Benjamin ohar Warsaw, June 2011

Final paper
Analyzed movie: Spalova mrtvol (eng. The Cremator), 1969, director: Juraj Herz
Introduction
In 1960s the Czechoslovak cinematography entered the period of New Wave. The
unique artistic movement was developed by students of the Film and TV School of The
Academy of Performing Arts in Prague. Despite there was no manifesto or theoretical
writings that would connect the group, the New Wave directors have common themes of film
making: long dialogues, dark and absurd humor, visual poetry, gentle humanism, tender
eroticism, etc. The main director of New Wave were Milo Forman, Jir Menzel, Vera
Chytilov, Jaromr Jire and Ivan Passer. Although Juraj Herz attended the Academy of
Performing Arts in Prague (AMU), he studied in the puppetry department, thus he remained
only on the margins of the Czechoslovak New Wave. His movie Spalova mrtvoli (The
Incriminator, 1968) is based on Ladislav Fuks book whit the same title. It was his second
work that dealt with tragedy of Jewish in Second World War. He previously addressed the
problem of the extermination of Jews in his debut novel Mr. Theodor Mundstock.
1

Spalova mrtvoli is primarily a study on madness. It is a story of a man on a path from
being a human to becoming a monster. In this essay I will look at the film from perspective
of psychoanalysis. I will be special focused on the main protagonist, Mr. Kopfrkingl and the
change of his psychical state. First I will outline the basic structure of mans psychical
apparatus based on Freud theory. Second, based on the outline I will analyze how the changes
of environment has changed protagonist psychical state and eventually transformed it from
middle class, family oriented men to murderer and co-operator of Nazi Germany final
solution.
Outlining

1
Adam Schofield, A Black Pearl of the Deep: Juraj Herzs The Cremator (Senses of Cinema On-line E-
Journal. 2007).
Fuks was a student of a philosophy and psychology, what is also seen in his book,
which is full of psychoanalytical motives. Fuks and Herz were worked on the screenplay
together for two years; consequently the film is a faithful reflection of the book. It is a mix of
psychological horror and black comedy.
2
Hertz described how the movie was made in his
interview:
It was in 1968, and I had absolute liberty in my work. I could film whatever I wanted to. []
When I was working on Spalova I knew that it was the right way, it is my of humor, my feel
for something that could be called a horror humor, even if I don't take Spalova as a pure
horror film: I think it is more a psychological thriller or psychological horror [] It was a
very difficult filming because there were some production problems and almost all the actors
were alcoholics []
3

The film is market by acting of Rudolf Hrusnsk in a role of Mr. Karl Kopfrkingl and
Stanislav Milotas disorienting and grotesque cinematography. The entire movie is filmed
from the perspective of main character, a professional cremator. All the other characters have
very limited dialogs are expressed only in the relation whit Karl. The focus on the main
protagonist allows us to understand the development of his behavior, and how he is dealing
whit changes in environment. His personal psychological also has allegorical meaning for the
society in general. Thus the movie represents two levels individual whit his social
boundaries and his drives demands and social whit the moral and social rules.
The beginning of movie is also an introduction to psychoanalysis. It starts in the zoo, at the
leopard cage. This scene is marked by a fast changing of close-up shots between people and
the animals. The audience is faced whit comparison, between the man and the animal through
the different matching elements (the hat of the woman the head of the bird, eyes of the man
eyes of the lion, skin of the snake wrinkles on mans forehead). This comparison is
followed by text: cages are for animals. Animal part of the man is sometimes the name
given to the most basic and most important part of mans psychical apparatus, it. Freud
describes it as everything that is inherited, what is part of our construction and comes with
a birth drives derived from biological construction. It is in greater part unknown to us. It
consists of many drives, which are in principle different combinations of two primary forces,

2
Ladislav Fuks and Jiri Tul, Moje zrcadlo (Praha: Mlad fronta, 1995).
3
Ibid.
Eros and the destruction force. The primary objective of Eros is to establish and sustain bigger
organic forms, while the destructive drive works in opposite way by destroying organic
systems and ultimately bringing them back to inorganic form.
4

Under the rough conditions of external world the special part of it gradually seceded to deal
with external pressures. Freud name it part ego, the part that is the most known to us,
something that man is identify with. His basic role is self sustainment, to deal with the
influences of external world. Egos function is to mediate between its demands and external
possibilities to satisfy this demands. Hence ego permanently has to make a choice:
immediately satisfy the demands of it, to postpone demands or even inhibit them. It does not
feel danger or have fear of death, while egos function is in self preservation and his acts
based on the fear of death. Ego is also under third influence, superego. Superego is result of
long period of upbringing in human society, where under the strong and longitude influences
of parents part of child ego separates itself and create new demanding instance. Superego of
course is not shape only by influences from parents, but also from general society, culture and
race in which individual is raised. Egos role is consequently to deal with demands of it and
superego in the given environmental circumstances.
5

