Juraj Herz
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Juraj Herz | |
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Born | |
Died | 8 April 2018 | (aged 83)
Occupation(s) | Film director Screenwriter Actor |
Years active | 1961–2018 |
Juraj Herz (4 September 1934 – 8 April 2018) was a Slovak film director, actor, and scene designer, associated with the
Early life and education
Herz was born in 1934 in
Film career
Herz was self-taught as a film director.[3] His first experience working on films was as second-unit director under Zbyněk Brynych (Transport from Paradise; 1962) and Ján Kadár (The Shop on Main Street; 1965).[3] Because he had attended DAMU rather than its sister film school, FAMU, Herz was initially not part of the core group of directors who would form the Czechoslovak New Wave.[3] His 1965 short film The Junk Shop was excluded from the group's manifesto anthology Pearls of the Deep (1966) due to its running time.[3]
Herz made his breakthrough with his 1969 film,
The following year saw Sweet Games of Last Summer, an expressionist adaptation of Guy de Maupassant.[3]
Herz was best known for his work in the horror genre; he was one of the few Czechoslovak film directors working horror films during the Communist period.
Herz intended to make an adaptation of Alfred Jarry's absurd erotic novel Supermale but was forced to shelve it by the government.[11]
His 1982 movie Ferat Vampire (Czech: Upír z Feratu), a horror movie about a murderous Ferat sports car fuelled on human blood, starred Jiří Menzel and future first lady Dagmar Havlová.[2] In 1986 Herz released The Night Overtakes Me, a tragic drama about his experiences in the concentration camp.[3]
Herz emigrated to Germany in 1987.[5] His last major films were paranormal thriller Darkness (Czech: T.M.A.; 2009),[2] and Habermann (2010),[5] a war drama about the expulsion of Germans from Czechoslovakia after World War II.[2]
Style
Herz was very interested in genre films,[clarification needed] especially horror. He was very interested in dark, macabre elements and themes and also erotic imagery, which genre films allowed him to incorporate.[6] Herz also frequently used psychological horror and politically dissident elements in his films. He said that dark humor was a form of expression, and that even serious films should be laughed at.[12]
Death
Herz died in Prague on 8 April 2018, aged 83.[4] His death was announced on Facebook by Slovak actor Andrej Hryc, his friend and long-time collaborator.[2]
Selected filmography
- The Junk Shop (Sběrné surovosti, 1965)[3]
- The Sign of Cancer (Znamení raka, 1965)[3]
- The Cremator (Spalovač mrtvol, 1969)[5]
- Sweet Games of Last Summer (Sladké hry minulého léta, 1970)[3]
- Oil Lamps (Petrolejové lampy, 1971)[5]
- Morgiana (1972)[2]
- Day for My Love (Den pro mou lásku, 1976)[4]
- Beauty and the Beast (Panna a netvor, 1978)[2]
- The Ninth Heart (Deváté srdce, 1979)[3]
- Ferat Vampire (Upír z Feratu, 1982)[5]
- The Night Overtakes Me (Zastihla Mě Noc, 1986)[3]
- Darkness (T.M.A., 2009)[2]
- Habermann (Habermannův mlýn, 2010)[2]
References
- ^ "Zomrel režisér a herec Juraj Herz". aktuality.sk (in Slovak). 9 April 2018.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p "Director Juraj Herz ('The Cremator') Passes Away at 83". The Prague Reporter. 9 April 2018. Retrieved 27 July 2018.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q Ellinger, Kat (20 June 2018). "Juraj Herz obituary: a one-man wave of Czechoslovak horror". Sight & Sound. British Film Institute.
- ^ a b c d e f g h "Juraj Herz dies aged 83". The Czech Journal. 9 April 2018. Retrieved 27 July 2018.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j "Film-maker Juraj Herz has died". The Slovak Spectator. 9 April 2018. Retrieved 27 July 2018.
- ^ a b "Madness and the Macabre". The Criterion Channel.
- ^ a b "Czechoslovak New Wave film director Juraj Herz dies at 83 :: Continental News Show :: World". Archived from the original on 10 April 2018. Retrieved 10 April 2018.
- ^ Margaret Herrick Library, Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences
- ISBN 978-0-8108-6756-7– via Google Books.
- ^ "Festival de Cannes: Oil Lamps". festival-cannes.com. Retrieved 14 April 2009.
- ^ Owen, Jonathan. "The Cremator: "No One Will Suffer"". The Criterion Collection.
- ^ "Kinoeye | Czech Horror: Juraj Herz interviewed". www.kinoeye.org.
External links
- Juraj Herz at IMDb