Digital restoration of this film, funded from the donation of
Mrs. Milada Kuèerová and Mr. Eduard Kuèera,
was carried out by Film Servis Festival Karlovy Vary
in UPP and Soundsquare
in collaboration with Národní filmový archiv, Prague,
and the Czech Film Fund.
The source for the digitization was the original camera negative
and the sound intermediate positive preserved in Národní filmový archiv, Prague.
The restoration was done in Prague, in 2019.
My gentle one...
This is the blessed spot where we met 17 years ago.
Everything as it was. Only the leopard is new.
Kind nature long ago relieved the other of his animal shackles.
You see, dear, I keep talking of nature's benevolence,
of merciful fate, of the kindness of God.
We judge and criticise others, rebuke them.
But what are we ourselves?
I always have the feeling that I do so little for you.
- We are not doing badly, Roman. - Not badly...
Thanks to you,
to your dowry, to your blessed late mother's support
and the support of your aunt.
Perhaps I furnished our apartment,
but that's about all.
Dear, I must take care of you. Little Zina is 16, Milivoj 14.
Come now, children...
Cages are for mute creatures.
I've discovered how I can increase my income.
I'll hire an agent on commission.
It will be Mr. Strauss.
A good, decent man.
I'll invite him to our party.
We are a lovely and blessed family,
but I always have the feeling that I do so little for you.
FILMOVE STUDIO BARRANDOV presents
as
THE CREMATOR
Based on the novel by
Screenplay by
Starring
Costume Designer Wardrobe
Production Designer Make-up
Art Director Assistant Art Director
Edited by
Sound
Music by
Played by Conducted by
Production Manager
Director of Photography
Directed by
Not a drop of liquor, Mr. Rybka, just tea.
Mr. Prachar is a poor man.
You may serve weak coffee... to those willing to pay.
What about my cream coffin?
Smokers must also do without.
You'll neither drink nor smoke during eternity.
How about next to this charming lady.
I still haven't got my cream coffin.
Well, Mr. Strauss, working in contact with confectioners
must be rather pleasant.
But why not offer such sweet people something...
...else?
Not goods but something personal for those fine people.
Offer your treats
and then hand them a flyer with an application form.
COME JOIN US!
You'll get five crowns
for every subscriber.
Excuse me, Mr. Strauss. Excuse me, my angel.
A friend from the war, Mr. Reinke, has arrived.
We fought together for Austria.
A warm welcome! I haven't seen you for ages.
- You must come and visit. - Oh, paunchy...
Afterward, we must introduce our wives.
Mr. Rybka...
What's this? You said we were going to a concert.
Well... they're playing, aren't they?
Are you kidding?
A philharmonic is an orchestra. I see... how many musicians?
Four!
The others will turn up... ...won't they?
I am sure you love music, Mr. Strauss.
Sensitive people do.
Those poor souls
who die without knowing Schubert, or Liszt...
Are you by any chance related? To Johann Strauss? Or Richard?
Composer of "Der Rosenkavalier"?
No, I'm sorry to say, Mr. Kopfrkingl.
- But I love his music. - Yes?
Anyway, the applications...
People's suffering, Mr. Strauss, is another matter.
Animals suffer, too.
I have a wonderful book on Tibet.
This is Potala,
the Dalai-Lama's palace.
Lhasa.
You can read it like the Bible.
God knew what he was talking about when he said:
"Remember, thou art dust and to dust thou shalt return."
Dear friends, a crematorium is pleasing to our Lord,
helping Him to hasten our transformation into dust.
Some object, saying that Christ was buried, not cremated.
Quite a different matter, dear friends.
I tell those good people: They embalmed our Saviour,
wrapped Him in a shroud and interred Him in a cave.
But none of you will be interred in a cave
or wrapped in a shroud.
My dear friends,
we live in a humane country that builds crematoria.
But not without reason, and not to visit like a museum.
After life's tribulations, they allow people to lie down quietly
and be transformed into dust.
I have a beautiful book on Tibet - page 38, for example:
"Suffering is an evil we must be rid of, or at least alleviate."
"The sooner a man turns to dust the sooner he is free,
transformed,
enlightened,
reincarnated..."
Animals, too. It takes 20 years in a grave
but just 75 minutes in a crematorium.
Well, dear friends...
to humanity's happiness.
Now, dear friends, enjoy the lovely music and dancing.
Partake of the refreshments, and may no one feel lonely.
Goodbye.
- A pleasant and witty man. - And how he has suffered.
He had to go on disability because of an ulcerated liver
...or was it kidneys?
Well, something connected with urine.