Analyzing
With outlined basic psychological structure let us return beck to the Mr. Kopfrkingl. . In his
case we are dealing whit perfect example of individual psychological economy, how
individual canalising his basic instincts into socially accepted personal believes and social
roles. His acts and believes are centred on the idea of death. From the beginning of the movie
he is flirting with the death, which is presented in the movie as black-haired mute woman.
His obsession whit death is exposed through all the movie: when he has the speech at the
beginning the camera is exposing grotesque frescos on the wall, his enrolment of new employ
in crematory, his visit in park, where he is fill sorry that flowers are alive and not artificial
(and as such death) in amusement park, where he is impressed whit wax dolls of death babies,
when he get the collection of death flies, when he is speaking about mass crematorium, etc.
His obsession with the death is not only a specific style. The death is also the central part of

4
Sigmund Freud, An Outline of Psycho-Analysis, in The Standard Edition of the Complete Works of
Sigmund Freud, Volume 23, ed James Strachey et al. (London: The Hogart Press and the Institute of
Psychoanalysis, 1953-74).
5
Ibid.
his believes. His religious inspiration comes from the Book of Tibet, which Mr. Kopfrkingl
praises through the whole movie. Whit the help of the book he is explaining the need for
destruction through crematory as human way, based on love to the death, as helping them to
easier come to the other world.
Kopfrkingl psychical stated corresponds with the environment. At the beginning he is well
established and adjust member of civilised society. His extensive interest of death is
expressed through his work as a cremator and through his unusual but acceptable artistic taste.
He manages to satisfy his extraordinary tension of death drive in socially acceptable way. As
Freud writs every man has some primary drives that are part of him as natural being. With the
development of human society this drives gained bad reputation and to satisfy them directly it
started to be morally unacceptable. Hence man eventually had to adjust his behavior to new
social conditions, what also changed his psychical state.
6

Every member of society goes through long process of upbringing and cultural influences,
when his primitive behavior is gradually modified into socially accepted. Freud recognizes
two sources of changes: internal and external. Internal reasons are based on eroticism and
man's need for love. By the value of being loved we learn how to give up direct satisfaction of
primary tensions. Through the processes of inhibition, channelization towards other goals,
reaction formations, etc., ones develop refined tensions that could be satisfied on socially
accepted way. This is also the source of bad conscience, which is a social anxiety, and not
some profane trait that judge our behavior. Freud fined it interested that the children with
especial strong bad tensions in their childhood usually grow in exceptionally good adults. On
the other hand external reasons do not have such profound effect. They are results of social
constrains (and not love relations), where one do not transform his unacceptable tensions, but
only gives up to satisfy them, to be socially accepted.
7

Two reasons are connected and external reasons could transform into internal and could
change ones drives structure from egoistic to truly altruistic. But this is not always the case.
We usually put great trust in others and judge their good act as results of his sincere internal
positive motives, and not a result of strong external restrictions. Besides, it is impossible to

6
Sigmund Freud, Thoughts for the Times on War and Death, in The Standard Edition of the
Complete Works of Sigmund Freud, Volume 14, ed James Strachey et al. (London: The Hogart Press and the
Institute of Psychoanalysis, 1953-74).
7
Ibid.
realize the difference in normal circumstances. Their real psychical tensions will only be
exposed in extraordinary circumstance.
8

How individuals deal with inconsistency of environmental and psychical pressures depends
also from general society. Especially in utilitarian societies external appeal satisfies the social
demand for proper behaviors. By Freud opinion that was exactly the type of European
societies at the beginning of 20th century. They worked on the base of sanctions for socially
unaccepted acts and in lesser degree on love premiums. In the same way is depictured society
in the movie. It introduces itself as rational, cultural, moral (we live in good, humanitarian
state ), traditional (newspaper article that say that married man live longer) and civilised
(After all, we live in Europe, in the 20 century, in civilised world).
In the movie the social changes are triggered by German occupation of Czechoslovakia. The
new social pressures (to adjust Nazi demands) also change Mr. Kopfrkingls mental stated. He
fall under the influence of his Nazi friend and under Nazi ideology. The first explanation of
this change could be that Mr. Kopfrkingls is a type of mental hypocrites, not sincere in his
act to demands of his drives. By Freud the general social situation do not leads to pathological
states in this type of people, but they often have symptoms of characteristics deformations and
are under permanent pressure. The change in social demands that raise the gap between their
actual behavior and the demands of their drives could leads to more severe reaction effects in
the form of neurological sickness. On the other hands, they use any social changes offered to
satisfy the inhibited drives. Out of this three indicators Mr. Kopfrkingl fall only under the last
one. He was well integrated in previews social system and he did not show any indication of
pressure. There was also no indication of potential neurological sickness. Thus Mr.
Kopfrkingl change of behaviour does not roots in the change of his psychical state from
condition of permanent pressure of drives to the new conditions of satisfaction.
9

