The Cremator (1969) - full transcript
Kopfrkingl enjoys his job at a crematorium in Czechoslovakia in the late 1930s. He likes reading the Tibetan book of the dead, and espouses the view that cremation relieves earthly suffering. At a reception, he meets Reineke, with whom he fought for Austria in the first World War. Reineke convinces Kopfrkingl to emphasize his supposedly German heritage, including sending his timid son to the German school. Reineke then suggests that Kopfrkingl's half-Jewish wife is holding back his advancement in his job.
My sweet.
This is the blessed spot
where we first met 17 years ago.
Nothing has changed,
except for the leopard.
The one we saw then...
has been freed by merciful nature
I always talk of merciful nature,
gentle fate, God's compassion...
We judge others...
reproach them for this and that...
but what of ourselves?
I haven't done enough for you.
We're not badly off, Roman.
Thanks to your dowry...
and the help of your blessed mother.
And the assistance of your aunt
I may have furnished the flat...
but that's about all.
No, my dear, I must do more for you.
Zina is sixteen, Mila is fourteen.
Come now, children...
cages are for animals
I think I could increase my income
I'll take on a representative.
I'm thinking of Mr. Strauss.
He's a decent, honest man.
We'll invite him to a reception
with some of our friends.
We're a decent, perfect family...
and I'm worried that I don't
do enough for you.
THE CREMATOR
From the novel by Ladislav Fuks.
Director Juraj Herz.
You're not to serve alcohol,
only tea.
Of course, if someone's
willing to pay...
you can serve them weak coffee
I haven't had any cake.
And smokers will have to do without.
When you die there is no smoking
or drinking for all eternity.
Please sit with this charming lady
I still haven't had any cake.
Mr. Strauss, you call on many
confectioners, that's sweet work.
But apart from offering your firm's
products to these nice people...
how about offering
something else?
Something concerning
these nice people personally.
As well as your confectionery...
offer them a pamphlet
and application form.
JOIN US! SAVE UP FOR CREMATION
Five crowns commission
for every applicant.
Excuse me, Mr. Strauss,
here is an old friend of mine...
the engineer Reinke and his wife.
We fought together
in the Austrian army
I haven't seen you for years.
You must call on us soon.
The ladies haven't met,
we must introduce them later.
Where are you taking me?
We were going to a concert,
weren't we?
There's music here
I meant the Philharmonic.
There's only four players here.
Maybe the others will come later
I'm sure you're fond of music,
Mr. Strauss.
Sensitive people love music,
Schubert, Liszt...
How unfortunate are those who die
unaware of such beauty.
Are you perhaps related
to Johann or Richard Strauss?
The composer of "Rosenkavalier".
Unfortunately not, Mr. Kopfrkingl,
but I'm fond of Strauss' music.
About these applications,
Mr. Strauss...
some people suffer, you know,
so do animals
I have here a wonderful book
about Tibet.
This is Potala, the palace
of the Dalai Lama.
Lhasa... it is wonderful,
like the Bible
God did well when He said to man...
"...Dust thou art, and unto dust
shalt thou return."
Such a crematorium, dear friends...
is good and pleasing to God.
It helps the Lord to speed
man's transformation to dust.
Some may object
on a point of detail...
because Christ was buried,
not burned.
Dear friends, that was another matter
I always answer that objection with
the truth that Christ was embalmed...
and wrapped in linen.
No one will embalm you,
wrap you in linen...
and bury you in a cave.
You see, my dear friends...
we live in a good, humanitarian
state, which provides crematoria...
not idly, for people to visit
like museums...
but to give people a chance...
to turn quietly into dust
after the tribulations of life.
As this beautiful book
on Tibet says...
"We must do away
with the evil of suffering...
or alleviate it, at least.
The sooner man returns to dust...
the sooner he is set free, transformed...
and reincarnated."
Animals, too. In the ground
it takes 20 years.
In the crematorium, 75 minutes.
Now, dear friends...
enjoy yourselves.
Lose yourselves in this lovely
music, dance, have fun...
let no one feel left out of things.
What a charming man.
How he has suffered. He lost his job
as a porter, a liver condition...
or was it his kidneys?
Something to do with urine, anyway.
He lost his wife. His son died
of scarlet fever
I could increase his commission,
under some pretext of success.
He's a Jew, a good businessman.
Do you think so, dear?
Strauss isn't a Jewish name.
Names mean nothing. You call
me Lakme instead of Maria.
And I must call you Roman,
instead of Karl.
Because I'm a romantic
and I love beauty.
That's the one.
And that noble face, there
I'm framing this for the
Japanese Embassy.
Emelian Chamorro,
President of Nicaragua.
It's Louis Marin,
Comptroller General.
Poincare's Minister of Pensions.
But it says here...
- Never mind that, Mr...
- Holy.
Never mind, Mr. Holy, stick a bit
of paper over what it says.
Here's another thing.
The law on cremation
of 7th December, 1921.
Could you frame it,
with a nice border?
I wanted something gayer.
New pictures for you, my angel
I bought them out of my
first increase in income.
Our house will be
even more beautiful.
Is Zina practicing?
Such a gifted child.
- Where's Mili?
- He's with Jan...
Dr. Bettelheim's nephew.
Good, he's not roaming about.
Jan's a good boy, doesn't wander
farther than the bridge.
- Who is it?
- The President of Nicaragua.
We'll put him...
I think, dear, we could
hang him over there.
- Where shall we hang this?
- The bathroom.
You know, my angel...
I think the bathroom
is our most attractive room.
Perhaps flowers would look
nicer here.
Or a hunting scene... the chase...
Little pet.
Don't let the poor thing suffer.
What about milk?
Give it to the pet, then.
It's yesterday's milk, anyway.
Statistics show that Prague's
married men live longer.
We're lucky, Walter.
We must thank the ladies.
But for them, we'd die sooner.
Yes, Walter, when I remember
us soldiers in the World War...
how we fought and died.
When I think what the horses
suffered... it's unbelievable.
The world should have peace
and justice...
and happiness.
Right, but such things
have to be fought for.
Look at Austria, part of the Reich
now. Hitler's a political genius.
He freed the nation from poverty...
unemployment and misery.
Haven't you seen
our party's pamphlets?
That's Louis Marin, former
Minister of Pensions
I bought it from Mr. Holy.
Mr. Holy is a widower.
Right, but our nation suffered
a great injustice after the war...
and anyone with German blood
should fight to put things right.
JOIN US IN THE S.P.D.
Have some almonds.
Perhaps you have your own opinion
on past injustices.
Such tragedies...
Mr. Strauss was pensioned off...
then his wife and child
died of tuberculosis.
Our children go to Czech schools...
we speak Czech at home, like now
I have only Czech books.
Even my book on Tibet is in Czech.
Our blood is Czech.
You'll find at least a drop
of German blood in your veins.
Perhaps... a drop, perhaps...
A sensitive man is aware
of that drop, even
I'm meeting Goermann tonight. He's
going to Berlin to see the Minister.
The Republic is an obstacle
in our path, but that's a long story
I wanted to tell you about
the girl born with two heads...
four arms and four legs,
poor thing.
A life twice blessed.
- Where have you been?
- Looking at the car, with Jan.
You missed an interesting
conversation, Mili.
Mr. Reinke is an engineer,
he had to study hard.
Now he's meeting a Mr. Goermann,
and your German is weak
I know we all speak Czech,
but you should know some German.
Germany's a great nation, after all.
Mr. Strauss.
You see how the poor man
is getting on, Lakme?
Welcome, Mr. Dvorak. Don't be
frightened, I'll initiate you gently.
This is our porter, Mr. Vrana.
His health is failing, it's his liver.
You know, for 15 years I've been
entering this temple of death...
yet I still have the same
solemn feeling every time.
It's a bit like my marriage
I have been married
to Lakme for 17 years...
and it is still as wonderful as
when we met at the leopard's cage.
Come, Mr. Dvorak, don't be afraid.
You have chosen a beautiful,
noble profession...
and a responsible one.
Mr. Fenek, a morphine addict.
Have you heard? The conference at
Munich is forcing a settlement on us.
Everything will be all right...
though I do have a drop of German
blood, no one can help his origins.
Haven't you overalls, Mr. Dvorak?
Never mind, we'll find you something.
Won't you come round with us,
Mrs. Liskova?
You've never seen how we work.
My job is to clean the chapel,
Mr. Kopfrkingl.
Let's go, then, Mr. Dvorak.
May I smoke?
Of course, do smoke
if you feel like it.
I don't smoke or drink.
We can hear the ceremony above,
such beautiful music. You like music?