Then he lost his wife and son to fever. You don't like it?
I could increase his commission if he does well.
Jews are good businessmen.
You think he's a Jew, dearest? Strauss isn't a Jewish name.
A name means nothing.
You call me Lakme instead of Marie.
You want me to call you Roman instead of Karel.
Because I'm romantic and love beauty, my dear.
That's the one.
And that noble face.
We're framing it for the Japanese Embassy.
Yes, that's the one.
It's Emiliano Chamorro, president of Nicaragua.
Yes, it's financial officer Louis Marin,
Minister of Pensions under Poincaré.
But it says on the frame he's the Nicaraguan president...
- Never mind that, Mr... - Holy.
- What? - Holy.
Never mind, Mr. Holy, just cover the name with some tape.
Ah, yes, and something else.
This is the Cremation Law. Please frame it for me,
and decorate it with some nice sombre pattern.
Yes, yes...
I imagined something more cheerful.
I bought you some pictures, my angel.
With my first extra income,
so our home would be even more beautiful.
So Zina's practicing.
What a talented child.
Mili isn't home?
He's out with Jan, Dr. Bettelheim's nephew.
At least he isn't wandering around.
Jan is a decent boy who won't go farther than the bridge.
- Who's this? - The President of Nicaragua.
Let's put him...
I think he'll go here, dearest.
- And where will we hang this? - In the bathroom.
Do you know, my angels...
this bathroom is the nicest room we have?
I don't know, a bouquet might be better.
Or a hunting scene...
...pursuing a deer.
And how's my enchantress??
Don't let the poor animal suffer.
Would you like some too?
Give it to the enchantress then. It's yesterday's, anyway.
Help yourselves. May I?
Prague statisticians say married men live longer.
We're lucky, Walter, and we should thank our lovely ladies.
Without them we'd die sooner.
When I remember, Walter, how we enlisted in the Great War...
how we fought and died...
how our poor horses suffered...
It all seems unbelievable.
Peace, justice and happiness should reign in the world.
They don't drop like manna from heaven. We must fight for them.
Take Austria. Annexing it to the Reich was only the first step.
The Fuehrer is a political genius.
He has rid his huge nation of poverty and unemployment.
Haven't you seen our Party flyers?
That's Louis Marin, former Minister of Pensions.
I bought it at Mr. Holy's frame shop. He's a widower.
Our nation was wronged after the war, and those
with German blood in their veins must put the wrong right.
COME JOIN US
Have some almonds.
You'd rather hear about some sensational death, right?
Life is full of tragedies, Mrs. Reinke.
Mr. Strauss went on disability, then lost his wife and child.
I don't know... Our children go to Czech schools.
We only speak Czech at home, like right now.
All my books are in Czech...
even my book on Tibet.
Our blood is Czech, too.
Investigate and you'll find at least one drop of German blood.
Perhaps...
perhaps a drop.
Well, a truly sensitive person feels even that drop.
I've got to see Goermann. He's meeting the Minister in Berlin.
This republic is an obstacle to our deliverance.
But that would take too long to explain.
I wanted to tell you something interesting.
Siamese twins were born: two heads, two sets of limbs...
Poor kids, a life twice blessed.
- Where've you been, Mili? - Right here.
Jan and I were looking at cars...
Pity you missed a noteworthy conversation.
Mr. Reinke also went to high school before going to college.
He is meeting a Mr. Goermann... and you're behind in German.
We speak Czech at home, but you should learn German.
It's a huge nation.
Ah, Mr. Strauss!
Go on, go on.
See how successful the poor man is.
- Good day. - Welcome, Mr. Dvorak.
Don't be frightened. I'll initiate you very gently.
- This is our porter, Mr. Vrana. - Good day.
He has liver trouble, poor man.
I've been coming to this temple of death for 15 years,
and every time I enter a holy feeling enshrouds me.
It's like my marriage.
We've been together for 17 years,
and it's still just as beautiful
as the day we met at the leopard's cage.
Come, Mr. Dvorak, nothing to be afraid of.
You have chosen a beautiful, noble profession.
But one full of responsibilities.
Good day.
That's Mr. Fenek, a morphine addict.
Have you heard? The Allies are pushing for appeasement.
Don't worry. It will all turn out fine.
Although even I might have a drop of German blood.
One can't help one's origins.
No coat, Mr. Dvorak? We'll find one and I'll show you around.
Mrs. Liskova... How about coming too?
You don't know how our equipment works either.
It's not necessary for cleaning, Mr. Kopfrkingl.
Let's go then, Mr. Dvorak.
May I smoke?
