Der Todesking

Product Information

In Der Todesking Jörg Buttgereit was obviously inspired by Ole Luk-Oie (transl: "Ole Shut-Eye") - H.C. Anderssen's famous fairytale about the Sandman. As a kid the Sunday story always got me, the one where Ole Luk-Oie tells he has brother - also named Ole Luk-Oie - who only comes to you once and another name for him is...Death Jørg Buttgereit's fairytale is similar in structure: For every day in the week we are presented with a short story. But this is no fairytale for kids about sweet dreams. It's a diary of suicide and death. In the end you learn the truth about people going crazy and killing others and who the Death King really is... From Bundy to Lautréamont: Jörg Buttgereit interviewed at the 2016 Manchester Festival of Fantastic Films (the same place where Der Todesking had its British premiere on 14 October 1990) From Bundy to Lautréamont – Jörg Buttgereit in conversation with journalist Graham Rae at the 2016 Manchester Festival of Fantastic Films

I believe that when Buttgereit shows a body, that are being consumed by maggots, he shows not only decomposition, but GENERATION of new life. Is it not better to die and give life to maggots and then birds and eventually become soil, than to remain the living dead zombie that is one of the the favorite pets of the genre? Friday follows a lonely spinster who enviously spies on two seemingly happy lovers in a neighbouring apartment. The woman receives a suicide chain letter that says she must make copies of the letter and then take her own life, but she decides to eat chocolates instead. The camera then shifts to the other apartment where the lovers are in bed together, covered in blood, having killed themselves. Lol. Here we go again, all the deep and meaningful movie explorers thinking they see things others don't. This appears to be a movie about suicide. And mostly boring at that. There are scenes set over a week with each one given a separate day. Two short films by producer Manfred O. Jelinski: Die Reise ins Licht (1972, 27 mins) viewable with optional audio commentary, and Geliebter Wahnsinn (1973, 7 mins) On Sunday, a man, driven to madness by some unspecified mental disturbance, repeatedly slams his head into a wall before collapsing in a pool of his own blood.The word beautiful is something not many people may wish to place as a description for his films. However, Jorg’s films are filled with the swimming beauty of loss and sadness. Nekromantik is a tragic love story, Nekromantik 2 shows the effects on a person who discards their true love for one expected by society, Schramm is a tale of a lonely man (who loves to kill) and his non-ability to approach the girl he likes. It’s the visuals, the sweeping camera angles, and especially, the music which turns these films into concepts of tragedy. If ever there was a call for a movie about suicide – and why wouldn’t there be? – then it seems only fitting that Jörg Buttgereit, the filmmaker that spewed forth grubby corpse-loving classics Nekromantik and Nekromantik 2 into the world, should be the director to make it. However, true to the man’s style he hasn’t just made a film about suicide but seven vignettes all tied together by themes of suicide and/or violent death. The Letter: This is the alternate English-language chain letter insert used for the original UK VHS release Morbid Fascination: The Nekromantik Legacy – a documentary looking at the impact of the film on the horror scene both in the UK and abroad, featuring interviews with Buttgereit, genre critic Alan Jones, Buttgereit biographer David Kerekes and others Audio commentary with Buttgereit, co-writer Franz Rodenkirchen and actors Monika M. and Mark Reeder

Nekromantik Premiere – a short featurette comprising footage from the film's premiere in Berlin, January 1988 A long continuous rotating shot of a room with a man doing different things at different times of the day. Lots of rehearsals probably went into this to make sure the actor got his timing right. Der Todesking (translated as the King of Death, or The Death King) is an anthology which explores death. Suicide and murder features very heavily as you can imagine (It’s a Jörg Buttgereit movie, could you visualize a world where he didn’t push those two realities into your face???!!) Der Gollob (1983, 25 mins) – a short film by Jörg Buttgereit, viewable with optional director's audio commentary Friday is another oddity that never quite comes off, focused around a spinster in an apartment who is spying on the young couple across the courtyard. She reads a manifesto that seems to have been left in the hall urging people to give up and commit suicide. At the end, it would appear that the neighbouring couple have done just that.Arrow Films invites you to feast your eyes upon four of Buttgereit's most infamous works: Nekromantik, Der Todesking, Nekromantik 2 and Schramm. Most of the film plays almost silently aside from one story. Wednesday finds a heartbroken shattered girl walking in the park. It’s pouring with rain. She sits beside a man who spends long deep minutes telling her his story. It’s an awful one which ends in blood on his hands. A gun she carries for herself, is passed to him. He needs it more. The film opens with a middle aged nude man, laid on his side. He turns and simply dies akin to a foetal position of birth and straight to the end. As the title music plays we hear moans and screams. Meanwhile, a little girl is sat sketching out a skeleton fella on a sheet of paper. Then it’s into the introducing tale. A man (played by composer, Hermann Kopp) sends out poison pen letters after he walks past and savours the grandeur of a cemetery. He rings his work, announcing he will not be returning, as his fish blows a few bubbles. Then the camera pans around his small apartment, round and round forever. Each time, he is in the gestures of doing something else in his daily routine. He eats, cleans up, and shaves, all normal and timed to his perfection. However, this evening ends rather differently for him. Again, the production values all aren't too high and this might be something that might scare off some people. It however helps for this particular movie to set the right tone and atmosphere for the entire movie and its dark, disturbing and depressing themes. Schramm: Redux – option to watch Schramm and its sequel Tomorrow I Will Be Dirt as a single, continuous feature