Sensitive people love music.
I love it very much.
That's only Mrs. Leshetinska
practicing.
The catafalque descends here.
Above us is the world of survivors,
so to speak.
For us, work is only beginning.
These furnaces always remind me...
of the ovens in which
our daily bread is baked.
This is our timetable.
The timetable of death
no one can escape...
unless buried in the ground.
Now we burn with gas, not coke.
The body is turned to dust
in 75 minutes.
In fine weather, Mr. Dvorak...
you can go for a breath
of fresh air in the cemetery.
You can see inside through
these little windows.
There's nothing to see now.
No doubt you will have a chance
during some nice cremation.
The ashes are placed
in these metal urns...
but the soul is no longer there,
it is up in the ether...
free of suffering,
liberated, clean...
it moves into another body.
Here you can see a few coffins
for this afternoon.
The one to be burned first
is already up in the chapel...
for leave-taking.
But not every coffin goes up there.
These are not to be opened,
they are already nailed down.
Leave it, Mr. Dvorak.
It may come in useful.
This is Miss Strunna.
Her skin is wonderfully pink.
There she is. I looked
at her yesterday.
She looks so alive,
you expect her to get up...
and walk.
You may wonder if she's really dead.
That would be a wicked thought.
This woman has been declared dead...
and it is our duty to incinerate
her after the ceremony.
If Miss Strunna were alive...
cremation would be terrible,
because her life was before her.
It would only be good
if her life was full of suffering.
Suffering is a great evil, and we
must do all we can to alleviate it.
But don't worry, Mr. Dvorak,
Miss Strunna is really dead.
Such mistakes are rare nowadays.
How beautiful.
Look, my angels.
Pity they are not artificial,
to bloom in the snow.
Poor Mr. Dvorak is so nervous,
he smokes all the time.
Come, Mili, don't wander off.
What lovely acrobatics
I've something better for you.
- What's that?
- Don't be scared.
This is the murderer Laget.
He committed a murder
every day and night.
Really live, like at the theatre.
It's a waxworks, you idiot.
And now, God-fearing people,
let us visit the baths.
With real water and steam?
It's a waxworks, isn't it?
These are the baths at Franzensbad.
People come here to bathe
and make themselves beautiful.
This woman washes...
and smiles at the young man.
She sits there
and the young scoundrel kills her.
Old-fashioned baths.
Our bathroom is nicer.
She looks like our dairywoman.
This isn't a dairy.
This man hanged himself
because he had the plague...
a contagious disease...
he died rather than
contaminate others.
His body hangs there,
as dead as a doornail.
- He looks alive.
- He's hanged.
This poor boy was murdered
by the notorious Moore...
with this iron bar
Moore looked innocent,
with blue eyes and pink cheeks.
He killed six people
and ended on the scaffold
I knew it!
What do you know? I can't
even take you to a waxworks!
The wax dwarf points the way out.
His name is Vitek.
He's alive!
For gentlemen with strong nerves
we have a special exhibition.
Here we have all the contagious
diseases. Syphilis, gonorrhoea...
What a scourge.
One can die of that, too.
But modern science can protect us.
Our good neighbor, Dr. Bettelheim...
Do you still consider these tests
to be necessary?
You know I touch no woman
but my own angel
I'm afraid you'll think
I'm a hypochondriac...
but I'm afraid of infection
from my work.
But you don't handle such corpses,
so infection is impossible
I'm very glad that Mili
is friends with your nephew.
Mili likes to roam about,
and that's dangerous nowadays
I hear there's martial law
in the frontier regions.
This will end in suffering.
Violence never pays, it's an
unreliable principle of power.
After all, we live in Europe, in the
20th century, in a civilized world.
Aggressors are always beaten
in the end.
Well, Mr. Kopfrkingl, if you think
it necessary, come again.
These are banana flies...
used for heredity tests.
And this is Drosphilia funebris...
the funeral fly.
Would you like this collection?
I'll sell it cheap
for a bit of morphine.
Very decorative.
I appreciate such things
I have a butterfly
pinned in my bathroom.
Where would I get morphine?
I don't even smoke.
You know that engineer...
Mr. Reinke is not in Prague.
There's mobilization.
All right, let me have it when
he returns. I've got a little left
I've come early today,
so as to see you.
You've better things to see.
How long have you lived like this?
This isn't the life for you.
What's the sense in doing such work?
Times are dangerous,
there's mobilization.
You should have someone to cling to,
someone to protect you.
Let's talk it over this evening
I've alarmed Mrs. Liskova.
You shouldn't joke in a crematorium,
Mr. Kopfrkingl.
Yes, but I only wanted to talk,
to invite her to our house...
to cheer her up a little,
poor thing.
A present for Zina.
Your young lady has a client,
Mr. Kopfrkingl.
Perhaps you might like another.
Everyone says you're so respectable.
You would have to wait a little
for Miss Dagmar.
What a pity you only visit us
on the first Thursday of the month.
Couldn't you call more often?
My income is larger now...
I have a representative...
and it's good for the health.
Here's Miss Dagmar.
You see, it wasn't so long
I've waited a month for you,
Mr. Kopfrkingl
I'll just tidy up
I don't want this to get crushed.
It's for Zina.
We have a new employee,
a Mr. Dvorak.
He works with the coffins.
At first he smoked incessantly,
now he's less nervous.
Thank God he doesn't smoke
so much now.
Mr. Strauss is quite successful
with the application forms.
People in the confectionery trade
are very pleasant
I want to take on
another representative.
Someone in toys or cosmetics
would be suitable
I must look after my family,
Miss Dagmar.
We have a beautiful and blessed home
I must look after you even better
I'll employ another representative.
Mr. Dvorak smokes less now.
But I told you that, didn't I?
Lakme you look so sad lately.
Is something wrong?
Are you worried?
Zina's birthday is soon
I've bought her a new costume.
What about that boy Kaja? Will he
care for his family as well as I do?
This one has died.
Everything dies here.
Mrs. Liskova is leaving.
She's unhappy here.
Leaving us? How sudden.
I'm so sorry
I can't invite you...
and we'll be so busy...
with the German army
on our frontier.
Even Mr. Vrana can't make
the torches work.
Why get so excited?
Why should they occupy us?
Violence doesn't pay.
We live in a civilized world,
in Europe, in the 20th century.
When is Miss Carska's turn?
She's seventh.
The first funeral of the afternoon,
it won't wait.
Poor Miss Carska.
She was about to be married
I must go and see
if she is quite in order
I don't want to disturb,
but have you got that morphine?
I told you, Mr. Reinke
is not in Prague.
Be patient. How can you
think of morphine...
when foreign troops
are on our frontier?
Conferences are being held,
there might be war...
and Miss Carska was
about to be married.
How terrible to lose our dear ones
in their prime.
O, frost has withered
their cheeks...
and the black angel of death
has done his deed.
An educated speaker.
Dvorak's "Largo," Mr. Dvorak.
In 75 minutes, Miss Carska
will be dust to fill an urn.
But not her soul.
The soul will be liberated,
reincarnated, as they say in Tibet.
She will fly into the ether.
You know, premature death
can be a great blessing...
if it frees one from suffering
I think I'd like to go, too.
Sometimes I think I'd rather
work in the boiler room.
Come, Mr. Dvorak,
what's the matter?
I thought you were
less nervous lately
I told my dear one you smoked less.
The boiler room would
be demeaning for you.
Help yourselves children,
Kaja, young ladies...
Great things are happening now the
Germans have occupied Sudetenland.
Beautiful music.
Let's see what they say in the papers.
BUY VODAK'S FABULOUS FIREWORKS!
Mili, never put an explosive
in your mouth.
You could be maimed for life.
Will you take a picture, Kaja?
A photograph is like a conserve
of a given moment.
They take photos at our crematorium,
but not with funny faces.
They're bought as souvenirs
by those left behind.
Has anyone ever woken up
in a coffin?
No, Kaja, not even Miss Carska...
although she was under 30
and about to be married
I read someone came back to life.
Then the person wasn't really dead.
No one can come back to life
after 75 minutes in a furnace.
In some humane states,
they incinerate animals, too.
You, too, will be incinerated,
bewitching one.
In your present incarnation... but one
day you won't recognize yourself.
Cremation is quite humane...
and frees people
from fear of death.
Dear children, there is no reason
to fear cremation.
Zina, play something
for our distinguished guests.
Mahler's "Songs for Dead Children..."
or something livelier,
like Saint-Saëns' "Danse macabre".
Next Wednesday, Mili and I
will go to a boxing match.
My angel nearly forgot to tell me
I was invited
I've never been to a boxing match.
