A montage of all the deaths that iconic actor Udo Kier has played in five decades of appearing in films and television series. From deaths in blockbusters and auteur films to children’s series, Kier has died in every possible way on screen, and this is Jan Soldat’s tribute to him. And death becomes him.
There is a saying that “You can’t die every death,” Udo Kier is the exception that confirms the proverb. According to Jan Soldat, over a 56-year career, the actor has been in 170 feature films, 50 short films, and 120 television episodes, which translates into more than 70 deaths. Staging Death is a super cut of these one thousand and one ways to die, according to Udo Kier. As he is probably the last heir to a certain modus operandi that defined the work of actors like Boris Karloff, Bela Lugosi and Peter Lorre – namely, the personification of evil as a craft – his filmography is full of the most gruesome murders, accidents and suicides – not least because his inclination for typecasting as a villain, particularly a vampire, has its consequences. To the point of becoming, in recent years, almost a parody (remember Bacurau). However, nothing will ever top his death in John Carpenter’s Cigarette Burns – and just for the pleasure of watching those cinematic tripe again Staging Death is already worth watching. (Ricardo Vieira Lisboa)
