Der Todesking (lit.'The Death King') is a 1990 German horror film directed by Jörg Buttgereit. This experimental style movie, which does not use central characters, explores the topic of suicide and violent death in the form of seven episodes, each one attributed to one day of the week. These episodes are enframed by the vision of a human body, slowly rotting during the course of the movie.
Monday A man comes home, phones his boss to resign from his job, writes mysterious letters, cleans his apartment and swallows poison in his bathtub. His death is simultaneous with the death of his fish, the only being that was close to him.
Tuesday A man rents a film in a video store, a Nazisploitation movie in which Nazi soldiers are torturing a prisoner in a concentration camp, castrating him and painting a swastika on his chest. When the young man's girlfriend comes home, she yells at him until he shoots her in the head. He then breaks a picture frame which had a picture of his girlfriend in it, takes the picture out and then places the picture frame over the place on the wall where her brain matter was splattered. This whole episode is revealed as being shown on a TV screen in a room where somebody else committed suicide by hanging.
Wednesday A man and a girl meet in a park in the pouring rain. The man tells the girl about his disastrous sex life with his wife which led to him killing her. The girl then pulls out a gun to kill him, but the man takes it from her and shoots himself in the head.
Thursday A motorway bridge somewhere in Germany, superimposed by the names, ages, and occupations of the people who have jumped from it.
Friday A woman, alone in her apartment, observing a young, seemingly happy couple in the neighborhood. She spies on them until they are out of her sight. She then finds a chain letter in front of her door, urging her to commit suicide. Obviously everybody in the apartment got a chain letter as well. She ends up ignoring it, by ripping up the chain letter and throwing it away, eats some chocolate and falls asleep on her couch, dreaming of the past when she was a child, walking into her parents' room while they were having sex. The camera then shows the young couple from before, dead on their bed.
Saturday A young woman, equipped with a camera and a gun, kills several people in the audience of a rock concert (the frontman is played by Die Ärzte drummer Bela B.) and records it on film, until someone kills her.
Sunday A man, alone on his bed, is crying and banging his head over and over, violently against the wall, until he succumbs to brain damage.
Releaseedit
Der Todesking was released in Germany on 25 January 1990.[1] The film was released on special edition DVD in its native Germany in 2010.[2]
Receptionedit
This section needs expansion. You can help by adding to it. (December 2020)
Kurt Dahlke of DVD Talk called it "strong, meditative, and brutally sad", commending the film's soundtrack, cinematography, and mature themes.[3] Sean Leonard from HorrorNews.net gave the film similar praise, stating that the film "leave[s] you with a certain feeling that you can’t quite place but wish would just go away".[4]
^Dahlke, Kurt (June 27, 2015). "Der Todesking". DVD Talk.com. Retrieved December 22, 2020.
^Leonard, Sean (March 25, 2019). "Film Review: Der Todesking (The Death King) (1990)". HorrorNews.net. Retrieved December 22, 2020.
April 12, 2024
todesking, this, article, consists, almost, entirely, plot, summary, please, help, improve, article, adding, more, real, world, context, april, 2019, learn, when, remove, this, template, message, death, king, 1990, german, horror, film, directed, jörg, buttger. This article consists almost entirely of a plot summary Please help improve the article by adding more real world context April 2019 Learn how and when to remove this template message Der Todesking lit The Death King is a 1990 German horror film directed by Jorg Buttgereit This experimental style movie which does not use central characters explores the topic of suicide and violent death in the form of seven episodes each one attributed to one day of the week These episodes are enframed by the vision of a human body slowly rotting during the course of the movie Der TodeskingDirected byJorg ButtgereitScreenplay byFranz Rodenkirchen Jorg Buttgereit 1 Produced byManfred O Jelinski 1 StarringNicolas Petche Hermann Kopp Heinrich EbberCinematographyManfred O Jelinski 1 Edited byManfred O Jelinski Franz Rodenkirchen Jorg Buttgereit 1 ProductioncompanyManfred Jelinski Film amp Fernsehproduktion 1 Release date25 January 1990 1990 01 25 Germany Running time74 minutes 1 CountryWest Germany 1 Contents 1 Plot 2 Release 3 Reception 4 External links 5 ReferencesPlot editThis article needs an improved plot summary Please help improve the plot summary December 2020 Learn how and when to remove this template message Monday A man comes home phones his boss to resign from his job writes mysterious letters cleans his apartment and swallows poison in his bathtub His death is simultaneous with the death of his fish the only being that was close to him Tuesday A man rents a film in a video store a Nazisploitation movie in which Nazi soldiers are torturing a prisoner in a concentration camp castrating him and painting a swastika on his chest When the young man s girlfriend comes home she yells at him until he shoots her in the head He then breaks a picture frame which had a picture of his girlfriend in it takes the picture out and then places the picture frame over the place on the wall where her brain matter was splattered This whole episode is revealed as being shown on a TV screen in a room where somebody else committed suicide by hanging Wednesday A man and a girl meet in a park in the pouring rain The man tells the girl about his disastrous sex life with his wife which led to him killing her The girl then pulls out a gun to kill him but the man takes it from her and shoots himself in the head Thursday A motorway bridge somewhere in Germany superimposed by the names ages and occupations of the people who have jumped from it Friday A woman alone in her apartment observing a young seemingly happy couple in the neighborhood She spies on them until they are out of her sight She then finds a chain letter in front of her door urging her to commit suicide Obviously everybody in the apartment got a chain letter as well She ends up ignoring it by ripping up the chain letter and throwing it away eats some chocolate and falls asleep on her couch dreaming of the past when she was a child walking into her parents room while they were having sex The camera then shows the young couple from before dead on their bed Saturday A young woman equipped with a camera and a gun kills several people in the audience of a rock concert the frontman is played by Die Arzte drummer Bela B and records it on film until someone kills her Sunday A man alone on his bed is crying and banging his head over and over violently against the wall until he succumbs to brain damage Release editDer Todesking was released in Germany on 25 January 1990 1 The film was released on special edition DVD in its native Germany in 2010 2 Reception editThis section needs expansion You can help by adding to it December 2020 Kurt Dahlke of DVD Talk called it strong meditative and brutally sad commending the film s soundtrack cinematography and mature themes 3 Sean Leonard from HorrorNews net gave the film similar praise stating that the film leave s you with a certain feeling that you can t quite place but wish would just go away 4 External links editDer Todesking at IMDb nbsp Der Todesking at Rotten TomatoesReferences edit a b c d e f g h Der Todesking Filmportal de Retrieved 24 February 2018 Der Todesking amazon de Retrieved 2011 04 08 Dahlke Kurt June 27 2015 Der Todesking DVD Talk com Retrieved December 22 2020 Leonard Sean March 25 2019 Film Review Der Todesking The Death King 1990 HorrorNews net Retrieved December 22 2020 Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Der Todesking amp oldid 1194817846, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