I think it's a brutal sport
I'm looking forward to it.
It's good for you to see a manly sport.
- I've always thought it brutal.
- Tough, perhaps...
but we need tough men.
Boxing is man against man.
Well, really, it's too bad!
We're always late.
Excuse me, these are our seats.
That pale woman...
She reminds me...
of someone I've seen before.
- He'll break his leg.
- Shut up!
My angel almost forgot to give me
the tickets and your invitation.
- Will there be bloodshed?
- Maybe, but there shouldn't be.
Clean your glasses, Mili.
They'll bash their teeth in.
- Dancing?
- No, boxing.
They'll hit him.
He's the referee.
They hit each other, not him.
The one in red
is a butcher's apprentice.
A butcher! There'll be bloodshed!
This is a boxing match,
not a slaughterhouse!
You said they wouldn't hit him.
It was a mistake.
Shut up and sit down!
There's blood. You said
we were going to a boxing match
I can't take her anywhere.
She's crazy, I'll have her put away.
Was the apprentice dead, dad?
Nothing is certain in this life,
except death.
BOXING! JOIN US AT THE
YOUTH SPORTS CLUB!
This Christmas is truly blessed.
Angel, you look so radiant.
What if I hang you up...
amongst all these lovely things?
Don't let them suffer. Anezka
will kill them in a moment.
Why must she do it?
Couldn't you kill them?
Of course, but I don't like to do it.
Anezka is used to it,
she's a good old soul.
Come children, it's not
a thing to watch.
Roxana will stay here...
she likes the guts.
One carp must be dead,
if she killed it with one blow.
Its soul is in the ether.
The second has gone.
Their souls are free.
You may want to play
with their souls...
but they are not really
the souls of carp, just bladders.
Their true souls
could be reincarnated...
as cats, perhaps.
Perhaps our dear pet
was once eaten as a carp.
Perhaps we will eat her
again... as something.
But Reinke said he'd call
before dinner.
Are you eating carp for Christmas?
Yes, my angel is frying them now,
on our little furnace.
Her blessed mother prepared them
in jelly, foreign style.
We cook them the Czech way.
That's all very well,
but what about our blood?
We fight for noble ideals
and you fry carp the Czech way
I thought you opposed violence,
supported justice and happiness.
This republic is a fortress
of the enemy.
It's a humanitarian state...
with good laws,
like the one on cremation.
We'll install a higher moral code,
a new order. It was predestined.
You are strong and brave.
You have a pure, Germanic soul
Karl, this will be a test
of your strength and courage.
On 6th March the Jewish community
has some celebration...
a concert or something,
get yourself invited.
You know that old Jew, Bettelheim...
he'll take you along.
Keep your ears open,
listen to what they say.
In a way it's to help
those unhappy Jews.
How will it help them?
They're a misguided, unhappy people.
They understand nothing.
They fight against our Fuehrer.
They're a misguided nation.
You can help them.
Find out what they're saying,
what they're thinking.
We'll join you in a moment, dear
I've brought a party application
form for you.
Become a member. There's still time
I must go now, to the Casino
in Rose Street.
We don't usually take
our wives there, of course.
Today is an exception.
Lots of blondes there, usually,
see for yourself.
Only party members
can go to the Casino.
Our comrades, fellow Germans.
Mother tongue
I swear I am not of Jewish race
or religion.
Only blondes? No brunettes?
I'll have to get used to it.
Now it's really Christmas.
We have candles at home, too.
At the crematorium we have them
all the time
I wonder what the Bettelheims
are doing?
They celebrate Christmas,
even though they're Jews.
He earns a lot of money, thanks
to other people's misfortune.
The temple of death is idle
on Christmas Day.
No cremations, like a Saturday,
though I think they should work today.
We should liberate as many souls
as possible
Christmas should be generous
to the dead as well as the living.
At least the carp
have profited from it
I will have a symbolic glass only.
I'm a teetotaller.
The Germans don't drink, either.
A humane nation,
with a law on cremation.
They have a great future before them
I hope... we, too, belong
to this great chosen nation...
which will install
a higher moral code.
Blood is blood,
and cannot be gainsaid.
Do you think it's still necessary,
Mr. Kopfrkingl?
Can you tell me
how my blood is, doctor?
There's sure to be nothing,
as always. Negative
I didn't mean that, I meant
what is my blood?
Is my blood Czech
or is my blood German?
It's impossible to tell.
At least can you tell whether
it's Slavonic or Germanic?
There's no difference in blood,
it's like human ashes.
You yourself say that all
human ashes are the same...
be they French or Spanish,
doctor or clerk...
Is it true, doctor...
that the Jewish community
will soon have some celebration...
with lovely songs?
You're thinking of the
Chevra Kadisha Seudah.
It is a dinner, held in
the Funeral Hall
I fear it will not be so nice this
year. Would you like to come?
In the Funeral Hall?
What a beautiful tremolo.
They said the Fuehrer
was a scoundrel?
Such beautiful singing...
so mournful...
- Liquidate party members, they said?
- Yes... there was a crowd talking...
That cantor, those high notes...
They said they'd destroy Germany?
Seize power?
Yes, take power in their own hands...
and that soft, mournful song...
So they practically said they
would destroy the Reich?
Yes, yes...
It was all like some solemn funeral.
You were right,
the Casino is heavenly.
No one is suffering.
Soon we'll end all suffering...
in Warsaw, Paris, London,
New York...
We've already liberated
Bohemia and Moravia.
Not even horses will suffer,
everything will be mechanized.
Did you see any horses
in the occupation of Prague?
The German army is mechanized,
like your crematorium.
The Fuehrer will create a paradise.
We must drink to the victory,
mustn't we?
I don't drink... or smoke.
Today is an exception
I'll never forget
the 15th March, 1939.
Just a symbolic glass, perhaps.
But we have enemies, Karl.
In your crematorium, too.
We must rely on you,
our only party member there.
What's the situation there?
Some of them
don't understand anything.
Like Zajic...
Fenek... Beran...
Podzimkova... Pelikan...
or the porter, Vrana.
There's something wrong
with his liver...
but he's an enemy of the Reich.
As for Liskova...
she no longer works there,
but we can find her address.
And the director...
the director
of my temple of death...
also hasn't the right attitude.
He once said he'd like
to incinerate all the Germans
I don't know whether he should
remain as director.
We'll think about it.
And what about
your unfortunate Jews?
You even employ two
I don't know... Mr. Strauss...
He's a decent, honest man...
he likes music, works well,
only for the money, perhaps.
He told me he doesn't agree
with the Germans.
Doctor Bettelheim...
he's a good man, but
he doesn't understand, either
I fear his nephew, Jan,
is under his influence...
just a boy
I don't like him.
He takes Mili roaming.
And Anezka...
their servant, a good soul,
isn't Jewish.
She killed our carp, I couldn't. But
she's under Bettelheim's influence
I think the Jews are a misguided
nation, beyond re-education.
All that incredible music.
Look, in Sparta they killed
weak children.
Some might think it cruel,
but it was a merciful thing...
for the children.
They would only have
been miserable,
the nation benefited.
Your Maria's mother used to
prepare carp in jelly.
A foreign style, as you said. Don't
you know it's the Jewish style?
Your Lakme's mother was Jewish.
When I reminded your black-haired
Lakme of your German blood...
she said Czech was spoken
in your house.
Your Lakme didn't tell you of my
invitation to the boxing match.
She's not pleased
you've joined the party
I'd like to know her reaction when
your kids go to a German school.
She has a bad influence on Mili,
he's weak, effeminate.
That's how they work, secretly,
with families, children.
How long have you been married,
Mr. Kopfrkingl?
Our blessed marriage
has lasted for 19 years.
We first met at the zoo,
in front of the leopard's cage.
We must make sacrifices,
Mr. Kopfrkingl.
In the circumstances, I'm afraid
you couldn't occupy higher posts.
There is no difference in blood.
Dr. Bettelheim says so.
There's a tremendous difference.
Pure blood comes first.
There's no place for inferior blood
in the new order.
Isn't your Dr. Bettelheim a Jew?
Your Lakme should understand
that she's unfit to live with you.
It's incompatible with the honor
of an honorable, healthy man.
She will have many problems, Karl
I couldn't come earlier, sir
I had to attend several
unanticipated meetings.
It's not like you, Mr. Kopfrkingl,
but everything seems to be changing.
Certainly, some personal changes
are only to be expected.
You hardly ever smoke nowadays,
Mr. Dvorak.
Now Mr. Pelikan can take
the beauty to the chapel.