As already mentioned, he had well developed psychical state, where we manage to satisfy his
primary tensions on socially acceptable way. His change of behaviour roots in different
psychological phenomena. Freud explains how sometimes human can fall back to more
primary psychical stages, although they have already developed more sophisticated psychical
structures. This is the consequence of specifics of psychical development. He compares it

8
Ibid.
9
Ibid.
with development of city. When a village grows into a city, the village gets lost in the city. All
that remains are only shadows of the village, while the substance is lost. On the other hand in
the psychical development every primary state remains in coexistence with newer one. The
primary stage usually remains unexposed when the new forms are developed. They burst out
only in specific social conditions. This reengagement of primary drives could be only
temporal, or it could permanently destroy latter developed stages.
10

This model explains the change of Mr. Kopfrkingl behaviour much better. His deeply rooted
excessive death drive finds more direct way to satisfy itself in the new social conditions that
Nazi ideology broth. The need of new regime to eliminate the unwelcomed part of new
society is a social condition that opens up the more direct satisfaction of primitive drive. On
the other side his super ego demands turns him more and more towards his obsession with his
Book of Tibet. The book is his moral guides that allow him to successfully combine the
demands of it and super-ego. It is a complete system of explanation, moral satisfaction and
instinct canalisation, which is so robust that allows him to kill his family (because wife way
was a Jewish and consequently also the children) and cooperate whit Nazi final solution.
Simultaneously he fall more and more dipper in his phantasm of hem as saver of souls and as
new Dalai Lama.
Conclusion
Mr. Kopfrkingl psychical state is an interested example of adoption of individual to changes
in environment. The changes of social order can bring ones primitive states up on the open.
Mr. Kopfrkingl change is an example of how ambiguous it is to describe the state of the mind
as healthy or pathological. His change could be described as the way from health to madness,
but that would be only normative perspective from the view of society from which he
changed. On the other side, he became to be a model member of new regime.
Behind primary stories of a man is a peculiar critical sub-tone: if he could adapt to Nazi
society so easily, the change was not so extreme. Psychical level could be compared to social.
Like excessive death drive lay behind Mr. Kopfrkingl socially accepted attitudes, so it was
Nazism already lying inside the European society.

10
Ibid.
The film Cremator is visually stunning piece of art that grips you with a dead, icy hand and
hold you till the bitter end. Filmed with black and white technique and with effective use of
grotesque cinematography visually express the complex psychical state of mind of main
protagonist. His transformation is a critical allegory for the Czechoslovak society as a whole,
where the raise of totalitarianism did not provoke a general contra-reaction, but instead the
majority of societies adapted to the new regimes. Or, as Mr. Kopfrkingl explains the situation
on his wifes funeral: There is nothing certain in this live, except death and the fact that
the new order will be installed in Europe. The Furers new Europe and the death. These are
the only certainties that we the people have
Bibliography
Freud, Sigmund, An Outline of Psycho-Analysis. In The Standard Edition of the
Complete Works of Sigmund Freud, Volume 23. Edited by James Strachey et al.
London: The Hogart Press and the Institute of Psychoanalysis, 1953-74. 141-207.
Freud, Sigmund, Five Lectures on Psycho-Analysis. In The Standard Edition of the
Complete Works of Sigmund Freud, Volume 11. Edited by James Strachey et al.
London: The Hogart Press and the Institute of Psychoanalysis, 1953-74. 141-207.
Freud, Sigmund. Thoughts for the Times on War and Death. In The Standard
Edition of the Complete Works of Sigmund Freud, Volume 14. Edited by James
Strachey et al. London: The Hogart Press and the Institute of Psychoanalysis, 1953-
74. 141-207
Fuks, Ladislav and Tul, Jiri. 1995. Moje zrcadlo. Praha: Mlad fronta.
Schofield, Adam. 2007. A Black Pearl of the Deep: Juraj Herzs The Cremator.
Senses of Cinema On-line E-Journal.
Spalova mrtvol (eng. The Cremator). DVD. director: Juraj Herz. 1969.