Page 226 - Alternative Europe Eurotrash and Exploitation Cinema Since 1945

approach necrophilia, not as an extreme and rare perversion, but trying to figure it as something that
is common to the life of those people. At the same time, the plastic and the gloves detach you. There's
always something between you and the object of your desire, which I think is, of course, the simple
difference that one is alive and the other is dead.
The opposite to what a 'normal' serial killer does.
We once had this idea of necrophilia as something that has been accepted widely. Rob becoming
a pioneer, the idea was to rearrange the whole idea of how to handle dead bodies. Instead of burying
them they could be collected and given to the needy for their desires.
Is there any kind of reason why Buttgereit is so attracted to death?
He is very body conscious. He's done martial arts for 25 years and he's physically very fit, but at
the same time he's afraid of decay, fascinated and afraid at the same time.
Who do the old men in Schramm who tie up Monika represent? I associated them with Nazis because
they are very old, and make her dress up in a Hitler youth outfit.
They are old Germans. The idea, however flimsy it is executed, is that it is more like in the Pasolini
picture, Salo, where you have the representatives of the state revelling in their very private perversions.
The Nazi theme was a little controversial, sometimes I think that Jorg is too much relying on the fact
that people are giving him the benefit of the doubt. He is addressing the imagery a little too carelessly,
not considering possible reactions.
In Schramm and Nekromantik IIyou show how much work it is being a necrophiliac.
There is a certain kind of necrophilia that is more a necrophilia of the mind in that it is very
romanticised. There is also a lot of imagery and stories with beautiful dead women, for example. We
wanted our necrophilia to be a more everyday affair, and everyday life isn't that romantic. At the same
time, we wanted to portray our character as, in a way, ordinary. To approach them in this mantlet
allows them to be taken seriously.
Do you think the romantic scenes are too long between the live couple in Nekromantik II?
It's something that Jorg simply wanted to explore more, but I can tell you the whole film team was
very infatuated with Monika. I think we simply enjoyed it. It was even longer. Jorg loves the
innocence of it.
They don't act like youths.
This whole part where they go to the amusement park, it is very much how Jorg may have envi-
sioned being in love, he was a bit old-fashioned then. Once you meet him, you cannot match those
two images in your mind (his public personna and his real self). I think that is what he plays on
heavily, he knows it, as a good PR person.
The most erotic shots are of feet and hands, not the traditional ones of breasts and so on.
Difficult to ask me, this area is one where Jorg and I digress the most. What material is put onto
film is completely Jorg's choice. He is a bit prudish, but at the same time he was afraid the female
actresses might feel exploited, but I think his eroticism is not so physically orientated. It is not ditected
towards the usual sexual symbols. Deep inside of him there is a certain really innocent tenderness and
it comes out at moments when he is not alert.
Your thoughts on Nekromantik II?
I didn't really want to do it that much because I don't really like the idea of sequels and I thought

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