Nekromantik
Encyclopedia
NEKRomantik is a 1987 West German horror film
directed by Jörg Buttgereit
. This frequently controversial movie, banned in a number of countries, has become a cult film
over the years due to its transgressive subject matter
(including necrophilia
) and audacious imagery. A documentary, Corpse Fucking Art, which used footage shot during the making of this film, Der Todesking
and Nekromantik 2
was released in 1991.
Rob then enters a daydream of a young lop rabbit being caught on a farm and graphically slaughtered
. He then returns to work and discovers his new obsession, a whole rotting corpse. It is discovered in a pond and during the removal process Rob absconds with it. He excitedly returns home to Betty like a husband returning with a romantic gift for his awaiting wife. They immediately cut a steel pipe and put a condom over it so Betty will have a phallus to straddle during their “ménage a trois”. This is immediately followed by a jump shot of grilling meat which is never established as either human or otherwise.
Betty and Rob dine and converse while watching their new "toy" hang on the wall while plates collect the fluids that drip out. Rob goes to work the next day to be confronted by his coworkers who are tired of him leaving his dirty suit to fester in his locker and for his constant tardiness. After being bullied up the stairs to his boss he is fired.
The film then jumps to Betty in the apartment, reading a love story to the corpse. She asks the corpse if it could feel the love in the story and begins to straddle the face of the corpse. When Rob returns he informs Betty of his termination and she berates him for his failure as well as the fact that he did not stand up for himself. He comes home later and finds that Betty has left and has taken the corpse. In a violent outburst he kills their cat and bathes with its blood and entrails in the tub while the body hangs over the tub. He then leaves to go to see a film and after being bullied by a fellow movie-goer leaves to go back to his apartment.
Once there he attempts suicide
with pills and whiskey. He begins to drift into a dream where he emerges from a garbage bag as a partially decaying Rob. He is soon greeted by a woman in white who gives him a corpse's head and they begin to dance, tossing the head and entrails of a body back and forth. Once he wakes up he leaves his apartment and hires a prostitute. They go to a cemetery where he strangles her and then has sex with her corpse. He is startled as he awakes beside her with an old man standing over them. Rob grabs the man’s shovel and chops the old man's head off. This is followed by Rob running along the coast.
The film closes with Rob’s suicide. A grisly "climax" to the film which is composed of Rob stabbing
himself while ejaculating. This scene is filled with flashbacks to the rabbit slaughter seen earlier in the film but in reverse. In a final ironic twist, we see Rob's gravestone until a woman starts digging him up.
His life has these two parts to it: The larger society that pushes him around and his fantasy world of necrophilia which he has control over. His job at the body disposal company is evidence of the former. There he is no one and is pushed around by his other coworkers who abuse him for his fault. The latter is a world where he is somewhat of a puppet master who has complete control of his universe and can have a relationship free of abuse and ridicule with the corpse. These two worlds collide when he is fired from his job, destroying the denaturalizing world that allowed him to create his own fantasy world. This inevitably causes his self created world to collapse as well as his mental state. This leaves Rob alone and desperate and eventually dead by his own will. His personal world is emphasized heavily by the use of music.
Horror film
Horror films seek to elicit a negative emotional reaction from viewers by playing on the audience's most primal fears. They often feature scenes that startle the viewer through the means of macabre and the supernatural, thus frequently overlapping with the fantasy and science fiction genres...
directed by Jörg Buttgereit
Jörg Buttgereit
Jörg Buttgereit is a German writer/director known for his controversial films. He was born in Berlin, Germany and has lived there for his entire life.He is maybe best known for his 1987 film Nekromantik....
. This frequently controversial movie, banned in a number of countries, has become a cult film
Cult film
A cult film, also commonly referred to as a cult classic, is a film that has acquired a highly devoted but specific group of fans. Often, cult movies have failed to achieve fame outside the small fanbases; however, there have been exceptions that have managed to gain fame among mainstream audiences...
over the years due to its transgressive subject matter
Transgressive art
Transgressive art refers to art forms that aim to transgress; i.e. to outrage or violate basic mores and sensibilities. The term transgressive was first used by American filmmaker Nick Zedd and his Cinema of Transgression in 1985...
(including necrophilia
Necrophilia
Necrophilia, also called thanatophilia or necrolagnia, is the sexual attraction to corpses,It is classified as a paraphilia by the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of the American Psychiatric Association. The word is artificially derived from the ancient Greek words: νεκρός and φιλία...
