremator (1968)
Oil Lamps (1971)
Morgiana (1972)
Václav Halama
Austria-Hungary
Best movies:
The Cremator (1968)
Men About Town (1969)
On the Trail of Blood (1969)
Jiří Hálek
Czechoslovakia
Best movies:
Marecek, Pass Me the Pen! (1976)
The Cremator (1968)
Revizor (1971) (theatrical recording)
Václav Kotva
Czechoslovakia
Best movies:
Marecek, Pass Me the Pen! (1976)
Jako kníže Rohan (1983) (TV movie)
The Cremator (1968)
Míla Myslíková
Czechoslovakia
Best movies:
Marecek, Pass Me the Pen! (1976)
The Cremator (1968)
My Sweet Little Village (1985)
Vladimír Menšík
Czechoslovakia
Best movies:
Ikaros' Fall (1977) (TV movie)
Jako kníže Rohan (1983) (TV movie)
Tažní ptáci (1983) (TV movie)
Jiří Menzel
Czechoslovakia
Best movies:
The Elementary School (1991)
The Cremator (1968)
Larks on a String (1969)
Václav Štekl
Czechoslovakia
Best movies:
The Cremator (1968)
Lemonade Joe (1964)
Adela Has Not Had Her Supper Yet (1978)
Nataša Gollová
Austria-Hungary
Best movies:
The Cremator (1968)
Vajíčko (1968) (TV movie)
Sňatky z rozumu (1968) (series)
Jindřich Narenta
Czechoslovakia
Best movies:
Higher Principle (1960)
The Cremator (1968)
Run, Waiter, Run! (1980)
Helena Anýžová
Czechoslovakia
Best movies:
The Cremator (1968)
Valerie and Her Week of Wonders (1970)
Lunacy (2005)