You can take her away, Mr. Pelikan.
She is ready.
What about that morphine?
I'm an honorable, healthy man. In
your own interest, I won't provide it.
If you don't stop pestering me,
I'll call the police.
Morphine addiction is a vice,
incompatible with the honor of man.
Not another word,
or I'll have you put in an asylum.
Haven't you noticed that our Torches
of Remembrance have gone out?
Well, they've arrested Beran,
Zajic and the director.
What can we do?
Poor Fenek is crazy for morphine.
He's an effeminate, broken man.
What about Prachar's drinking,
and his unfortunate son, Vojta?
Who else have we left?
It's that boxer,
the butcher's apprentice.
Do you know him?
I've been to that youth club twice.
It said on the pamphlet, "Join us!"
That's a very good idea.
You must be tough. You have German
blood in your veins, haven't you?
You'll go to a German school.
That boxer will make a better friend
than Jan Bettelheim.
Tell me about this boxer.
What does he say?
He says he must train hard, so he
can bash the Germans' teeth in.
That's what he says, dad.
But that's all wrong, Mili.
Now you and Zina must go
to visit auntie.
But when you come back,
I'll explain everything to you.
Now we're alone for once...
why don't you dress up?
Let's have a special dinner.
Put on your little black dress,
you hardly ever wear it.
Then we'll bathe in our lovely
bathroom, like at a Roman feast
I'm going to be promoted
to the post of director.
Isn't it perhaps our blessed
wedding anniversary?
Or at least the anniversary of our
meeting at the leopard's cage?
Well, let's pretend it is.
Aren't you hungry?
One should make the most
of every day in life...
as though it were the last.
The whole world is open to us.
The sky is open to us...
our sky which has been
unclouded for 19 years.
But I've noticed that the bathroom
ventilator is broken
I've fixed it with a rope, until
it's mended properly tomorrow.
You can reach the rope
by standing on a chair.
Can you hear that lovely singing?
How unfortunate are those who
die unaware of music's beauty.
You at least loved music.
Come, dearest, let us run the bath.
Won't you be too hot?
Open the ventilator, dear.
What if I hanged you, dear?
May I speak to director Kopfrkingl?
Excuse me, I was reading.
Will you have a drink?
Brandy? Czech slivovic?
Thank you, but I don't drink or smoke.
The Dalai Lama has died.
For years our blessed homeland,
Tibet, has sought the great man...
in whom Buddha, our savior,
has been reincarnated.
Now, at last, we have found him.
The throne in Lhasa awaits you
I shall return to fetch you, then
we shall leave for the Himalayas...
our heavenly, blessed homeland.
It is my painful duty...
in my new capacity as director
of this temple of death...
to officiate at my own
beloved wife's funeral.
Our 19 years of happy marriage
have been ended...
by her tragic death.
But it is true that death
can sometimes be a blessing.
A great blessing...
when it spares us suffering.
It can spare us the anxieties,
the terrors...
which might await us...
in later life.
You will return to the place
from whence you came.
Your soul will be free...
to fly into the ether.
The Teutons, my dear friends...
incinerated their dead...
purified with flame
I take leave of you, my angel...
as director of this crematorium
and as your loving husband.
But we must make sacrifices.
There is nothing certain
in this life, except death...
and the fact that a new order
will be installed in Europe.
The Fuehrer's New Europe, and death.
Those are the only two
certainties we can have.
The flames will not hurt you,
my beloved.
We've pensioned off Vrana,
the porter.
He was too old.
And Mrs. Podzimkova, the cleaner, too.
It's for the best, she once told me
she was afraid of the incinerators
I'll keep the others for the time
being. But Mili worries me.
He's even more of a weakling,
and he goes wandering off.
Hedvika, give me the pink soap.
His mother was half-Jewish...
it must show.
Mili is a half-caste.
According to Reich civil law,
Mili is a quarter Jewish.
He won't be accepted for higher
education or by a youth organization.
He lazes about.
Mili dreams of being a soldier,
now there's a threat of war.
He may run away to join up,
as a romantic gesture.
Children are a worry.
It's Saturday today, the temple
of death is not working.
At least you'll be able
to look around.
It's where your father
began work 20 years ago.
Where are you going?
Just out.
We're going for a walk,
it's such a nice day.
We are living in great times...
we must bear all our worries
and fears bravely.
Your blessed mother... I wonder
how she was reincarnated.
Will you have ice cream or a cake?
Both, I think.
Buy one only, you'll have
no appetite for dinner.
Let's go through the cemetery,
it's much nicer
I used to walk here in the lunch
hour, before I became director.
This is a cemetery, not a fun fair!
Don't you know what a cemetery is?
She's crazy. She thinks it's all fun.
Take no notice.
Was your cake nice? Good.
One shouldn't profane a sacred place.
That's not for you, Mili.
What a pretty memorial.
The Greek Torches of Remembrance,
they had them in Sparta.
They've been burning ever since
the new employers came.
But they're not burning.
This is where people are
turned to dust.
You're not frightened are you, Mili?
Mr. Dvorak.
This is the preparation room.
This coffin is nailed down because
the corpse won't be exhibited.
On Monday it will go first to the
chapel, then straight to the furnace.
It contains the body
of a pure-blooded German.
A man of pure race,
not an effeminate, weak soul.
Clean your glasses,
you'll ruin your eyesight.
Mr. Dvorak wanted to throw
this away...
but I said it might
come in useful.
There is no difference in ashes.
What if... I put you
in with him, Mili?
The time has come.
The throne awaits you
Tibet, our blessed homeland,
awaits its ruler.
The wall that restricted
your vision has fallen.
The sky is clear...
the stars are above us...
you will save the world.
You are Buddha.
The sky is clear,
the stars are above us.
Lhasa
I used to read about it
in my book on Tibet.
Let all creatures be freed
from suffering.
But I have yet to save
one more good soul.
One more soul must be saved...
from the suffering
which would await her...
in our new paradise on earth.
Wait till next Saturday
evening, my son.
That's it, Mr. Kopfrkingl.
We must test some, you know...
this is top secret.
You have 20 years experience.
The gas furnaces of the future.
You could be technical supervisor.
But absolute secrecy is necessary.
Of course, I quite understand.
Equipment to incinerate
the greatest number at once.
To free as many souls as possible
from the fetters of existence.
To fly into the universe,
dissolve into the ether
I think it's a tremendous
opportunity...
because ordinary crematoria
take 75 minutes...
with one body per furnace.
You see, in such enormous,
communal furnaces...
taking one hundred,
five hundred, a thousand...
it could all be done
in ten minutes.
Big installations,
functioning continuously...
bodies could be fed in one end...
and ashes would come out the
other end, mixed up, of course...
but no matter, there's
no difference in ashes.
And liberated souls would fly
out of the top.
All humanity could be liberated,
the entire world.
Poor Mr. Prachar... Vojtik...
what happiness for Bettelheims,
for all at the Jewish celebration...
so many, if I could give them
hope of freedom from suffering...
I'll tell them they'd be reincarnated.
Mr. Kopfrkingl...
you must be over-tired.
You know, it doesn't really matter
if someone isn't quite dead.
In such big, continuous incinerators
no one could come to life again.
But absolute secrecy is vital,
don't forget.
Yes, absolute secrecy is vital
I have been called on to manage
a great enterprise
I'll no longer be the director
of a small crematorium.
Soon I'll be in charge
of a huge organization...
although the details haven't
been decided yet.
- Where are you going?
- Ah, Kaja
I'm taking our dear one
to see something.
Shall I call next week?
By all means, next week.
Have you got your camera now?
Pity. It's such a nice day,
a photo would be a nice souvenir.
No one will suffer any more,
I'm preparing a huge installation.
Let's go through the cemetery,
it's nicer
I used to walk here every lunch
hour. Perhaps this is the last time.
My wife ran away a week ago.
You met us here, remember? Have
you seen her. A boy was with you
I've been waiting here.
She may return. She's mad.
You can see where your father began,
where he works.
It's disgraceful, don't look, dear.
That's not for you.
Look at that pretty memorial.
This is where people
are turned to dust.
But it's all too slow, I'll introduce
something more efficient.
This is the preparation room.
This coffin is nailed down because
it will go straight to the furnace.
No, this would be improper.
She was a piano tutor,
that will be more suitable.
You see this?
I told Mr. Dvorak
it might come in useful.
We must go.
The restricting wall has fallen.
The stars are before us,
eternal light.
Now you will save the world.
The nation, all humanity,
is waiting for you
I am glad you've come.
I shall leave with you
I shall sit on the throne.
