We return to our good old Czech friends with a demented yet genuinely unsettling film about how fascism appeals itself to people, especially those with already skewed worldviews. It’s the kind of film that slowly builds its underlying messed up quality as the situation escalates, as if you’re experiencing the main character’s mental journey alongside him. By the end of it, you’ll be uncomfortable, but also leave with a sense of understanding about how these kinds of authoritarian ideologies can slowly influence someone as naturally as anything else (especially if they never think about what they’re doing, or deliberately not try to think about it either). As always, let’s lay out the story first.
The story is set in 1930s Czechoslovakia, under the encroachment of Nazi Germany. We follow Karel Kopfrkingl, a cremator who has some very unique views on the subject of cremation. Influenced by Buddhist philosophy, he views cremation as a way to free deceased souls from the suffering of life and allow them to reincarnate into a better state. He also disavows things like alcohol and smoking, even putting out a smoker’s cigar at a gathering Karel is presenting at. At said gathering, he tells a man named Mr. Strauss that he wants to take him on as his agent. His wife approves of this, since Strauss is good with business and also Jewish. Karel doesn’t believe this at first, as Strauss is a German name, but his wife reminds him that names don’t tell you everything (after all, Karel often calls his wife Lakme even though her name is Maria, and Karel himself often prefers to be called Roman, though he claims that this is because he’s a “romantic”). Later, he meets Reinke, a man that he fought alongside with in WWI. Nowadays, though, Reinke works in chemicals and is a staunch Hitler supporter. He feels that Hitler is doing a lot for Austria, which was recently annexed, and asks if Karel would like to join the Nazi party. Karel isn’t sure at first, as he sees himself as Czech through and through with only a drop of German blood, though Reinke says that “sensitive” folks can feel that one drop inside them. The next day, he shows Mr. Dvorak, his new assistant, around the crematorium. His coworkers bring up the crisis going on in Sudetenland (which was a term for areas of Czechoslovakia that contained ethnic Germans, and the Nazi party wanted to have annexed to Germany), but Karel isn’t worried, since he has a drop of German blood. We start to see behind Karel’s “moralistic” façade at this point, as he sexually harasses a coworker that he’s into, regularly visits a brothel, and even drinks (though only out of ceremonial glasses, of course). He also starts to lean more and more on the side of the Nazi’s as time goes on, to the point where he’s basically joined them outright. Reinke asks him to spy on a local Jewish gathering, which Karel ends up describing as miserable, to say nothing of the Jews themselves. He’s really starting to see the Nazis’ “point” now and wants to join them officially. However, Reinke notes that his wife might very well be of Jewish heritage herself, and that this will be a… “problem” for Karel’s position in the party. I’ll stop the recap here, since this is the big turning point in the story. Let’s discuss my thoughts on this film.
Right away, I could tell that this was a Czech film. It has a certain quirky style of presentation that just feels very much like that culture. There’s some quick arty editing, lots of close-ups, interesting scene transitions (wherein a character will say a line that both ends a previous conversation and begins another, and the cuts will change the setting between the former and the latter near-seamlessly), and a title sequence in a photo cut-out style that’s practically a predecessor to Monty Python. There’s also this general sense of dark humor running throughout the film, such as this one couple with a squeamish wife and a frustrated husband, and whenever they go anywhere with blood or is even slightly morbid, the wife wails and freaks out while the husband complains that he “can’t take her anywhere.” In the early parts of this film, I was kind of just expecting it to be a weird horror comedy or something along those lines. However, it became clear as the film went on that this quirky exterior wasn’t what the film was truly about. The 30s setting with the Nazi element already had me suspicious, especially when Karel so casually accepts his drop of German blood after being so seemingly committed to his Czech heritage. Karel already seemed rather odd with his beliefs and the way he acts, but you might have just chalked it up to eccentricity early on. However, as he slowly and ever so gradually, step by step, sides more and more with Nazi ideology, you slowly realize what’s going on here. Karel’s personal beliefs that cremation frees people from the suffering of life is easy for the Nazis to appeal to, since they also feel that some people are so clearly miserable that they must be “put out of their misery.” It’s honestly scary how gradually yet easily Karel’s worldview gravitates towards Nazism, almost as if it just takes the right words and a level of susceptibility to turn people towards dangerous ideologies. Granted, Karel was definitely off from the start, and wasn’t as virtuous as he wanted to present himself, so his was probably an easier turn than some others might’ve been. Sadly, though, as we know from history, those were the exact kinds of people the Nazis tried to get on their side, at least in terms of positions of power (plus, once you can appeal to enough of the general population, those that don’t agree will either have to fake agreement, try to flee the country, or face execution). What are also important to note in Karel’s changeover are the delusions of grandeur and mental gymnastics he does to justify his actions. While he starts out just being an admirer of the Buddhist Dalai Lama, he eventually starts having hallucinations of himself as a Dalai Lama of sorts that must liberate his “subjects” from their suffering. Not only does this sadly recall many instances of western people co-opting eastern ideas for their own gain/ego, but the delusion that he himself could be a god-like figure if he commits these horrible acts was probably a state of mind most Nazis had (heck, it’s even something fascism sort of encourages in its followers, in that each individual can be a great “hero” if they help exterminate the “enemy”). This high personal pedestal bleeds into his mental gymnastics, such as with the coworker he harasses. Oh, is a coworker rejecting your predatory advances? Well, clearly, they’re the problem and should be “reported” as such. Honestly, the way the film takes you on this horrible mental path is very unsettling, and reminds you of how these changeovers can be almost unnoticeable until it’s too late…..well, that is, if you deliberately don’t listen to the part of your brain that’s telling you to stop. You see, throughout the film, Karel repeatedly sees a vision of a woman in black who smiles at him, but he always shies away from her. I’d wager that this woman is his guilt, and as much as he tries to reason with himself and others that what he’s doing is right, she will always be there, as an ever-present symbol of the part of himself that knows what he’s doing is heinous. As you can probably tell, this is the kind of film that slowly builds its disturbing undercurrent over the course of the story and will definitely make you think about how effortlessly one can be led into horrible mindsets. I’ll admit that I was tired when I started watching this film, and while this film isn’t boring, the slow build and overall vibe of the film was causing me to nod off a bit. I ended up pausing it at one point and had some ice cream, which helped energize me again and continue on. Ironically, the exact point I paused at was where the major changeover starts happening, so that was actually perfect timing. I’m starting to run a little long here, so I’ll wrap things up soon. However, I did want to mention that there was originally an extended ending, which showed the Soviet regime coming into Czechoslovakia after the war, and Karel smiling among the citizens of this new empire (basically, saying that even if you replace one authoritarian ideology with another, people will always adapt their twisted views to them). This scene was, of course, deleted by the Soviet government, and is now most likely forever lost. I guess old Brezhnev didn’t take too kindly to its implications.
Overall, The Cremator is a really good film. It’s interesting to cover a film that deals with more real-world horrors as a prelude to the Halloween season. I wouldn’t recommend it as something to show on Halloween, of course, but I definitely think you should watch it for yourself. For the next few weeks, I’m planning to cover a lesser-known horror duology, so be ready for that this October. So, until we meet again on the 14th (oh, wow, I just realized we’re having a Friday the 13th in October), check out The Cremator, and get freaked out in a very different way.