Of course, if it makes you happy...
No thanks, I don't smoke or drink. I'm a total abstainer.
We can hear the ceremony through that speaker.
Beautiful music everywhere... Do you do like music?
Mr. Dvorak? Sensitive people love music.
I really love it.
That's nothing, just Mrs. Lesetinska practicing.
This lets down the catafalque.
Upstairs is the world of the survivors.
Our work begins down here.
The furnaces always remind me of the ovens used
for the baking our daily bread.
That's our timetable.
A schedule of death no one can avoid...
unless he's buried in the ground.
Come, Mr. Dvorak.
We have two new gas furnaces which can transform
the deceased into dust in an hour and 15 minutes.
We take a break at noon,
and you can breathe fresh air in the cemetery.
These little windows allow us to see inside.
There's nothing to see now, Mr. Dvorak. You must wait
for a nice cremation.
The ashes are packed into these metal canisters.
But the soul is not. It's floating in the ether,
free of the bonds of suffering. Free and purified it seeks
another body.
Here are this afternoon's coffins.
The first is upstairs waiting for the surviving family
to say their goodbyes.
But some coffins are not sent for viewing.
As you see, these are already nailed shut.
Just leave it there, Mr. Dvorak.
It may come in handy.
Today we cremate Miss Strunna. Can you give me a hand?
Here she is. I already saw her yesterday.
Her complexion is remarkably rosy,
as if she were alive.
As if she might awaken...
and rise.
You may think she's not really dead,
but you would be in error, Mr. Dvorak.
She has been pronounced dead,
and it is our duty to cremate her.
It would be very unlucky if Miss Strunna were still alive,
as she had her whole life ahead of her.
It would only be lucky if she were to have suffered.
Suffering is a great evil and we must try to alleviate it.
Don't worry, Mr. Dvorak, Miss Strunna is, I suppose
really dead.
Such mistakes usually don't happen nowadays.
How beautiful...
How gorgeous, my angels.
If only they were artificial they'd bloom even in the snow.
Mr. Dvorak's so nervous he smokes all the time.
Come on, Mili! Don't keep wandering off.
They exercise so nicely.
My fairest, I know something far better.
- What is it? - Not afraid, are you?
Laget, the mass-murderer.
He murdered every day... and every night.
- They look so alive... - Stop acting so stupid.
This is a wax museum, right?
Now, in dread of His wrath let's all see the bath.
Lights!
- Will there be water and steam? - Shut up.
It's just a wax museum.
This is the St. Francis Spa,
where people come to fix a flaw.
This lady will give the baths a try...
She smiles sweetly at this young guy.
She's sitting calmly in the tub,
but he's planning more than a scrub.
Old baths.
How much nicer our bathroom is.
- She looks like the milk woman. - Ssh! You're not at the dairy.
Darkness.
This bloke had the plague so he hanged himself dead.
He was decisive and brave and didn't want it to spread.
He hangs here by the neck, and no one can bring him back.
- He looks alive. - He's dead, hanged.
This unfortunate lad was killed by murderer Moore.
It only took a second with this iron bar.
Sweet, blue-eyed Moore had everyone baffled.
He murdered six people and ended at the scaffold.
There he is.
- I knew it. - The hell you did. You're nuts.
I can't even take you to a wax museum. She's an idiot...
This way please,
toward our wax gnome by the name of Tom.
He's alive!
The show is through for most of you.
But men whose nerves are strong might like to come along.
Here we have various diseases... pox and syphilis...
Both contagious.
How horrible to die this way.
Indeed.
But modern doctors
can protect us.
Like...
our kind Dr. Bettelheim.
You still feel these tests are necessary, Mr. Kopfrkingl?
Doctor, you know I have intercourse only with my heavenly angel.
I'm afraid to seem like a bit of a hypochondriac,
but I worry about being infected at the crematorium.
You don't deal with corpses. Infection is impossible.
How glad I am that you are our neighbour,
and that my son is friends with your nephew.
Mili wanders around and today that's dangerous.
I hear martial law has been declared in the border region.
That will mean hell for many people.
Violence never pays, Mr. Kopfrkingl.
It's not a reliable principle of power.
This is 20th-century Europe in a civilized world.
Aggressors are always defeated in the end.
If you think it necessary, Mr. Kopfrkingl, come again.
Mr. Kopfrkingl... Come have a look.
Banana flies, used for heredity tests.
This one is a Drosophila Funebris, the funeral fly.
Would you like the collection?
I'll let it go cheap... for just a pinch of morphine.
I have a weakness for such... decorations.
