Magdalena Montezuma and more

Magdalena Montezuma

1968. West Germany. Directed by Werner Schroeter. A private 8mm film (digitally preserved) starring Schroeter’s friend Magdalena Montezuma, before he made her his superstar. 1 min.

The Rose King

1986. West Germany/Portugal. Directed by Werner Schroeter. With Magdalena Montezuma, Antonio Orlando, Mostefa Djadjam, and the voices of Melina Mercouri, Pablo Neruda, Basil Rathbone, Gloria Swanson. Jim Hoberman in The Village Voice writes, “Schroeter made [The Rose King] as a tribute to his longtime superstar Magdalena Montezuma, who died shortly after the film wrapped. As florid as its title suggests, The Rose King uses a succession of voluptuously decrepit romantic images—bloody flowers, cobwebby windows, the churning ocean—to telegraph a tale of thwarted homoeroticism and vengeful mother love. The film's canny primitivism, lush score (a mixture of Strauss and Arabic pop), ferocious posing, and languid, if melodramatic, camera angles suggest the meeting of Ron Rice and Max Steiner. Montezuma was a great silent-style actress, and, despite a surfeit of cruelty during the final twenty minutes, The Rose King is as close to greatness as Schroeter has come since his masterpieces of 12 or 15 years ago." Print lent by La Cinematheque Quebecoise; courtesy StudioCanal Berlin, Juliane Lorenz Filmproduktion, Monika Keppler. In German, Portuguese, Italian, French, Arabic; English subtitles. 106 min.