But I have a daughter still,
she is a quarter Jewish
I have not yet saved her.
Don't worry, we'll take care of her.
There is a lot of work waiting
for you, Mr. Kopfrkingl.
For the nation, for humanity.
No one will suffer.
I shall save them all
I shall save them all.
The whole world.
THE END
This is the blessed spot
where we first met 17 years ago.
Nothing has changed,
except for the leopard.
The one we saw then...
has been freed by merciful nature
I always talk of merciful nature,
gentle fate, God's compassion...
We judge others...
reproach them for this and that...
but what of ourselves?
I haven't done enough for you.
We're not badly off, Roman.
Thanks to your dowry...
and the help of your blessed mother.
And the assistance of your aunt
I may have furnished the flat...
but that's about all.
No, my dear, I must do more for you.
Zina is sixteen, Mila is fourteen.
Come now, children...
cages are for animals
I think I could increase my income
I'll take on a representative.
I'm thinking of Mr. Strauss.
He's a decent, honest man.
We'll invite him to a reception
with some of our friends.
We're a decent, perfect family...
and I'm worried that I don't
do enough for you.
THE CREMATOR
From the novel by Ladislav Fuks.
Director Juraj Herz.
You're not to serve alcohol,
only tea.
Of course, if someone's
willing to pay...
you can serve them weak coffee
I haven't had any cake.
And smokers will have to do without.
When you die there is no smoking
or drinking for all eternity.
Please sit with this charming lady
I still haven't had any cake.
Mr. Strauss, you call on many
confectioners, that's sweet work.
But apart from offering your firm's
products to these nice people...
how about offering
something else?
Something concerning
these nice people personally.
As well as your confectionery...
offer them a pamphlet
and application form.
JOIN US! SAVE UP FOR CREMATION
Five crowns commission
for every applicant.
Excuse me, Mr. Strauss,
here is an old friend of mine...
the engineer Reinke and his wife.
We fought together
in the Austrian army
I haven't seen you for years.
You must call on us soon.
The ladies haven't met,
we must introduce them later.
Where are you taking me?
We were going to a concert,
weren't we?
There's music here
I meant the Philharmonic.
There's only four players here.
Maybe the others will come later
I'm sure you're fond of music,
Mr. Strauss.
Sensitive people love music,
Schubert, Liszt...
How unfortunate are those who die
unaware of such beauty.
Are you perhaps related
to Johann or Richard Strauss?
The composer of "Rosenkavalier".
Unfortunately not, Mr. Kopfrkingl,
but I'm fond of Strauss' music.
About these applications,
Mr. Strauss...
some people suffer, you know,
so do animals
I have here a wonderful book
about Tibet.
This is Potala, the palace
of the Dalai Lama.
Lhasa... it is wonderful,
like the Bible
God did well when He said to man...
"...Dust thou art, and unto dust
shalt thou return."
Such a crematorium, dear friends...
is good and pleasing to God.
It helps the Lord to speed
man's transformation to dust.
Some may object
on a point of detail...
because Christ was buried,
not burned.
Dear friends, that was another matter
I always answer that objection with
the truth that Christ was embalmed...
and wrapped in linen.
No one will embalm you,
wrap you in linen...
and bury you in a cave.
You see, my dear friends...
we live in a good, humanitarian
state, which provides crematoria...
not idly, for people to visit
like museums...
but to give people a chance...
to turn quietly into dust
after the tribulations of life.
As this beautiful book
on Tibet says...
"We must do away
with the evil of suffering...
or alleviate it, at least.
The sooner man returns to dust...
the sooner he is set free, transformed...
and reincarnated."
Animals, too. In the ground
it takes 20 years.
In the crematorium, 75 minutes.
Now, dear friends...
enjoy yourselves.
Lose yourselves in this lovely
music, dance, have fun...
let no one feel left out of things.
What a charming man.
How he has suffered. He lost his job
as a porter, a liver condition...
or was it his kidneys?
Something to do with urine, anyway.
He lost his wife. His son died
of scarlet fever
I could increase his commission,
under some pretext of success.
He's a Jew, a good businessman.
Do you think so, dear?
Strauss isn't a Jewish name.
Names mean nothing. You call
me Lakme instead of Maria.
And I must call you Roman,
instead of Karl.
Because I'm a romantic
and I love beauty.
That's the one.
And that noble face, there
I'm framing this for the
Japanese Embassy.
Emelian Chamorro,
President of Nicaragua.
It's Louis Marin,
Comptroller General.
Poincare's Minister of Pensions.
But it says here...
- Never mind that, Mr...
- Holy.
Never mind, Mr. Holy, stick a bit
of paper over what it says.
Here's another thing.
The law on cremation
of 7th December, 1921.
Could you frame it,
with a nice border?
I wanted something gayer.
New pictures for you, my angel
I bought them out of my
first increase in income.
Our house will be
even more beautiful.
Is Zina practicing?
Such a gifted child.
- Where's Mili?
- He's with Jan...
Dr. Bettelheim's nephew.
Good, he's not roaming about.
Jan's a good boy, doesn't wander
farther than the bridge.
- Who is it?
- The President of Nicaragua.
We'll put him...
I think, dear, we could
hang him over there.
- Where shall we hang this?
- The bathroom.
You know, my angel...
I think the bathroom
is our most attractive room.
Perhaps flowers would look
nicer here.
Or a hunting scene... the chase...
Little pet.
Don't let the poor thing suffer.
What about milk?
Give it to the pet, then.
It's yesterday's milk, anyway.
Statistics show that Prague's
married men live longer.
We're lucky, Walter.
We must thank the ladies.
But for them, we'd die sooner.
Yes, Walter, when I remember
us soldiers in the World War...
how we fought and died.
When I think what the horses
suffered... it's unbelievable.
The world should have peace
and justice...
and happiness.
Right, but such things
have to be fought for.
Look at Austria, part of the Reich
now. Hitler's a political genius.
He freed the nation from poverty...
unemployment and misery.
Haven't you seen
our party's pamphlets?
That's Louis Marin, former
Minister of Pensions
I bought it from Mr. Holy.
Mr. Holy is a widower.
Right, but our nation suffered
a great injustice after the war...
and anyone with German blood
should fight to put things right.
JOIN US IN THE S.P.D.
Have some almonds.
Perhaps you have your own opinion
on past injustices.
Such tragedies...
Mr. Strauss was pensioned off...
then his wife and child
died of tuberculosis.
Our children go to Czech schools...
we speak Czech at home, like now
I have only Czech books.
Even my book on Tibet is in Czech.
Our blood is Czech.
You'll find at least a drop
of German blood in your veins.
Perhaps... a drop, perhaps...
A sensitive man is aware
of that drop, even
I'm meeting Goermann tonight. He's
going to Berlin to see the Minister.
The Republic is an obstacle
in our path, but that's a long story
I wanted to tell you about
the girl born with two heads...
four arms and four legs,
poor thing.
A life twice blessed.
- Where have you been?
- Looking at the car, with Jan.
You missed an interesting
conversation, Mili.
Mr. Reinke is an engineer,
he had to study hard.
Now he's meeting a Mr. Goermann,
and your German is weak
I know we all speak Czech,
but you should know some German.
Germany's a great nation, after all.
Mr. Strauss.
You see how the poor man
is getting on, Lakme?
Welcome, Mr. Dvorak. Don't be
frightened, I'll initiate you gently.
This is our porter, Mr. Vrana.
His health is failing, it's his liver.
You know, for 15 years I've been
entering this temple of death...
yet I still have the same
solemn feeling every time.
It's a bit like my marriage
I have been married
to Lakme for 17 years...
and it is still as wonderful as
when we met at the leopard's cage.
Come, Mr. Dvorak, don't be afraid.
You have chosen a beautiful,
noble profession...
and a responsible one.
Mr. Fenek, a morphine addict.
Have you heard? The conference at
Munich is forcing a settlement on us.
Everything will be all right...
though I do have a drop of German
blood, no one can help his origins.
Haven't you overalls, Mr. Dvorak?
Never mind, we'll find you something.
Won't you come round with us,
Mrs. Liskova?
You've never seen how we work.
My job is to clean the chapel,
Mr. Kopfrkingl.
Let's go, then, Mr. Dvorak.
May I smoke?
Of course, do smoke
if you feel like it.
I don't smoke or drink.
We can hear the ceremony above,
such beautiful music. You like music?
Sensitive people love music.
I love it very much.
That's only Mrs. Leshetinska
practicing.
The catafalque descends here.
Above us is the world of survivors,
so to speak.
For us, work is only beginning.
These furnaces always remind me...
of the ovens in which
our daily bread is baked.
