Der Rosenkönig is a celebration of death at work and the beauty of destruction. Magdalena knew she was going to die soon, and in this film, we feel her struggle between life and death. This, unjustifiably - in the minds of the people involved, provides an excuse for endless painful poetic reveries and artful imagery, including depiction of a crucified dead/dying cat (who was obviously killed for this movie), graphic cutting/mutilation scene (of a human), as a twisted metaphor for forced romantic idealism. The film is very powerful and beautiful with its numerous allegorical elements sush as blood on roses, an insane mother plagued by cats and mice, heavy-handed religious symbolism, rose symbolism, a statue of the cracked virgin on which a white mouse perches, broken stained-glass windows, cobwebs, burning fire, the scorching sun, etc. Compositioned with elaborate and the splendor of the sublime photo of Elfie Mikesch while the soundtrack alternates from delightful waltzes, fados or arias to operas. The adoration of the male body is the central motif of the painting in The King of the Roses, and the film quite clearly strives for this too.
The film is, in its finale, so succumb in misery and suffering hence the romantique and beauty its trying to show off, ultimately becomes pathetic, a figure of obsession, if you will, and at most, forms an arrogant substance of darkness without 'real' affection and love. Sure, its an exceptionally great motif (finding beauty in the suffering), but its ULTIMATELY blunders, thus, the confused creators, are holding considerably more strings than they could've hände. But, at least they tried! What the hell do I know?