We have a butterfly pinned on the bathroom wall.
But where would I get morphine? I don't even smoke.
That friend of yours is a chemical engineer...
Mr. Reinke is out of town. It's mobilisation, Mr. Fenek.
When he comes back then. I still have a bit left.
I came in early
so I could see you.
There are better things to look at.
How long have you been living like this?
Do you find meaning in life by cleaning every morning?
Times are hard - it's mobilisation.
You need someone to cling to, to protect you.
Let's talk about it later tonight.
What's the matter?
I frightened Mrs. Liskova.
Mr. Kopfrkingl, a crematorium is no place for jokes.
You're right, the times are hard.
I wanted to invite her to our place for a change of pace.
Maybe some other time.
Oh, Mr. Kopfrkingl! Do come in.
MASSAGE PARLOUR
How sweet and thoughtful of you.
- I bought this for little Zina. - The young lady has a client.
Perhaps you'd consider another? They all say how nice you are.
You'd have to wait a bit for Miss Dagmar.
Pity you only come once a month.
You should honour us more often.
Maybe I should.
I can afford to now.
I have an agent,
and it's healthy.
Ah, Miss Dagmar. You didn't have to wait long after all.
- Farewell, goodbye. - Goodbye. Here...
Mr. Kopfrkingl, I've waited all month. Let me just tidy up.
I wouldn't like my Zina's present to be crumpled.
We have a new man at the ovens, Mr. Dvorak.
He helps prepare the coffins.
He smoked from nerves when he started.
He's not so nervous now.
Thank God he no longer smokes so much.
Mr. Strauss is a success at selling cremations.
People at sweet shops are gentle,
kind,
and pleasant.
Alright, let's go...
I need another agent, a seller of toys...
or cosmetics. Either would serve.
I must take care of my family.
We have a beautiful and blessed home.
I must take care of you even better.
I'd like to take on another agent.
Mr. Dvorak no longer smokes so much.
But haven't I already mentioned that?
You look so sad lately, Lakme.
Anything worrying you?
Any problems?
Our angel's birthday is coming up.
I bought her an outfit.
Let's hope her Kaja's as much a family man as I am.
Even these died on us. Everything dies here.
Mrs. Liskova is quitting. She couldn't get used to it here.
Such a shame, Mrs. Liskova. Why so suddenly?
Now I won't be able to take you out.
We're so busy too, and German soldiers stand at the border.
Even Mr. Vrana can't light it.
You're so upset, but why would they occupy us?
Violence never pays.
This is 20th-century Europe in a civilized world.
When does Miss Carska's turn come, Mr. Dvorak?
Seventh.
The first this afternoon. No waiting for her, poor...
Miss Carska.
She was just about to get married.
I'll make sure she's perfectly ready.
Mr. Kopfrkingl, I don't want to trouble you,
but have you got the morphine?
I told you Mr. Reinke is out of town. Be patient.
You can't worry about morphine with a foreign army at the border.
They've convened a conference. It may mean war, and Miss Carska
...was just about to get married.
"How horrible it is to lose
so many loved ones in their prime."
"Frost burns flowers' flushed cheeks,
and the Angel of Death takes his toll."
An educated speaker.
They're playing Dvorak's "Largo", Mr. Dvorak.
In 75 minutes Miss Carska's ashes will fill an urn.
But not her soul.
That can't be.
It will be reincarnated, liberated, as the Tibetans say.
It will rise into the ether.
You know, premature death is a blessing only if it relieves
...great suffering.
I'd like to leave, too.
I think I'd be happier in a boiler room.
What's wrong now, Mr. Dvorak?
I thought you had overcome your nerves.
I was even telling my dear wife you smoked less.
Boiler work would be a step down.
Help yourselves, dear children, Kaja, girls, Vojta...
Much has happened since the border regions were occupied.
Lovely music...
Let's see what they say in the papers.
FIRECRACKERS, SKYROCKETS
Mili, what odd ideas you have. Never swallow a firecracker.
Understand? You could be crippled for life.
Will you take a photo, Kaja?
A photograph is an eternal container to preserve the present moment.
We take photos at work too, but without the finger-waggling.
They buy them as souvenirs - the survivors, that is.
Did anyone ever wake up in their coffin?
Oh no, Kaja... it hasn't happened yet.
Not even Miss Carska,
although so young and about to be married.
People do wake up in coffins. I read about it.
Only if the person wasn't dead.
But it would be impossible after 75 minutes in the furnace.
In some human countries they even burn animals.
You'll be cremated too, Enchantress.
One day you won't even recognise your present self.
Cremation is humane
and rids people of the fear of death.