This is our timetable.
The timetable of death
no one can escape...
unless buried in the ground.
Now we burn with gas, not coke.
The body is turned to dust
in 75 minutes.
In fine weather, Mr. Dvorak...
you can go for a breath
of fresh air in the cemetery.
You can see inside through
these little windows.
There's nothing to see now.
No doubt you will have a chance
during some nice cremation.
The ashes are placed
in these metal urns...
but the soul is no longer there,
it is up in the ether...
free of suffering,
liberated, clean...
it moves into another body.
Here you can see a few coffins
for this afternoon.
The one to be burned first
is already up in the chapel...
for leave-taking.
But not every coffin goes up there.
These are not to be opened,
they are already nailed down.
Leave it, Mr. Dvorak.
It may come in useful.
This is Miss Strunna.
Her skin is wonderfully pink.
There she is. I looked
at her yesterday.
She looks so alive,
you expect her to get up...
and walk.
You may wonder if she's really dead.
That would be a wicked thought.
This woman has been declared dead...
and it is our duty to incinerate
her after the ceremony.
If Miss Strunna were alive...
cremation would be terrible,
because her life was before her.
It would only be good
if her life was full of suffering.
Suffering is a great evil, and we
must do all we can to alleviate it.
But don't worry, Mr. Dvorak,
Miss Strunna is really dead.
Such mistakes are rare nowadays.
How beautiful.
Look, my angels.
Pity they are not artificial,
to bloom in the snow.
Poor Mr. Dvorak is so nervous,
he smokes all the time.
Come, Mili, don't wander off.
What lovely acrobatics
I've something better for you.
- What's that?
- Don't be scared.
This is the murderer Laget.
He committed a murder
every day and night.
Really live, like at the theatre.
It's a waxworks, you idiot.
And now, God-fearing people,
let us visit the baths.
With real water and steam?
It's a waxworks, isn't it?
These are the baths at Franzensbad.
People come here to bathe
and make themselves beautiful.
This woman washes...
and smiles at the young man.
She sits there
and the young scoundrel kills her.
Old-fashioned baths.
Our bathroom is nicer.
She looks like our dairywoman.
This isn't a dairy.
This man hanged himself
because he had the plague...
a contagious disease...
he died rather than
contaminate others.
His body hangs there,
as dead as a doornail.
- He looks alive.
- He's hanged.
This poor boy was murdered
by the notorious Moore...
with this iron bar
Moore looked innocent,
with blue eyes and pink cheeks.
He killed six people
and ended on the scaffold
I knew it!
What do you know? I can't
even take you to a waxworks!
The wax dwarf points the way out.
His name is Vitek.
He's alive!
For gentlemen with strong nerves
we have a special exhibition.
Here we have all the contagious
diseases. Syphilis, gonorrhoea...
What a scourge.
One can die of that, too.
But modern science can protect us.
Our good neighbor, Dr. Bettelheim...
Do you still consider these tests
to be necessary?
You know I touch no woman
but my own angel
I'm afraid you'll think
I'm a hypochondriac...
but I'm afraid of infection
from my work.
But you don't handle such corpses,
so infection is impossible
I'm very glad that Mili
is friends with your nephew.
Mili likes to roam about,
and that's dangerous nowadays
I hear there's martial law
in the frontier regions.
This will end in suffering.
Violence never pays, it's an
unreliable principle of power.
After all, we live in Europe, in the
20th century, in a civilized world.
Aggressors are always beaten
in the end.
Well, Mr. Kopfrkingl, if you think
it necessary, come again.
These are banana flies...
used for heredity tests.
And this is Drosphilia funebris...
the funeral fly.
Would you like this collection?
I'll sell it cheap
for a bit of morphine.
Very decorative.
I appreciate such things
I have a butterfly
pinned in my bathroom.
Where would I get morphine?
I don't even smoke.
You know that engineer...
Mr. Reinke is not in Prague.
There's mobilization.
All right, let me have it when
he returns. I've got a little left
I've come early today,
so as to see you.
You've better things to see.
How long have you lived like this?
This isn't the life for you.
What's the sense in doing such work?
Times are dangerous,
there's mobilization.
You should have someone to cling to,
someone to protect you.
Let's talk it over this evening
I've alarmed Mrs. Liskova.
You shouldn't joke in a crematorium,
Mr. Kopfrkingl.
Yes, but I only wanted to talk,
to invite her to our house...
to cheer her up a little,
poor thing.
A present for Zina.
Your young lady has a client,
Mr. Kopfrkingl.
Perhaps you might like another.
Everyone says you're so respectable.
You would have to wait a little
for Miss Dagmar.
What a pity you only visit us
on the first Thursday of the month.
Couldn't you call more often?
My income is larger now...
I have a representative...
and it's good for the health.
Here's Miss Dagmar.
You see, it wasn't so long
I've waited a month for you,
Mr. Kopfrkingl
I'll just tidy up
I don't want this to get crushed.
It's for Zina.
We have a new employee,
a Mr. Dvorak.
He works with the coffins.
At first he smoked incessantly,
now he's less nervous.
Thank God he doesn't smoke
so much now.
Mr. Strauss is quite successful
with the application forms.
People in the confectionery trade
are very pleasant
I want to take on
another representative.
Someone in toys or cosmetics
would be suitable
I must look after my family,
Miss Dagmar.
We have a beautiful and blessed home
I must look after you even better
I'll employ another representative.
Mr. Dvorak smokes less now.
But I told you that, didn't I?
Lakme you look so sad lately.
Is something wrong?
Are you worried?
Zina's birthday is soon
I've bought her a new costume.
What about that boy Kaja? Will he
care for his family as well as I do?
This one has died.
Everything dies here.
Mrs. Liskova is leaving.
She's unhappy here.
Leaving us? How sudden.
I'm so sorry
I can't invite you...
and we'll be so busy...
with the German army
on our frontier.
Even Mr. Vrana can't make
the torches work.
Why get so excited?
Why should they occupy us?
Violence doesn't pay.
We live in a civilized world,
in Europe, in the 20th century.
When is Miss Carska's turn?
She's seventh.
The first funeral of the afternoon,
it won't wait.
Poor Miss Carska.
She was about to be married
I must go and see
if she is quite in order
I don't want to disturb,
but have you got that morphine?
I told you, Mr. Reinke
is not in Prague.
Be patient. How can you
think of morphine...
when foreign troops
are on our frontier?
Conferences are being held,
there might be war...
and Miss Carska was
about to be married.
How terrible to lose our dear ones
in their prime.
O, frost has withered
their cheeks...
and the black angel of death
has done his deed.
An educated speaker.
Dvorak's "Largo," Mr. Dvorak.
In 75 minutes, Miss Carska
will be dust to fill an urn.
But not her soul.
The soul will be liberated,
reincarnated, as they say in Tibet.
She will fly into the ether.
You know, premature death
can be a great blessing...
if it frees one from suffering
I think I'd like to go, too.
Sometimes I think I'd rather
work in the boiler room.
Come, Mr. Dvorak,
what's the matter?
I thought you were
less nervous lately
I told my dear one you smoked less.
The boiler room would
be demeaning for you.
Help yourselves children,
Kaja, young ladies...
Great things are happening now the
Germans have occupied Sudetenland.
Beautiful music.
Let's see what they say in the papers.
BUY VODAK'S FABULOUS FIREWORKS!
Mili, never put an explosive
in your mouth.
You could be maimed for life.
Will you take a picture, Kaja?
A photograph is like a conserve
of a given moment.
They take photos at our crematorium,
but not with funny faces.
They're bought as souvenirs
by those left behind.
Has anyone ever woken up
in a coffin?
No, Kaja, not even Miss Carska...
although she was under 30
and about to be married
I read someone came back to life.
Then the person wasn't really dead.
No one can come back to life
after 75 minutes in a furnace.
In some humane states,
they incinerate animals, too.
You, too, will be incinerated,
bewitching one.
In your present incarnation... but one
day you won't recognize yourself.
Cremation is quite humane...
and frees people
from fear of death.
Dear children, there is no reason
to fear cremation.
Zina, play something
for our distinguished guests.
Mahler's "Songs for Dead Children..."
or something livelier,
like Saint-Saëns' "Danse macabre".
Next Wednesday, Mili and I
will go to a boxing match.
My angel nearly forgot to tell me
I was invited
I've never been to a boxing match.
I think it's a brutal sport
I'm looking forward to it.
It's good for you to see a manly sport.
- I've always thought it brutal.
- Tough, perhaps...
but we need tough men.
Boxing is man against man.
Well, really, it's too bad!
