Der Todesking (translated as The Death King) is the second feature film from Jörg Buttgereit. While not popular as Nekromantik or Schramm; this one is definitely worth your time.
FILM- Der Todesking is an anthology film; each episode taking place during one of the seven days of the week. All "days" have to deal with murder and suicide. As the week progresses, a body, floating in a black abyss, systematically decays.
Monday: A man calls his boss to resign. He feeds his fish, cleans up, hops in the bathtub, and swallows poison. His fish dies simultaneously with him.
Tuesday: A man rents a film (with the same cover as Ilsa: She Wolf of the SS) and returns home. As he watches it, his girlfriend returns home; she begins to yell at him. He shoots her, then frames the spot on the wall where the blood splatter hit. This is all playing on the TV set of someone who has committed suicide.
Wednesday: A woman sits at a bus stop. A man, who was already sitting there, begins to talk to her. He tells her of his wife's "problem" during sex, which led to him killing her. The woman pulls a gun on him, but it misfires. He takes it from her, cocks it, and kills himself.
Thursday: Amazing shots of a highway bridge. While the film plays out, the names, ages, and occupations of all who have committed suicide (or died) on the bridge are shown.
Friday: A lonely woman spies on a couple that live in an apartment across from hers. She finds a chain letter on the door, trying to convince her to commit suicide. She begins to have dreams about surprising her parents during sex. We then see the happy couple from the start of the "day"; both are lying in bed, and have committed suicide.
Saturday: Police watch footage found on a murders corpse. The woman strapped a camera to herself using some kind of harness, and went on a shooting spree at a concert. She is eventually shot and killer.
Sunday: A young man is sitting in his sparse apartment. He begins to go crazy; and starts crying. He runs into the wall, and repeatedly bashes his head on the wall until he dies.
This is my favorite Buttgereit film. This is his most stylish and artistic by far. The cinematography during Thursday and Saturday are incredible. The creativeness of the "days" is impressive; and they all seem to coexist without overpowering each others. I strongly urge you to pick this up, because it is a one of a kind film. 9/10.
PICTURE/ AUDIO- The picture is alot grainier than I would have thought. It really doesn't take anything away from the film; but it adds nothing either. 8/10.
The audio is very nice, with hardly any pops and cracks. Several shorts don't rely on sound, which makes for a very interesting mash up. 9/10.
EXTRAS- Where to begin! This DVD* comes loaded! On disk, you get: 2 commentaries, a making of, interviews, a music video, an early Buttgereit short, still gallery, and cast and crew info. This set also comes with a nice booklet. This is limited to 666 copies, and I believe only 100 of those came with a Der Todesking dog tag as well. 10/10.
* This DVD is the OOP release from Germany. There are many bootlegs out there, mainly from Asia. Make sure you know what you are getting before you buy!
Monday: A man calls his boss to resign. He feeds his fish, cleans up, hops in the bathtub, and swallows poison. His fish dies simultaneously with him.
Tuesday: A man rents a film (with the same cover as Ilsa: She Wolf of the SS) and returns home. As he watches it, his girlfriend returns home; she begins to yell at him. He shoots her, then frames the spot on the wall where the blood splatter hit. This is all playing on the TV set of someone who has committed suicide.
Wednesday: A woman sits at a bus stop. A man, who was already sitting there, begins to talk to her. He tells her of his wife's "problem" during sex, which led to him killing her. The woman pulls a gun on him, but it misfires. He takes it from her, cocks it, and kills himself.
Thursday: Amazing shots of a highway bridge. While the film plays out, the names, ages, and occupations of all who have committed suicide (or died) on the bridge are shown.
Friday: A lonely woman spies on a couple that live in an apartment across from hers. She finds a chain letter on the door, trying to convince her to commit suicide. She begins to have dreams about surprising her parents during sex. We then see the happy couple from the start of the "day"; both are lying in bed, and have committed suicide.
Saturday: Police watch footage found on a murders corpse. The woman strapped a camera to herself using some kind of harness, and went on a shooting spree at a concert. She is eventually shot and killer.
Sunday: A young man is sitting in his sparse apartment. He begins to go crazy; and starts crying. He runs into the wall, and repeatedly bashes his head on the wall until he dies.
This is my favorite Buttgereit film. This is his most stylish and artistic by far. The cinematography during Thursday and Saturday are incredible. The creativeness of the "days" is impressive; and they all seem to coexist without overpowering each others. I strongly urge you to pick this up, because it is a one of a kind film. 9/10.
PICTURE/ AUDIO- The picture is alot grainier than I would have thought. It really doesn't take anything away from the film; but it adds nothing either. 8/10.
The audio is very nice, with hardly any pops and cracks. Several shorts don't rely on sound, which makes for a very interesting mash up. 9/10.
EXTRAS- Where to begin! This DVD* comes loaded! On disk, you get: 2 commentaries, a making of, interviews, a music video, an early Buttgereit short, still gallery, and cast and crew info. This set also comes with a nice booklet. This is limited to 666 copies, and I believe only 100 of those came with a Der Todesking dog tag as well. 10/10.
* This DVD is the OOP release from Germany. There are many bootlegs out there, mainly from Asia. Make sure you know what you are getting before you buy!
Posts
