Nekromantik is written by Franz Rodenkirchen and directed by Jörg Buttgereit and I think this is their first feature film after couple of short films. This German classic ( some might not agree with this point of view) tells us a fascinating story of a couple who has strange emptiness… More
Nekromantik is written by Franz Rodenkirchen and directed by Jörg Buttgereit and I think this is their first feature film after couple of short films. This German classic ( some might not agree with this point of view) tells us a fascinating story of a couple who has strange emptiness in their affair and death seems to appeal to them, and since the male can get some dead bodies or body parts (I'm not sure what is his job, but at least he goes to car crash scenes in his work etc.), he starts to take them home and soon the couple finds their real love....and it is pretty rotten and decayed love! Scenes of necrophilia are something that will repulse even jaded cinema fanatic because necrophilia as a thing is very disgusting and taboo as a subject matter. But this little film makes ugly things look incredibly beautiful with the power and magic of cinema.
This film shows exactly how talented film maker can show things in personal way and show disgusting things beautifully and with taste. This film is not ugly or disgusting, but to say that, I think one has to be pretty tolerating and "difficult art loving" viewer since this is not easy to view if one cannot interpret movies. The scenes of necrophilia are shot gorgeously with different techniques and the most important element in Nekromantik is again the music, the unimaginable and hypnotic music. The music is among the most beautiful and gentle (and very dark and ominous at times) I've ever seen, and it is as touching as Riz Ortolani's music in Ruggero Deodato's Cannibal Holocaust (Italy, 1979), one of the most important films ever. Nekromantik would not be Nekromantik without the music. Totally unforgettable element.
The infamous rabbit killing scene is often judged and not accepted, but the fact is that the film makers did not kill the creature, they only shoot the farmer doing his job, and the rabbit would've died without the film, too, because we eat meat everyday with or without Nekromantik in existence. And this is the meaning of the scene and we definitely should realize that eating meat means always that an animal has given its life that we can eat its juicy meat. I love animals very much but still I eat meat because I know that they are the only source to get it and in my opinion the rule of nature is that way that human beings are meant to use the resources of nature, but as we know the nature of human beings, do we really deserve all this from the nature as we exploit and destroy it every minute?
The movie's end is unforgettable and also the most shocking scene in the film, but so releasing and gives the final relief and salvation to the protagonist, and it is very beautiful scene with the music again as a strong element. This is something that is never before seen on screen and it is way too much for many. There are also other over the top gore and splatter scenes in the film and they are the ones that alienate the casual viewer. The disturbing "snuff" scene where a woman is sliced, is a part of the interpretation about "exploiting" (Nature or other human beings), which I explained in the rabbit paragraph above. Do we have any right to live or be in existence (not to mention eating and consuming the sources of Nature) since all this trash and sick entertainment exists and has its consumers? And this film itself is NOT that kind of a sick trash/exploitation as many consider: Nekromantik is a very challenging and symbolic piece of underground cinema, which has many things bubbling under its surface and the movie's core has to be found in order to understand it.
Nekromantik is one of the most noteworthy marginal and independent films I know and definitely one of the most unforgettable experiences in the field of cinema. So I recommend Nekromantik (and other Buttgereit's films) to the fans of intelligent and wonderful looking non-mainstream cinema and the cinema that has thousands of things to say and give to the interpreting viewer.