We're always late.
Excuse me, these are our seats.
That pale woman...
She reminds me...
of someone I've seen before.
- He'll break his leg.
- Shut up!
My angel almost forgot to give me
the tickets and your invitation.
- Will there be bloodshed?
- Maybe, but there shouldn't be.
Clean your glasses, Mili.
They'll bash their teeth in.
- Dancing?
- No, boxing.
They'll hit him.
He's the referee.
They hit each other, not him.
The one in red
is a butcher's apprentice.
A butcher! There'll be bloodshed!
This is a boxing match,
not a slaughterhouse!
You said they wouldn't hit him.
It was a mistake.
Shut up and sit down!
There's blood. You said
we were going to a boxing match
I can't take her anywhere.
She's crazy, I'll have her put away.
Was the apprentice dead, dad?
Nothing is certain in this life,
except death.
BOXING! JOIN US AT THE
YOUTH SPORTS CLUB!
This Christmas is truly blessed.
Angel, you look so radiant.
What if I hang you up...
amongst all these lovely things?
Don't let them suffer. Anezka
will kill them in a moment.
Why must she do it?
Couldn't you kill them?
Of course, but I don't like to do it.
Anezka is used to it,
she's a good old soul.
Come children, it's not
a thing to watch.
Roxana will stay here...
she likes the guts.
One carp must be dead,
if she killed it with one blow.
Its soul is in the ether.
The second has gone.
Their souls are free.
You may want to play
with their souls...
but they are not really
the souls of carp, just bladders.
Their true souls
could be reincarnated...
as cats, perhaps.
Perhaps our dear pet
was once eaten as a carp.
Perhaps we will eat her
again... as something.
But Reinke said he'd call
before dinner.
Are you eating carp for Christmas?
Yes, my angel is frying them now,
on our little furnace.
Her blessed mother prepared them
in jelly, foreign style.
We cook them the Czech way.
That's all very well,
but what about our blood?
We fight for noble ideals
and you fry carp the Czech way
I thought you opposed violence,
supported justice and happiness.
This republic is a fortress
of the enemy.
It's a humanitarian state...
with good laws,
like the one on cremation.
We'll install a higher moral code,
a new order. It was predestined.
You are strong and brave.
You have a pure, Germanic soul
Karl, this will be a test
of your strength and courage.
On 6th March the Jewish community
has some celebration...
a concert or something,
get yourself invited.
You know that old Jew, Bettelheim...
he'll take you along.
Keep your ears open,
listen to what they say.
In a way it's to help
those unhappy Jews.
How will it help them?
They're a misguided, unhappy people.
They understand nothing.
They fight against our Fuehrer.
They're a misguided nation.
You can help them.
Find out what they're saying,
what they're thinking.
We'll join you in a moment, dear
I've brought a party application
form for you.
Become a member. There's still time
I must go now, to the Casino
in Rose Street.
We don't usually take
our wives there, of course.
Today is an exception.
Lots of blondes there, usually,
see for yourself.
Only party members
can go to the Casino.
Our comrades, fellow Germans.
Mother tongue
I swear I am not of Jewish race
or religion.
Only blondes? No brunettes?
I'll have to get used to it.
Now it's really Christmas.
We have candles at home, too.
At the crematorium we have them
all the time
I wonder what the Bettelheims
are doing?
They celebrate Christmas,
even though they're Jews.
He earns a lot of money, thanks
to other people's misfortune.
The temple of death is idle
on Christmas Day.
No cremations, like a Saturday,
though I think they should work today.
We should liberate as many souls
as possible
Christmas should be generous
to the dead as well as the living.
At least the carp
have profited from it
I will have a symbolic glass only.
I'm a teetotaller.
The Germans don't drink, either.
A humane nation,
with a law on cremation.
They have a great future before them
I hope... we, too, belong
to this great chosen nation...
which will install
a higher moral code.
Blood is blood,
and cannot be gainsaid.
Do you think it's still necessary,
Mr. Kopfrkingl?
Can you tell me
how my blood is, doctor?
There's sure to be nothing,
as always. Negative
I didn't mean that, I meant
what is my blood?
Is my blood Czech
or is my blood German?
It's impossible to tell.
At least can you tell whether
it's Slavonic or Germanic?
There's no difference in blood,
it's like human ashes.
You yourself say that all
human ashes are the same...
be they French or Spanish,
doctor or clerk...
Is it true, doctor...
that the Jewish community
will soon have some celebration...
with lovely songs?
You're thinking of the
Chevra Kadisha Seudah.
It is a dinner, held in
the Funeral Hall
I fear it will not be so nice this
year. Would you like to come?
In the Funeral Hall?
What a beautiful tremolo.
They said the Fuehrer
was a scoundrel?
Such beautiful singing...
so mournful...
- Liquidate party members, they said?
- Yes... there was a crowd talking...
That cantor, those high notes...
They said they'd destroy Germany?
Seize power?
Yes, take power in their own hands...
and that soft, mournful song...
So they practically said they
would destroy the Reich?
Yes, yes...
It was all like some solemn funeral.
You were right,
the Casino is heavenly.
No one is suffering.
Soon we'll end all suffering...
in Warsaw, Paris, London,
New York...
We've already liberated
Bohemia and Moravia.
Not even horses will suffer,
everything will be mechanized.
Did you see any horses
in the occupation of Prague?
The German army is mechanized,
like your crematorium.
The Fuehrer will create a paradise.
We must drink to the victory,
mustn't we?
I don't drink... or smoke.
Today is an exception
I'll never forget
the 15th March, 1939.
Just a symbolic glass, perhaps.
But we have enemies, Karl.
In your crematorium, too.
We must rely on you,
our only party member there.
What's the situation there?
Some of them
don't understand anything.
Like Zajic...
Fenek... Beran...
Podzimkova... Pelikan...
or the porter, Vrana.
There's something wrong
with his liver...
but he's an enemy of the Reich.
As for Liskova...
she no longer works there,
but we can find her address.
And the director...
the director
of my temple of death...
also hasn't the right attitude.
He once said he'd like
to incinerate all the Germans
I don't know whether he should
remain as director.
We'll think about it.
And what about
your unfortunate Jews?
You even employ two
I don't know... Mr. Strauss...
He's a decent, honest man...
he likes music, works well,
only for the money, perhaps.
He told me he doesn't agree
with the Germans.
Doctor Bettelheim...
he's a good man, but
he doesn't understand, either
I fear his nephew, Jan,
is under his influence...
just a boy
I don't like him.
He takes Mili roaming.
And Anezka...
their servant, a good soul,
isn't Jewish.
She killed our carp, I couldn't. But
she's under Bettelheim's influence
I think the Jews are a misguided
nation, beyond re-education.
All that incredible music.
Look, in Sparta they killed
weak children.
Some might think it cruel,
but it was a merciful thing...
for the children.
They would only have
been miserable,
the nation benefited.
Your Maria's mother used to
prepare carp in jelly.
A foreign style, as you said. Don't
you know it's the Jewish style?
Your Lakme's mother was Jewish.
When I reminded your black-haired
Lakme of your German blood...
she said Czech was spoken
in your house.
Your Lakme didn't tell you of my
invitation to the boxing match.
She's not pleased
you've joined the party
I'd like to know her reaction when
your kids go to a German school.
She has a bad influence on Mili,
he's weak, effeminate.
That's how they work, secretly,
with families, children.
How long have you been married,
Mr. Kopfrkingl?
Our blessed marriage
has lasted for 19 years.
We first met at the zoo,
in front of the leopard's cage.
We must make sacrifices,
Mr. Kopfrkingl.
In the circumstances, I'm afraid
you couldn't occupy higher posts.
There is no difference in blood.
Dr. Bettelheim says so.
There's a tremendous difference.
Pure blood comes first.
There's no place for inferior blood
in the new order.
Isn't your Dr. Bettelheim a Jew?
Your Lakme should understand
that she's unfit to live with you.
It's incompatible with the honor
of an honorable, healthy man.
She will have many problems, Karl
I couldn't come earlier, sir
I had to attend several
unanticipated meetings.
It's not like you, Mr. Kopfrkingl,
but everything seems to be changing.
Certainly, some personal changes
are only to be expected.
You hardly ever smoke nowadays,
Mr. Dvorak.
Now Mr. Pelikan can take
the beauty to the chapel.
You can take her away, Mr. Pelikan.
She is ready.
What about that morphine?
I'm an honorable, healthy man. In
your own interest, I won't provide it.
If you don't stop pestering me,
I'll call the police.
Morphine addiction is a vice,
incompatible with the honor of man.
