Production Budget Analysis

The production budget for The Cremator (1969) has not been publicly disclosed.

CAST: Rudolf Hrušínský, Vlasta Chramostová, Jana Stehnová, Miloš Vognič, Ilja Prachař, Zora Božinová DIRECTOR: Juraj Herz CINEMATOGRAPHY: Stanislav Milota MUSIC: Zdeněk Liška PRODUCTION: Filmové studio Barrandov

Box Office Performance

Theatrical box office data is not publicly available for The Cremator (1969). This may indicate a limited release, direct-to-streaming, or a release predating modern box office tracking.

Profitability Assessment

Insufficient publicly available data to assess profitability.

INDUSTRY IMPACT

PRODUCTION NOTES

▸ Production

The Cremator was Herz's second feature film. The film is based on a novel by Ladislav Fuks Spalovač mrtvol (). The main character is played by Rudolf Hrušínský, an actor previously known for his comedic main role as the soldier Josef Švejk in Dobrý voják Švejk and Poslušně hlásím.

Herz wrote the script first and then filmed exactly by the script. He was very pleased with the original script and mentioned that he had left extra space for empty pages in the back of the book for anything else that might come to mind, but those pages were never used. There were multiple shooting locations: Kopfrkingl's "Temple of Death" was shot at three different crematoria. Vlasta Chramostová would rehearse each scene to herself to prepare while Hrušínský just wanted the first shot. Hrušínský did not like to prepare at all for his roles; he preferred to do all the acting on the stage and screen. This acting method probably originated from his stage origins.

Olga Dimitrovová was responsible for the costume design while Frantisek Straka designed the sets and chose the crematoria to use. Herz thought the title alone was interesting enough for its own movie but didn't like the long monologues.

This is the only film on which actress Vlasta Chramostová collaborated with her husband Stanislav Milota. She recalls that when the film began to be shot in the relaxed pre-August atmosphere of 1968, no one would have guessed that it would become an award-winning cult film. After the shoot and the premiere, the film was banned by the Socialist government. She recalled a humorous story where her husband Stanislav Milota (film cinematographer) prophetically answered her question about how they want to shoot the scene with Kopfrkingl hanging her from the noose in the bathroom.

▸ Music & Score

The score was composed by Zdenek Liska. Before production, Liska asked Herz what type of film it would be, would it be scary or pretty? Herz replied, "There's already enough in this film that's scary. Go for melodious and lovely." Kopfrkingl is a dilettante that is obsessed with classical composers such as Strauss, Dvorak, Saint-Saens and Mahler. The score reflects this by being a beautiful waltz. Kopfrkingl plays it on the radio several times throughout the film, both at family gatherings but also before committing his murders. His daughter Zina also practices the tune on the piano in an early scene. The score also uses many traditional Asian instruments and music such as gongs, bells and chanting whenever the vision of the Tibetan monk appears to Kopfrkingl and also when he is describing in detail the process of reincarnation for the Nazi leader. In the final scene at the coffin room where Kopfrkingl attempts to murder his daughter, the European waltz is playing but Asian motifs such as the gongs and bells are added when the vision appears to him. The gongs and bells blend with the waltz. This makes the film truly unique as nothing like it had ever been done before at the time. Mixing European waltzes with traditional Asian motifs was unheard of in film scores.

Besides using traditional Asian instruments, the score is unique in other ways. Everyday tools are part of the music. When Kopfrkingl kills his son and puts him in the coffin the waltz plays. He hammers the nails into the coffin and this hammering rhythmically becomes part of the waltz and leads into the Tibetan bell motif and chanting in the next scene (the hammering and the bells are the exact same rhythm and tempo).

AWARDS & RECOGNITION

Summary: 3 wins

Awards Won: ★ Sitges Film Festival Best Feature-Length Film award

Nominations: ○ International Submission to the Academy Awards

CRITICAL RECEPTION

Jason Pirodsky of The Prague Reporter praised the film, writing, "Spalovač mrtvol is a masterpiece of atmosphere, conveying the horror of the Holocaust through style rather than story; stark black & white cinematography by Stanislav Milota is a real standout, while unusual rapid-fire editing by Jaromír Janáček helps to keeps the viewer off balance." Adam Schofield, writing in A Black Pearl of the Deep: Juraj Herz's The Cremator stated that audiences unfamiliar with Eastern Europe's political past could "surely enjoy it as a work of black comedy or psychological horror" as it was an "ingeniously orchestrated film, full of complexities, and capable of giving the horror genre a better name." Herz commented that the film's reaction were different in every country, noting that "In Prague, people were depressed; in Slovakia, they laughed; in the Netherlands, it was a comedy from the beginning to the end." TV Guide awarded the film 3/5 stars, stating that "Hrusinsky's scary performance highlights this morbid, darkly funny work."

The Cremator was screened at the Sorrento Film Festival in 1969 and the Sitges Film Festival in 1972. It continues to be screened at film festivals around the globe even today, most recently at the Zagreb Film Festival in 2015, the Washington Jewish Film Festival in 2016, and the Athens International Film Festival, the Mumbai Film Festival, and the Karlovy Vary Film Festival in 2019.