Der Todesking

Der Todesking (lit. 'The Death King') is a 1990 German horror film directed by Jörg Buttgereit. This experimental style movie, which does not use central characters, explores the topic of suicide and violent death in the form of seven episodes, each one attributed to one day of the week. These episodes are enframed by the vision of a human body, slowly rotting during the course of the movie.

Der Todesking
Directed byJörg Buttgereit
Produced byManfred O. Jelinski[1]
Screenplay by
  • Franz Rodenkirchen
  • Jörg Buttgereit[1]
Starring
CinematographyManfred O. Jelinski[1]
Edited by
  • Manfred O. Jelinski
  • Franz Rodenkirchen
  • Jörg Buttgereit[1]
Production
company
Manfred Jelinski Film & Fernsehproduktion[1]
Release date
  • 25 January 1990 (1990-01-25) (Germany)
Running time
74 minutes[1]
CountryWest Germany[1]

Plot

Monday A man comes home, phones his boss to resign from his job, writes mysterious letters, cleans his apartment and swallows poison in his bathtub. His death is simultaneous with the death of his fish, the only being that was close to him.

Tuesday A man rents a film in a video store, a Nazisploitation movie in which Nazi soldiers are torturing a prisoner in a concentration camp, castrating him and painting a swastika on his breast. When the young man's girlfriend comes home, she yells at him until he shoots her. He then places a picture frame over the place on the wall where her brain matter was splattered. This whole episode is revealed as being shown on a TV screen in a room where somebody else committed suicide by hanging.

Wednesday A man and a girl meet in a park in the pouring rain. The man tells the girl about his disastrous sex life with his wife which led to him killing her. The girl pulls out a gun to kill him, but the man takes it from her and shoots himself.

Thursday A motorway bridge somewhere in Germany, superimposed by the names, ages, and occupations of the people who have jumped from it.

Friday A woman, alone in her apartment, is observing a young, seemingly happy couple in the neighbourhood. She spies on them and finds a chain letter in front of her door, urging her to kill herself. Obviously everybody in the house got the letter. She ignores it, eats chocolates and falls asleep, dreaming of surprising her parents when they make love. The camera shows the young couple, dead on their bed.

Saturday A young woman, equipped with a camera and a gun, kills several people in the audience of a rock concert (the frontman is played by Die Ärzte drummer Bela B.) and records it on film, until someone kills her.

Sunday A man, alone on his bed, is crying and banging his head over and over, violently against the wall, until he succumbs to brain damage.


Release

Der Todesking was released in Germany on 25 January 1990.[1] The film was released on special edition DVD in its native Germany in 2010.[2]

Reception

Kurt Dahlke of DVD Talk called it "strong, meditative, and brutally sad", commending the film's soundtrack, cinematography, and mature themes.[3] Sean Leonard from HorrorNews.net gave the film similar praise, stating that the film "leave[s] you with a certain feeling that you can’t quite place but wish would just go away".[4]

References
  1. "Der Todesking". Filmportal.de. Retrieved 24 February 2018.
  2. "Der Todesking". amazon.de. Retrieved 2011-04-08.
  3. Dahlke, Kurt (June 27, 2015). "Der Todesking". DVD Talk.com. Retrieved December 22, 2020.
  4. Leonard, Sean (March 25, 2019). "Film Review: Der Todesking (The Death King) (1990)". HorrorNews.net. Retrieved December 22, 2020.


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