My dear children... do not fear cremation.
Zina, why don't you play for our guests?
How about Mahler's "Songs on the Death of Children"?
Or something more lively... Danse Macabre by Saint-Saéns?
I'm taking Mili to a boxing match.
My enchantress almost forgot to tell me about it.
You've never seen a boxing match, neither have I.
It seems a brutal sport.
Well, I'm looking forward to it.
One... two...
You're seeing a truly manly sport for once.
- I think it rather brutal. - Tough, yes, but that's good.
We need strong, brave men. Boxing is for fighters. Man against man.
Why must I do this... Can we never be on time?
Excuse me. These are our seats. Beat it!
That pale-skinned girl over there
reminds me of a waitress at our club.
- Look! - Shut up.
- What if he breaks his leg? - What? Drop it!
My angel nearly forgot about your invitation today.
- Will there be blood? - There should be none in boxing.
- Clean your glasses, Mili. - They'll knock their teeth out!
- Are they dancing? - They're in the ring, damn it.
They'll hurt him.
The referee doesn't box. Watch the two men in shorts.
White shorts is a Union man and red is a butcher's apprentice.
- A butcher! There'll be blood! - This isn't a slaughterhouse.
Now shut up, stupid, and watch.
- You said he wouldn't get hurt. - It was a mistake. Now shut up.
It is slaughterhouse! There's blood everywhere. You said boxing!
Get out of here, you nut! She's headed for the asylum...
...three, four, five, six...
...seven, eight, nine...
Is the apprentice dead, Daddy?
Death is the only certainty.
COME JOIN US!
Ah, Christmas... a truly blessed time.
You look radiant, my angel.
Why don't I hang you up among these pretty angels
and all this beauty?
Don't make them suffer. They're suffocating.
Ana is coming soon to kill them.
Why is Ana coming? Can't you do it?
Dear child, of course I could, but I don't like to.
Ana is used to it. She's a good old soul.
Come, children, we needn't watch.
Leave her here. My gentle one enjoys the entrails.
One of them is dead by now... if Ana hit it well.
Its soul is already in the ether.
Now the second one is dead.
You may play with their soul-bladders.
But those are really their lungs.
Their true souls may have just reincarnated...
into cats, maybe.
We may have once eaten Enchantress as a carp.
We may even eat her again sometime as...
something else.
But before enjoying our repast we'll wait for Mr. Reinke.
A pretty Christmas tree. Any carp?
Two. My angel is frying them on our little home furnace.
Her blessed mother used to make jellied carp,
a foreign recipe, but we do it Czech style.
With carp, okay. But don't you feel our blood?
We're fighting for the cause and you fry carp the Czech way?
I thought you opposed violence, wanted justice and salvation.
This republic is a bastion for our enemies.
It's a humanitarian state with good laws.
For instance, the one on cremation.
We will implement a higher moral code, a new world order.
You are an honest, sensitive, dutiful man.
You are strong and brave. A pure Germanic soul.
Listen, Karel, we want to put you to the test.
On March 6th there will be some kind of celebration
at the Jewish Town Hall here in Prague.
Get your old Jew Bettelheim to invite you,
the one who got rich curing VD.
Listen to their talk, their opinions...
It's a way of helping the poor, miserable Jews.
How is it going to help them?
They are poor, misguided people who understand nothing.
They fight against our Fuehrer because they know not what they do.
They are a lost nation which understands nothing.
You can help them by finding out what they say and think...
Walter won't be having almonds today, dear.
I've brought you an application to join the Party.
Become a member. There's still time.
I have to go now.
The wife and I are spending Christmas Eve at the casino.
We usually don't bring our wives.
We already have excellent companions there.
Gorgeous blondes only.
Have a look. Of course, only Party members are allowed.
Germans like you and me.
"Mother tongue"
"I declare... No Jewish blood... I claim German citizenship..."
All blondes... I'll have to get used to it.
Now it's really Christmas. Candles at home, for once.
I usually see them on the catafalque and on graves.
I wonder what the Bettelheims are doing.
Celebrating Christmas like us even though they're Jews?
He's rich, the poor man, living off others' misfortunes.
It's Christmas Eve, my dears, and the temple of death is idle.
No cremating today, but they should cremate on Christmas
when so many souls need emancipating,
need liberating into space to find new bodies.
Christmas should be for the dead, too.
At least the carp have profited.
Just as a token. I don't drink. I'm an abstainer.
Germans don't drink either.
That humane nation also has a cremation law.
A great future awaits them. Unfortunately...
I hope we, too, belong to this chosen people
who will implement a higher moral code.
