Review of Jörg Buttgereit’s Hot Love!
Back in 1991, I was in my last year at senior school. I and my friends had just been rocked by the deaths of some of our gang in a car accident. Meanwhile, an older pal had given me a film I’d read about in magazines called Nekromantik by German director, Jörg Buttgereit. Usually I lent my movies around, or watched them in a posse, however due to what had happened that year, I kept this one to myself. It became my baby. I loved the music. I adored the storyline and saw the tragic love triangle as rather deep. It was a shame the quality of the recording was so poor that a lot of the subtitles were unreadable! Soon after I obtained Nekromantik 2, with no subtitles at all, but a better quality picture. However, via articles in fanzines and magazines, I was always interested by Hot Love. The stills looked incredible, and knowing the soundtrack was so similar (I own all the music on various CDs now because I’m Jörg’s fanboy). I needed a copy! It was not to be for many decades (it was too expensive for a teenager to buy in the 90s) and nobody I knew had a copy.
Thus two years ago, I finally got hold of a limited edition DVD release of my Buttgereit Holy Grail, to complete my collection over the years of his masterpieces (they are to me, OK? When I saw Nekromantik it opened my eyes to low budget awesomeness!!)
It feels like Nekromantik and Der Todesking (see review of Der Todesking here). It so has that warm homely feel to it, but with a bit less money. In fact the credits just have the aura of simplicity and roughness like Nekro.
Hot Love begins with the star of Nekromantik, Daktari Lorenz, who will possibly be as ill-fated in this as Rob had been. (Daktari has been said to be rather strange when mentioned in interviews. However, he’s quite talented as an actor and he composed this soundtrack and others for Jörg with a guy called John Boy Walton. By the looks of things, he puts together short porno films nowadays and is a photographer of erotica). His character wakes up in bed and speaks on the phone. Did I hear the word “party”? This DVD unfortunately doesn’t have subtitles, or at least I couldn’t find them.
Yeah, it’s a psychedelic party (which has quite disturbing slurping sounds as folks drink) where he sees and falls in love with a girl played by Marion Koob-Liebing (a bit player in Nekromantik) and we have a romantic montage of them both in slow motion on a bridge, on swings, all to the gorgeous piano score. They make love, eat breakfast, he gives her a toy kitty (a moment revisited in Nekromantik with a live cat that was as ill-fated as he was). It is true love for this young couple as time goes by. In a surreal moment she sits naked as he plays guitar singing like he’s dubbed over, I suppose as a moment of comedy — huh.
Then a sinister voice over, I think, announces how it’s doomed because he sees her kissing a large muscular chap in the park, played by Jörg Buttgereit himself. The piano becomes more heart wrenching as Daktari loses it, trying his hand at fighting, losing terribly. (There’s nothing anywhere to give the characters names). Battered, humiliated and messed up, his life goes to pieces culminating in him knocking out the woman he used to adore in the park, then raping her (look for the smile on her face before he goes down. I spotted a grin as Jorg dragged him about earlier as well).
He commits suicide. Nine months later and our main girl is giving birth to a bloodied toy baby. Jörg believes he is the father. He has no reason to doubt this.
One night in their flat, their toy baby is revolting, vomiting porridge and gunk as they watch stupefied in terror. Shadows on the wall reveal a fully grown man is rising from the baby. It’s Daktari in full zombie mutant make-up and mental noises. He breaks a whisky bottle and approaches the couple who destroyed his world.
Hot Love is, to pun, a labour of love. It’s so well made for what was available at the time financially. The effects are fine, including the creature, a fake vagina birth, and a heart removal, that sort of thing. Hot Love definitely has gore, plus comedy, music and is overall a great prototype to Jörg s career. The final moments with that sad piano score focusses on Daktari and what he’s become. Is that triumph or an empty lonely expression on his face?
This DVD from Media Target Distribution has a ton of extras in the form of earlier short films, including the frankly irritating Captain Berlin, Horror Heaven, which is a comical remake of famous monsters with added flairs of imagination, including awesome animation of toy tanks, Der Gollob, Der Trend, Blutige Exzesse im Führerbunker — a wild one in which Hitler is attacked by a zombie in his bunker (???!!), Jesus – Dr Film, and Manne the Mowie.
However, the second to last short is Mein Papi, which shows Jorg filming his Dad (accompanied by a cool and catchy tune and early photos). The poor guy looks annoyed at some points (it is claimed he didn’t know he was being filmed most of the time). In an interview I read, this short was showed at festivals and everyone applauded. Jörg said something along the lines that his Dad was now big on the screen, even though I don’t think his Dad really understood his filmmaking dreams and art. Things weren’t easy between them. Mein Papi is entertaining and watchable (unlike a few of those others I named above). The words and writings are all in German. The book, Sex Murder Art however fills those gaps. He was a truck driver, in 1973. He started having headaches and surgery revealed a tumour. In 1985 a second tumour and more surgery destroyed his sense of balance. After the death of Jörg s mother, Papi sort of gives in until a stroke takes him. (Makes me wish I’d filmed my own Dad more building and riding his trikes — he was a live fast Hell’s Angel up until his death).
The grand finale is a music video for Shock Therapy with Itchy the Clown, ‘I Can’t Let Go’. Forget Captain Spaulding (The Devil’s Rejects) Stitches and all other vest wearing slob clowns, this one is the real deal as he wakes up to find the corpse of a woman in his apartment. For some reason this reminded me a lot of Schramm which is Jörg Buttgereit’s later masterpiece.
I forgot to mention, before Hot Love, there’s a minute long film from 1980 called The Exploding Sports Shoe. Lol, indeed. All in all, the whole DVD runs for two hours, then you have a good few extras to add on.
If you don’t like Jörg Buttgereit’s films then this one isn’t for you at all. Personally, I do like the style and the dreamy quality. However, the one thing about his films are that they are full of emotions. I feel too many people watch for the gore, the sexual perversity, etcetera. It’s like so many liking Bob Marley because he smoked weed and ignore his politics and messages. Jörg Buttgereit’s films are overall populated by very lonely and lost characters. Most have a love story in which somebody gets hurt and goes off the rails. Music always plays an important role and the sounds feed the images to perfection.
Hot Love is on YouTube in three parts, as are most of his short super 8 films. However, if you can get it, the DVD is collectible (cost me a fair bit of cash at the time) but be warned – Captain Berlin is an arsehole!!!!!
Directed by: Jörg Buttgereit | Written by: Jörg Buttgereit | Produced by: Jörg Buttgereit | Cinematography by: Bjorn Zielaskowski | Editing by: Jörg Buttgereit | Special Effects by: Daktari Lorenz, Jorg Buttgereit | Music by: Daktari Lorenz, John Boy Walton | Cast: Daktari Lorenz, Marion Koob-Liebing, Jörg Buggereit, Patricia Leipold, Norbert Hahnel | Year: 1985 | Country: Germany | Language: German | Color: Color | Runtime: 30min
Distribution: Media Target Distribution
DVD SPECS:
Aspect Ratio: 4:3 Full Frame
Region: PAL R0
Audio: Dolby Digital Mono
SUPPLEMENTAL MATERIAL:
– 9 Short Super 8 films
– English Audio Commentary
– Video for Shock Therapy “I Can’t Let Go”
– Premier for Hot Love (German language)
– Trailers
– Stills
– Audio Interviews (German language)
– The Buttgereit Background
– Filmography