) and audacious imagery. A documentary, Corpse Fucking Art, which used footage shot during the making of this film, Der Todesking
Der Todesking
Der Todesking is a 1989 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...
and Nekromantik 2
Nekromantik 2
NEKRomantik 2 is 1991 German horror/splatter film directed by Jörg Buttgereit and a sequel of his 1987 film Nekromantik. The film is about necrophilia, and was quite controversial and was seized by authorities in Munich 12 days after its release, an action that had no precedent in Germany since the...
was released in 1991.
Plot
This film centers on Rob Schmadtke, the tragic hero, who works for “Joe’s Cleaning Agency”, a company that removes bodies from public areas. This job leaves him the perfect opportunity to pursue his full-time hobby: necrophilia. He returns home from his job to his apartment and girlfriend, Betty. He plays with his assortment of preserved human remains and watches television while Betty takes a bath in blood laden water.Rob then enters a daydream of a young lop rabbit being caught on a farm and graphically slaughtered
Animal slaughter
Slaughter is the term used to describe the killing and butchering of animals, usually for food. Commonly it refers to killing and butchering of domestic livestock ....
. He then returns to work and discovers his new obsession, a whole rotting corpse. It is discovered in a pond and during the removal process Rob absconds with it. He excitedly returns home to Betty like a husband returning with a romantic gift for his awaiting wife. They immediately cut a steel pipe and put a condom over it so Betty will have a phallus to straddle during their “ménage a trois”. This is immediately followed by a jump shot of grilling meat which is never established as either human or otherwise.
Betty and Rob dine and converse while watching their new "toy" hang on the wall while plates collect the fluids that drip out. Rob goes to work the next day to be confronted by his coworkers who are tired of him leaving his dirty suit to fester in his locker and for his constant tardiness. After being bullied up the stairs to his boss he is fired.
The film then jumps to Betty in the apartment, reading a love story to the corpse. She asks the corpse if it could feel the love in the story and begins to straddle the face of the corpse. When Rob returns he informs Betty of his termination and she berates him for his failure as well as the fact that he did not stand up for himself. He comes home later and finds that Betty has left and has taken the corpse. In a violent outburst he kills their cat and bathes with its blood and entrails in the tub while the body hangs over the tub. He then leaves to go to see a film and after being bullied by a fellow movie-goer leaves to go back to his apartment.
Once there he attempts suicide
Suicide
Suicide is the act of intentionally causing one's own death. Suicide is often committed out of despair or attributed to some underlying mental disorder, such as depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, alcoholism, or drug abuse...
with pills and whiskey. He begins to drift into a dream where he emerges from a garbage bag as a partially decaying Rob. He is soon greeted by a woman in white who gives him a corpse's head and they begin to dance, tossing the head and entrails of a body back and forth. Once he wakes up he leaves his apartment and hires a prostitute. They go to a cemetery where he strangles her and then has sex with her corpse. He is startled as he awakes beside her with an old man standing over them. Rob grabs the man’s shovel and chops the old man's head off. This is followed by Rob running along the coast.
The film closes with Rob’s suicide. A grisly "climax" to the film which is composed of Rob stabbing
Stabbing
A stabbing is penetration with a sharp or pointed object at close range. Stab connotes purposeful action, as by an assassin or murderer, but it is also possible to accidentally stab oneself or others.Stabbing differs from slashing or cutting in that the motion of the object used in a stabbing...
himself while ejaculating. This scene is filled with flashbacks to the rabbit slaughter seen earlier in the film but in reverse. In a final ironic twist, we see Rob's gravestone until a woman starts digging him up.
Interpretations and Criticism
This film has taken harsh criticism for its content and subject matter but some believe that it is meant as a rather serious social commentary the denaturalization and dehumanization of contemporary society as a whole. Society is presented as something that, despite nurturing Rob’s existence, begins to destroy his soul and drive him to avenues of perversion as a means of having some sort of control over something in his life.His life has these two parts to it: The larger society that pushes him around and his fantasy world of necrophilia which he has control over. His job at the body disposal company is evidence of the former. There he is no one and is pushed around by his other coworkers who abuse him for his fault. The latter is a world where he is somewhat of a puppet master who has complete control of his universe and can have a relationship free of abuse and ridicule with the corpse. These two worlds collide when he is fired from his job, destroying the denaturalizing world that allowed him to create his own fantasy world. This inevitably causes his self created world to collapse as well as his mental state. This leaves Rob alone and desperate and eventually dead by his own will. His personal world is emphasized heavily by the use of music.