Blood is blood and cannot be renounced.
Do you still feel it's necessary, Mr. Kopfrkingl?
What kind of blood do I have, Doctor?
It'll be negative, as usual.
That's not what I meant. I was wondering...
whether it's Czech blood...
or German?
It's impossible to tell.
Well, then, whether it's Slavic or Germanic?
There's no difference in blood. The same as with human ashes.
You yourself always say that - whether French or Spanish,
doctor or clerk... It's all the same.
Isn't the Jewish community
planning some kind of celebration with pretty songs?
You mean Chevra Suda, a dinner at the Funeral Brotherhood Hall.
It won't be so nice this year. Would you like to come?
At the Funeral Brotherhood Hall.
What a magnificent tremolo.
They called the Fuehrer a fraud and a blackguard.
What a gorgeous voice...
So sad...
Didn't they say that Party members would be eliminated?
Yes, there were lots of them there, speaking, eating...
And that cantor, those high notes...
So they said they'd destroy Germany and assume power?
Yes, assume power... And the singing was so soft,
so heartrending...
They said they'd bury Germany?
The Reich!
Yes, yes. It was like a grand funeral.
You're right... It's heavenly here,
and no one is suffering.
Soon there will be no suffering anywhere: Warsaw, Paris,
London, New York...
They'll be liberated just like Bohemia and Moravia.
Not even horses need suffer. The Reich's army is mechanised.
You didn't see any horses when Prague was occupied, right?
It's all mechanised, automated - just like your crematorium.
The Fuehrer is building a paradise.
- Good evening. - We must celebrate our victory!
Hold on, hold on...
- Cheers! - Quick!
I'm an abstainer. I don't smoke either.
Today doesn't count.
I'll remember March 15th my whole... life.
Just a token drop, then.
We have enemies, though, Karl.
Even at the crematorium.
We rely on you.
You're our only man there, and you're a Party member.
What's the situation??
Some people just don't understand,
like Zajic,
Fenek,
Beran,
Podzimkova,
Pelikan,
or the porter... Vrana.
There's something wrong with his liver, but still...
He's an inveterate enemy of the Reich.
Or... Liskova.
She used to clean but quit last year. We can find her easily.
And the director of my temple of death...
He also lacks the proper attitude towards the Reich
I'd like to burn all Germans in these ovens, he said once.
I'm not sure he should remain director.
We'll look at it.
And what about those poor, miserable Jews of yours?
You employ two of them.
Well, Mr. Strauss...
is a good...
decent man...
who likes music, a good worker.
He may be doing it only for the money.
He confided to me that he disagrees with the Germans.
Dr. Bettelheim is good-natured,
but doesn't understand either.
I'm afraid he's also infected his nephew, Jan.
I don't like him. He makes Mili wander.
His housekeeper, Ana...
A sweet old lady, not Jewish.
She killed our Christmas carp...
But she's probably also infected.
Jews can't be re-educated. A miserable, misguided nation.
As you say, it's the same with music...
look, the Spartans killed sickly children.
Some would think it cruel,
but, indeed, how merciful, especially for those children.
They'd have been unhappy,
and how much better for the nation.
Listen, Karl, your wife's mother used to make jellied carp.
You called it a foreign recipe.
But that's the Jewish way.
Lakme's mother was a Jew.
Your dark-haired Lakme told me
that you only spoke Czech at home when I told her of your German blood.
She forgot about my invitation to the boxing-match.
She didn't like your joining the Party.
What'll she say when you send the kids to a German school?
You see what she's done to Mili. The boy is soft, effeminate.
That's the covert way they operate.
They start with the family, with the children.
How long, Mr. Kopfrkingl, have you been married?
Our blessed marriage has lasted for 19 years.
We met by the leopard at the zoo.
At the predator pavilion.
We must make sacrifices, Mr. Kopfrkingl.
I'm afraid you'll never hold a higher post.
There's no difference in blood. Dr. Bettelheim says so.
It makes all the difference. Purity of blood is essential.
Under the just, new order inferior blood must go.
Isn't your Dr. Bettelheim a Jew?
Lakme should realise she isn't worthy of you.
It's incompatible with the honour of an honest and healthy man.
Karl, many problems await her.
Director, I couldn't get here on time.
I had several unexpected meetings.
That isn't like you, Mr. Kopfrkingl.
But in these vicious times everything is changing.
Yes, we must expect certain changes.
You've nearly stopped smoking, Mr. Dvorak.
Mr. Pelikan will take this fair lady for viewing.
Okay, Mr. Pelikan, she seems just about ready.
