Der Todesking

Between Nekromantik and its sequel, Jorg Buttgereit made this, an anthology of seven grim vignettes about death, one for each day of the week, stitched together by time-lapse footage of a single human body decomposing. There is no gore-comedy relief and no killer to root for, only an accumulating argument that living is optional, delivered with an art-film patience that makes it far harder to shake than his splatter work. One segment is just a woman filming a shooting spree while a list of names scrolls past. It is his least-seen feature and his most despairing. Do not reach for it on a bad night.