The Death King (1990)
"Der Todesking" (original title)

Seven episodes, each taking place on a different day of the week, on the theme of suicide and violent death.

Director:

Jörg Buttgereit

Writers:

Jörg Buttgereit, Franz Rodenkirchen

Stars:

Susanne Betz, Gerd Breitung, Ingo Buesing

Cast

Credited cast:
Susanne Betz	...	Girl in park (in Wednesday episode)
Gerd Breitung
Ingo Buesing
Jörg Buttgereit	...	Torture victim - Tuesday episode / Voice of projectionist - Saturday episode
Andreas Doehler
Heinrich Ebber	...	Video fan (in Tuesday episode)
Bela B. Felsenheimer	...	Singer (in Saturday episode)
Daniela Geburtig
Angelika Hoch	...	Assassin (in Saturday episode)
Manfred O. Jelinski
Baerbel Juette	...	Second soldier (in Tuesday episode)
Alexander Kiersch
Hermann Kopp	...	Man (in Monday episode)
Michael Krause	...	Man in park (in Wednesday episode)
Gudrun Kromrey

Storyline

Seven episodes, each taking place on a different day of the week, on the theme of suicide and violent death.

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Plot Keywords:

suicide | actual animal killed | male nudity | male frontal nudity | anthology | 

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Genres:

Drama | Horror

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Certificate:

Unrated

Details

Country:

West Germany

Language:

German

Release Date:

25 January 1990 (West Germany)

Also Known As:

The Death King

Company Credits

Technical Specs

Runtime:

80 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Connections

References Citizen Kane (1941)

User Reviews

Art/trash/exploitation with soul?

'Der Todesking' is my first experience with Jorg Buttgereit. I have no idea whether it is representative of his other work or not, but after watching this puzzling movie I intend finding out. A verbal description of this movie does it very little justice. Scenes of suicides by various individuals are interspersed with footage of a decomposing corpse. That really gives you NO idea how thought provoking, repellant AND beautiful this movie is in places.

I'm not sure if I fully understand Buttgereit's "message" or indeed, if there really IS one. But I did get something from watching this movie. It is much more than just a collection of disturbing images. Maybe it is like a painting or a poem, and everybody who experiences comes away with their own ideas or emotions about what it's "about".

Whatever your reaction to 'Der Todesking' I don't think you will regret having watched it. There are moments in this movie that will stay with you for a VERY long time... I was fascinated. A movie that blurs the distinctions between art and exploitation, and makes you question yourself. Yes, I was impressed.