Jörg Buttgereit is an independent filmmaker who courted controversy in his early career in the 80s with his underground films Nekromantik and The Death King which have not screened in the UK since 1990. To celebrate the 25th anniversary of Nekromantik we are presenting both these films in a partnership with Hyde Park Picture House’s Creatures of the Night. We will also welcome Jörg himself to this special screening of his two most infamous films.
Nekromantik: Robert works for a crew who clean up after grisly accidents, which gives him the chance to feed his odd hobby by stealing body parts. Following one accident he brings home a full corpse for him and his girlfriend, Betty, to enjoy. Unfortunately Betty prefers her new lover to Robert and leaves with the corpse. Distraught, Robert starts on a downward, destructive cycle with disastrous consequences.
The Death King: Presented in seven episodes, each taking place on a different day of the week, on the theme of suicide and death. In each story, seemingly unconnected characters take their lives in different ways, from poisoning to shooting, while each vignette is linked by the gradual decomposition of a human body. Buttgereit’s follow up to the controversial Nekromantik is an experimental film aimed at showing how fragile life is and how short our lives are, by forcing us to face our own mortality. Death is inevitable, this film merely makes you face up to that fact.
