A good, serious film.
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07/22/03
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The Embalmer (2003)
81
%
Tomatometer
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Reviews Counted:32
Fresh:26
Rotten:6
Average Rating:6.8/10
Consensus: Intriguingly creepy and unsettling.
Theatrical Release:Jul 18, 2003 Limited
Synopsis: THE EMBALMER, directed by Matteo Garrone, is the story of unrequited love and repressed homosexuality gone awry. Peppino (Ernesto Mahieux) is a diminutive taxidermist who secretly courts an... [More]
Starring: Ernesto Mahieux, Valerio Foglia Manzillo, Elisabetta Rocchetti, Lina Bernardi
Director: Matteo Garrone
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Reviews for The Embalmer
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01/26/06
Brilliantly creates an atmosphere of malignant malaise and foreboding.
07/25/03
Top CriticA bummer, but one that manages to stick to its depraved convictions until the strange and bitter end.
07/22/03
The Embalmer is a movie that will keep fresh on your mind for a few days but probably won't be preserved in your memory for all time.
12/12/03
Once Peppino is identified as a sexual predator, the movie loses whatever compassion it had for him, seeming to imply that his obsession and his sexual identity are the same thing.
09/25/03
Engrossing.
10/02/03
Director Garrone keeps the story involving even though it doesn't quite live up to the star's strong talents.
07/17/03
Finds a disconcerting niche between edgy character thriller and black comedy.
07/22/03
Top CriticArt-house audiences, who demand more daring and commitment than this mesmerizing but basically teasing effort is willing to provide, will still find much that is seductive.
07/19/03
Mahieux ... builds a character so relentlessly powerful and creepy that The Embalmer leaves an aftertaste -- we can practically smell him.
09/26/03
Top CriticAt moments, the story skirts uncomfortably close to the grotesque. But this atmospheric oddity delivers a surprisingly sensitive take on the overwhelming ache of loneliness.
07/22/03
Despite its virtues, the picture comes across rather like something that has itself been disinterred from the fairly remote past.
12/29/03
In spite of some stiltedness, The Embalmer is an oft-intriguing examination of unquenched desire and the power of beauty.
12/11/03
Top CriticHere's a movie that could keep David Lynch tossing at night.
09/25/03
Top CriticAn artfully toned-down story of thwarted desire.
06/26/03
The Embalmer has the look of naturalized Fellini and, in its nearly unblinking analysis of human power relations, a story worthy of Fassbinder.
07/08/03
Top CriticWith fewer sensational confrontations, The Embalmer is a major work. As it stands, it signals the emergence of an exceptional filmmaker.
11/05/03
This story is far too transparent to hold our attention for long.
09/29/03
Perverse and chilling, but also novel, smart.
07/17/03
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