Not another word,
or I'll have you put in an asylum.
Haven't you noticed that our Torches
of Remembrance have gone out?
Well, they've arrested Beran,
Zajic and the director.
What can we do?
Poor Fenek is crazy for morphine.
He's an effeminate, broken man.
What about Prachar's drinking,
and his unfortunate son, Vojta?
Who else have we left?
It's that boxer,
the butcher's apprentice.
Do you know him?
I've been to that youth club twice.
It said on the pamphlet, "Join us!"
That's a very good idea.
You must be tough. You have German
blood in your veins, haven't you?
You'll go to a German school.
That boxer will make a better friend
than Jan Bettelheim.
Tell me about this boxer.
What does he say?
He says he must train hard, so he
can bash the Germans' teeth in.
That's what he says, dad.
But that's all wrong, Mili.
Now you and Zina must go
to visit auntie.
But when you come back,
I'll explain everything to you.
Now we're alone for once...
why don't you dress up?
Let's have a special dinner.
Put on your little black dress,
you hardly ever wear it.
Then we'll bathe in our lovely
bathroom, like at a Roman feast
I'm going to be promoted
to the post of director.
Isn't it perhaps our blessed
wedding anniversary?
Or at least the anniversary of our
meeting at the leopard's cage?
Well, let's pretend it is.
Aren't you hungry?
One should make the most
of every day in life...
as though it were the last.
The whole world is open to us.
The sky is open to us...
our sky which has been
unclouded for 19 years.
But I've noticed that the bathroom
ventilator is broken
I've fixed it with a rope, until
it's mended properly tomorrow.
You can reach the rope
by standing on a chair.
Can you hear that lovely singing?
How unfortunate are those who
die unaware of music's beauty.
You at least loved music.
Come, dearest, let us run the bath.
Won't you be too hot?
Open the ventilator, dear.
What if I hanged you, dear?
May I speak to director Kopfrkingl?
Excuse me, I was reading.
Will you have a drink?
Brandy? Czech slivovic?
Thank you, but I don't drink or smoke.
The Dalai Lama has died.
For years our blessed homeland,
Tibet, has sought the great man...
in whom Buddha, our savior,
has been reincarnated.
Now, at last, we have found him.
The throne in Lhasa awaits you
I shall return to fetch you, then
we shall leave for the Himalayas...
our heavenly, blessed homeland.
It is my painful duty...
in my new capacity as director
of this temple of death...
to officiate at my own
beloved wife's funeral.
Our 19 years of happy marriage
have been ended...
by her tragic death.
But it is true that death
can sometimes be a blessing.
A great blessing...
when it spares us suffering.
It can spare us the anxieties,
the terrors...
which might await us...
in later life.
You will return to the place
from whence you came.
Your soul will be free...
to fly into the ether.
The Teutons, my dear friends...
incinerated their dead...
purified with flame
I take leave of you, my angel...
as director of this crematorium
and as your loving husband.
But we must make sacrifices.
There is nothing certain
in this life, except death...
and the fact that a new order
will be installed in Europe.
The Fuehrer's New Europe, and death.
Those are the only two
certainties we can have.
The flames will not hurt you,
my beloved.
We've pensioned off Vrana,
the porter.
He was too old.
And Mrs. Podzimkova, the cleaner, too.
It's for the best, she once told me
she was afraid of the incinerators
I'll keep the others for the time
being. But Mili worries me.
He's even more of a weakling,
and he goes wandering off.
Hedvika, give me the pink soap.
His mother was half-Jewish...
it must show.
Mili is a half-caste.
According to Reich civil law,
Mili is a quarter Jewish.
He won't be accepted for higher
education or by a youth organization.
He lazes about.
Mili dreams of being a soldier,
now there's a threat of war.
He may run away to join up,
as a romantic gesture.
Children are a worry.
It's Saturday today, the temple
of death is not working.
At least you'll be able
to look around.
It's where your father
began work 20 years ago.
Where are you going?
Just out.
We're going for a walk,
it's such a nice day.
We are living in great times...
we must bear all our worries
and fears bravely.
Your blessed mother... I wonder
how she was reincarnated.
Will you have ice cream or a cake?
Both, I think.
Buy one only, you'll have
no appetite for dinner.
Let's go through the cemetery,
it's much nicer
I used to walk here in the lunch
hour, before I became director.
This is a cemetery, not a fun fair!
Don't you know what a cemetery is?
She's crazy. She thinks it's all fun.
Take no notice.
Was your cake nice? Good.
One shouldn't profane a sacred place.
That's not for you, Mili.
What a pretty memorial.
The Greek Torches of Remembrance,
they had them in Sparta.
They've been burning ever since
the new employers came.
But they're not burning.
This is where people are
turned to dust.
You're not frightened are you, Mili?
Mr. Dvorak.
This is the preparation room.
This coffin is nailed down because
the corpse won't be exhibited.
On Monday it will go first to the
chapel, then straight to the furnace.
It contains the body
of a pure-blooded German.
A man of pure race,
not an effeminate, weak soul.
Clean your glasses,
you'll ruin your eyesight.
Mr. Dvorak wanted to throw
this away...
but I said it might
come in useful.
There is no difference in ashes.
What if... I put you
in with him, Mili?
The time has come.
The throne awaits you
Tibet, our blessed homeland,
awaits its ruler.
The wall that restricted
your vision has fallen.
The sky is clear...
the stars are above us...
you will save the world.
You are Buddha.
The sky is clear,
the stars are above us.
Lhasa
I used to read about it
in my book on Tibet.
Let all creatures be freed
from suffering.
But I have yet to save
one more good soul.
One more soul must be saved...
from the suffering
which would await her...
in our new paradise on earth.
Wait till next Saturday
evening, my son.
That's it, Mr. Kopfrkingl.
We must test some, you know...
this is top secret.
You have 20 years experience.
The gas furnaces of the future.
You could be technical supervisor.
But absolute secrecy is necessary.
Of course, I quite understand.
Equipment to incinerate
the greatest number at once.
To free as many souls as possible
from the fetters of existence.
To fly into the universe,
dissolve into the ether
I think it's a tremendous
opportunity...
because ordinary crematoria
take 75 minutes...
with one body per furnace.
You see, in such enormous,
communal furnaces...
taking one hundred,
five hundred, a thousand...
it could all be done
in ten minutes.
Big installations,
functioning continuously...
bodies could be fed in one end...
and ashes would come out the
other end, mixed up, of course...
but no matter, there's
no difference in ashes.
And liberated souls would fly
out of the top.
All humanity could be liberated,
the entire world.
Poor Mr. Prachar... Vojtik...
what happiness for Bettelheims,
for all at the Jewish celebration...
so many, if I could give them
hope of freedom from suffering...
I'll tell them they'd be reincarnated.
Mr. Kopfrkingl...
you must be over-tired.
You know, it doesn't really matter
if someone isn't quite dead.
In such big, continuous incinerators
no one could come to life again.
But absolute secrecy is vital,
don't forget.
Yes, absolute secrecy is vital
I have been called on to manage
a great enterprise
I'll no longer be the director
of a small crematorium.
Soon I'll be in charge
of a huge organization...
although the details haven't
been decided yet.
- Where are you going?
- Ah, Kaja
I'm taking our dear one
to see something.
Shall I call next week?
By all means, next week.
Have you got your camera now?
Pity. It's such a nice day,
a photo would be a nice souvenir.
No one will suffer any more,
I'm preparing a huge installation.
Let's go through the cemetery,
it's nicer
I used to walk here every lunch
hour. Perhaps this is the last time.
My wife ran away a week ago.
You met us here, remember? Have
you seen her. A boy was with you
I've been waiting here.
She may return. She's mad.
You can see where your father began,
where he works.
It's disgraceful, don't look, dear.
That's not for you.
Look at that pretty memorial.
This is where people
are turned to dust.
But it's all too slow, I'll introduce
something more efficient.
This is the preparation room.
This coffin is nailed down because
it will go straight to the furnace.
No, this would be improper.
She was a piano tutor,
that will be more suitable.
You see this?
I told Mr. Dvorak
it might come in useful.
We must go.
The restricting wall has fallen.
The stars are before us,
eternal light.
Now you will save the world.
The nation, all humanity,
is waiting for you
I am glad you've come.
I shall leave with you
I shall sit on the throne.
But I have a daughter still,
she is a quarter Jewish
I have not yet saved her.
Don't worry, we'll take care of her.
There is a lot of work waiting
for you, Mr. Kopfrkingl.
For the nation, for humanity.
No one will suffer.
I shall save them all
I shall save them all.
The whole world.
THE END