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01/26/06
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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.
Runtime: 1 hr 44 mins
Genre: Foreign Films
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 unsuspecting Greek god named Valerio... [More]
Starring: Ernesto Mahieux, Valerio Foglia Manzillo, Elisabetta Rocchetti, Lina Bernardi
Director: Matteo Garrone
Reviews for The Embalmer
Top Critic
A twisted and fascinating tale, with a climax that's as logical as it is unexpected
05/22/04
[Actor Ernesto] Mahieux adds layers of gentleness and false bravado in what could have been a stereotypical role.
04/19/04
Despite its virtues, the picture comes across rather like something that has itself been disinterred from the fairly remote past.
12/29/03
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
In spite of some stiltedness, The Embalmer is an oft-intriguing examination of unquenched desire and the power of beauty.
12/11/03
Masterful at concealing its true nature and surprising us with the turns of the story.
11/14/03
Top Critic ...does just about everything in its power to turn you off. And guess what? It works.
11/14/03
The movie, a keen look at the way passion unravels and obsession destroys, creates a black mood, a sense of truth and an enduring chill that stay with you.
11/13/03
With fewer sensational confrontations, The Embalmer is a major work. As it stands, it signals the emergence of an exceptional filmmaker.
11/05/03
If you find that you're part of this newly identified demographic with an affinity for gay little folk, disemboweled animals, sexy babes, and creepy voyeurs, consider your movie prayers answered.
10/08/03
Top Critic
Mahieux ... builds a character so relentlessly powerful and creepy that The Embalmer leaves an aftertaste -- we can practically smell him.
09/26/03
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
Brilliantly creates an atmosphere of malignant malaise and foreboding.
07/25/03
Finds a disconcerting niche between edgy character thriller and black comedy.
07/22/03
A bummer, but one that manages to stick to its depraved convictions until the strange and bitter end.
07/22/03
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