DVD & Blu-ray: THE CREMATOR (1969) - Criterion Collection

Product Description: Czechoslovak New Wave iconoclast Juraj Herz’s terrifying, darkly comic vision of the horrors of totalitarian ideologies stars a supremely chilling Rudolf Hrušínský as the pathologically morbid Karel Kopfrkingl, a crematorium director in 1930s Prague who believes fervently that death offers the only true relief from human suffering. When he is recruited by the Nazis, Kopfrkingl’s increasingly deranged worldview drives him to formulate his own shocking final solution. Blending the blackest of gallows humor with disorienting expressionistic flourishes—queasy point-of-view shots, distorting lenses, jarring quick cuts—the controversial, long-banned masterpiece The Cremator is one of cinema’s most trenchant and disturbing portraits of the banality of evil.

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Movie Details

Available Formats (Purchasing Links)

Video

Audio

Subtitles

Special Features & Extras

Trailer and Clips

Pictures

MOVIE DETAILS

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Director: Juraj Herz

Starring: Rudolf Hrusínský, Míla Myslíková, Vladimír Mensík, Jirí Lír

Genre: Comedy, Crime, Drama

Runtime: 95 min

Rating: Not Rated

Language: Czech

Studio: Criterion

Home Video Release Date: April 21, 2020

AVAILABLE FORMATS (click links to order from Amazon):

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DVD

Blu-ray

iTunes Store

VIDEO

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DVD

Codec: MPEG-2
Resolution: 480i
Aspect Ratio: 1.66:1
Encoding Format: 16:9
Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only)

Blu-ray

Codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Resolution: 1080p
Aspect Ratio: 1.66:1
Region: Region A/1

AUDIO

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Dubbed:

DVD: None
Blu-ray: None

Audio Formats:

DVD: Dolby Digital Mono
Blu-ray: LPCM Mono

SUBTITLES

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DVD: English

Blu-ray: English

SPECIAL FEATURES & EXTRAS

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New 4K digital restoration, with uncompressed monaural soundtrack on the Blu-ray
High-definition digital transfer of The Junk Shop,director Juraj Herz’s 1965 debut short film
Short documentary from 2011 featuring Herz visiting filming locations and recalling the production of The Cremator
New interview with film programmer Irena Kovarova about the style of the film
Documentary from 2017 about composer Zden?k Liška featuring Herz, filmmakers Jan Švankmajer and the Quay Brothers, and others
Interview with actor Rudolf Hrušínský from 1993
Trailer
New English subtitle translation
PLUS: An essay by scholar Jonathan Owen