What about my morphine?
You'll get none from me, Mr. Fenek.
I protect your health and my conscience.
I am an honest, healthy man.
If you don't stop pestering me I'll report you.
Addiction is a vice incompatible with honour.
One more word and I'll have you put in an asylum.
Perhaps, Mr. Vrana, you didn't notice that the fires went out!
So they arrested Mr. Beran, Zajic and the director.
It couldn't be helped.
Poor Mr. Fenek asked for morphine again.
He's a weak, destroyed man.
Mr. Prachar drinks, and his poor son, Vojta...
Who else is there...?
It's just that butcher's apprentice... That boxer.
Where did you get this, Mili?
I've been to that youth club, where they train.
Didn't their flyer say, "Come join us."
How great to have a boxer for a friend.
You need to be tough and brave.
You've got my German blood in your veins.
You'll be going to a German school next year.
A boxer is better than that Jan Bettelheim.
And what does the boxer say? What do you talk about?
He says he has to train hard to be able to knock...
the Germans' teeth out.
That's all wrong, Mili.
When you and Zina come back from your aunt's
I'll explain to you how things are.
Go and be good.
Why don't you dress up...
since we're alone?
We'll have a special dinner.
You can put on your black Sunday dress.
You've only worn it a few times.
Then we'll take a bath in our lovely bathroom
as would befit a Roman feast.
You see, I'm to be promoted to director.
And isn't it our heavenly wedding's anniversary?
Or that of our blessed encounter by the leopard at the zoo?
No? We'll pretend it is.
Didn't you enjoy the meal?
One should savour every day of one's life...
as if it were the last.
Unspeakable one, the world is open to us,
as are the heavens across which no cloud has passed for 19 years.
But I noticed that the bathroom fan is broken.
We’ll have it repaired tomorrow.
I've attached a rope so that we can get to it from a chair.
Do you hear the lovely singing?
It's true, poor is he who dies...
without knowing the beauty of music.
You at least loved music.
Come, unspeakable one, let's draw a bath.
Will it be too hot for you?
Open the fan, dearest.
What if I hanged you, my dearest?
May I speak to Director Kopfrkingl?
Please take a seat.
I was just reading...
May I offer you a cognac? Or some Czech plum brandy?
No thank you, I'm an abstainer. I don't smoke either.
Our Dalai-Lama has died.
Our blessed land of Tibet has been seeking
the reincarnation of Buddha, our Saviour.
After years of searching we have found him at last.
The throne in Lhasa awaits you, Rimpoche.
I shall come for you.
We shall then leave for the Himalayas,
our blessed homeland paradise.
A painful duty has befallen me.
As new director of this grand temple of death,
my first cremation will be that of my own heavenly wife.
19 years of happy, pure marriage have ended in her tragic death.
But truly death can be a blessing.
A great blessing if it spares us from suffering.
It can free us from the terror and anxiety which might...
have awaited us.
That's the last straw...
You will return to where you had come from.
Your soul will be liberated and soar into the ether.
Even the old Teutons, dear friends, burned their dead,
entrusted them to the flames.
I bid you farewell, my angel,
as crematorium director and as your loving husband.
But we must make sacrifices.
The only certainty in life
is death...
...and the implementation of a propitious new order.
The Fuehrer's new, blissful Europe and death
are the only certainties that we humans have.
Heil!
The flames, my gentle one, will not hurt you.
I've also retired Mr. Vrana, the porter.
He was too old.
As well as Mrs. Podzimkova, the cleaning woman.
She once said the incinerators scared her,
so I relieved her of her fears.
I'll keep the others for the time being.
But Mili worries me.
He is more and more effeminate. He never did take after me.
- And he wanders about so much. - Hedvika, throw me the soap!
His mother was half Jewish... and it shows.
- Good evening. - Good evening.
We won't intrude. Good evening.
Mili is a Mischling of the second degree,
a quarter Jew according to Reich law.
I'm afraid they won't let him go to high school,
and you can forget the Hitler Youth.
And he wanders about so much. I think he likes soldiers.
We're almost at war...
He's romantic enough to join up.
Children are always a trial.
It's Saturday and nothing's burning at my temple of death.
At least you'll be able to have a look at everything.
At the place where your father started 20 years ago.
- Where're you going, Mili? - Just out.
To walk a bit on a fine day so he won't just wander about.
These are revolutionary times.
We must bravely bear... our pain and suffering.
Your heavenly mother...
I wonder what she's been reincarnated into?
Would you like a cream coffin or a vanilla wreath?
Both, I guess.
