Every national cinema has its masters of light. Czech cinema also has a master of shadow, and his name is Juraj Herz. He was born on September 4, 1934 in Kežmarok, and this September we remember one of the most distinctive directors who ever worked in Czech film.
Herz never quite belonged to the Czech New Wave, and he liked it that way. He trained as a puppeteer before he came to film, and that background never left him: his films are meticulously composed, strangely beautiful and often deeply unsettling. Where his colleagues filmed everyday life, Herz built dreams and nightmares.
His masterpiece is The Cremator (Spalovač mrtvol, 1968). Rudolf Hrušínský gives one of the greatest performances in Czech film history as Mr. Kopfrkingl, a gentle crematorium employee whose politeness slowly curdles into something monstrous. The film disappeared from distribution during the normalization era, which only added to its legend, and today it is regarded as one of the finest Czech films ever made. It is available both on remastered DVD and on remastered Blu-ray with English subtitles. 
Then there is Oil Lamps (Petrolejové lampy, 1971), a lavish and heartbreaking drama in which Iva Janžurová gives a career defining performance as Štěpka, a spirited woman trapped in a marriage that slowly destroys her. A year later Herz and Janžurová continued with Morgiana (1972), a feverish gothic tale in which she plays both sisters, one gentle and one poisonous. Collectors can also find Morgiana on Blu-ray with English subtitles.
And when Herz turned to fairy tales, he did it his own way. Beauty and the Beast (Panna a netvor, 1978) is no sweet children's story: it is a fog drenched, romantic and genuinely frightening version of the old tale, and many consider it the most beautiful horror fairy tale ever filmed in this country.
Elegant, dark, ironic and always unmistakably his own: that was Juraj Herz. If you are building a collection of Czech cinema, his films belong in it.
👉 Start exploring Juraj Herz: The Cremator on Blu-ray, Oil Lamps on DVD, Morgiana on Blu-ray or Beauty and the Beast on DVD.
🎬 And if you enjoy the darker side of Czech film, do not miss our earlier article Explore the Dark Side of Czech Cinema.