Just the wreath or you won't eat your dinner.
Round the back, through the cemetery, it's nicer.
I used to take walks here before I became director.
Go on, go on! Don't say a word.
You think you're at a carnival?
You see how crazy she is? She thinks she's at the fair.
Stop or I'll kill you!
Come along... It's nothing.
Did you enjoy your vanilla wreath?
That's good.
One shouldn't desecrate a sacred place.
That's not for you, Mili.
Look, isn't that a nice gravestone?
Do you see there? Greek torches...
like in ancient Sparta.
They've been burning ever since we hired new people.
But they're not burning.
Come along.
This is where people are turned into dust.
Don't be frightened, Mili. I'm here with you.
Mr. Dvorak...
This is the preparation room.
This one is nailed shut because it won't go for viewing.
The ceremony is Monday and then straight into the oven.
It holds a brave pure-blooded German.
No weak, effeminate soul. Pure origins.
Wipe your glasses so you won't ruin your eyes.
Mr. Dvorak wanted to get rid of this bar,
but I said it might come in handy sometime.
There's no difference between human ashes.
Mili, what about if I...
...put you in with him?
Daddy...
Rimpoche, it's time.
The throne awaits you.
Our blessed Tibet awaits its ruler.
The wall obscuring your vision has fallen.
The heavens have opened, stars shine above...
You will save the world.
You are Buddha.
Yes, the heavens have opened, the stars above are infinite...
As I read for years in my book about Tibet by David-Neel:
"free all creatures from the suffering that would await them."
I must save one more good soul.
Save her from the suffering
which would await her in the coming blissful life.
Wait until next Saturday, my son.
Yes, indeed, Mr. Kopfrkingl...
We need to test certain... as you know...
But it's all top secret.
You have 20 years' experience...
A gas furnace of the future...
You could be the expert in charge. But absolute secrecy is vital.
It's top secret.
Naturally, I understand completely.
Equipment for incinerating as many people as possible
to free their souls from the shackles of this world,
and let them dissolve into the ether.
What a tremendous opportunity.
My crematorium takes 75 minutes to change each corpse into dust.
If we had huge furnaces to hold a hundred,
five hundred, a thousand,
it could be done in 10 minutes.
Entire halls in constant operation would be economical.
Hundreds fed into one side, ashes streaming out the other.
They'd get mixed, true, but ashes don't differ...
And liberated souls would gush from the chimneys.
We could quickly liberate all humanity, the whole world.
Poor Mr. Prachar, little Vojta... What luck for the Bettelheims,
for all those Jews at the celebration...
If I gave them hope that they wouldn't suffer...
If I could tell them that they'll reincarnate...
Mr. Kopfrkingl!
You must be overworked.
You know, a person wouldn't have to be completely dead.
In such huge halls constantly in operation
once you entered you'd never come out alive.
But absolute secrecy is essential.
Yes, secret...
Absolute secrecy is essential.
I've been put in charge of a huge project.
I'm leaving my little temple of death,
but you can still have a look.
Truly, Zina, there is still no news of Mili.
He must have wandered off quite far.
Where are you going, Zina?
Please come another time, Kaja. I've something to show to my fair one.
Should I come next week?
Yes, my angel will be so glad. Do you have your camera?
- No. - You don't...
A pity, you could have taken an everlasting keepsake.
No one will suffer any longer. I am setting up a great facility.
Round the back, through the cemetery, it's nicer.
I used to take walks here... It may be my last time.
Excuse me, have you seen my wife? She ran off a week ago.
You met us here, remember? Have you seen her?
You were here with some boy. I've already waited a week.
Maybe she'll come back by herself, the idiot.
Look around where your father worked for twenty years.
That's a bit disrespectful. Don't even look, angel.
Look, sunshine, at this lovely gravestone.
This is where people are turned into dust.
But the ovens are small. I'm planning something much larger
...and faster.
This is the preparation room.
The coffin's nailed because it goes right to the oven Monday.
No, that wouldn't be proper.
This piano teacher will be far more suitable.
See that bar? I told Mr. Dvorak it would come in handy.
We must go.
The wall around us has fallen.
Stars and eternal light are before us.
Now you will save the world.
Rimpoche, the nation and humanity are waiting.
I'm glad you came. I will soon come among you.
I shall mount my throne.
But my poor miserable daughter is a quarter Jewish.
I haven't yet saved her.
Don't worry, we'll take care of her.
We'll take care of her ourselves.
You've work to do, Mr. Kopfrkingl. Lots of work.
For the nation. For all mankind.
No one will suffer. I'll save them all.
The whole world.
The End