{"id":2838,"date":"2017-12-03T05:10:30","date_gmt":"2017-12-03T04:10:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.christopher-rowe.de\/?p=2838"},"modified":"2026-03-07T01:21:19","modified_gmt":"2026-03-07T00:21:19","slug":"monsterland-by-jorg-buttgereit","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.christopher-rowe.de\/en\/works\/non-fiction\/monsterland-by-jorg-buttgereit\/","title":{"rendered":"Monsterland by J\u00f6rg Buttgereit"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<div class=\"wp-block-columns is-layout-flex wp-container-core-columns-is-layout-8f761849 wp-block-columns-is-layout-flex\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-column is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow\" style=\"flex-basis:33.33%\">\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Monsterland<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\">TV Documentary<\/h4>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:58px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Production<\/strong><br>Avanti Media f\u00fcr ZDF\/Arte<br>2008<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong><strong>Directed by<\/strong><\/strong><br>J\u00f6rg Buttgereit<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Format<\/strong><br>SD PAL 16:9<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Length<\/strong><br>80 Min.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong><strong>Tech specs<\/strong><\/strong><br>Sony IMX<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-column is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow\" style=\"flex-basis:66.66%\">\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" hcb-fetch-image-from=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=AcQgnz1_oDk\" title=\"Monsterland by J\u00f6rg Buttgereit\" width=\"1200\" height=\"675\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/AcQgnz1_oDk?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Frankenstein, the Werewolf, King Kong, Godzilla \u2014 all these terrifying creatures seem eerily familiar to us. That\u2019s because we project onto monsters the desires and impulses we forbid ourselves to express or even acknowledge. What do these monsters mean and personify for us? Do we perhaps even need these beasts for our own mental well-being?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In&nbsp;<em>Monsterland<\/em>, J\u00f6rg Buttgereit travels across the globe to meet the creators of monsters and, together with them, explore the fear, fascination, and love that surround these beings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In Los Angeles, Buttgereit talks with Hollywood\u2019s legendary makeup artist Rick Baker, who embodied the giant gorilla in the 1976&nbsp;<em>King Kong<\/em>&nbsp;remake, and with Joe Dante, the expert on monsters and director of the blockbuster&nbsp;<em>Gremlins<\/em>. In one of Los Angeles\u2019 grand movie palaces, he meets American horror director John Carpenter, whose films reveal evil lurking in the hidden\u2014and even within people themselves. His remake&nbsp;<em>The Thing<\/em>&nbsp;became one of the most disturbing monster movies ever made. In&nbsp;<em>Halloween<\/em>, he created with the mute, masked killer Michael Myers the prototype of the human-shaped monster. Carpenter is an intellectual who questions both himself and the genre.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In New York, Buttgereit visits the eccentric painter Joe Coleman in his studio packed with relics of monsters and murderers. Coleman immortalizes serial killers, freaks, and mutations in paintings reminiscent of Hieronymus Bosch. For months at a time, he delves into the psyche of human monsters like Ed Gein\u2014the real-life inspiration behind the mythic killers of&nbsp;<em>Psycho<\/em>,&nbsp;<em>Silence of the Lambs<\/em>, and&nbsp;<em>The Texas Chainsaw Massacre<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The monstrous feminine creations from the American blockbusters&nbsp;<em>Alien<\/em>&nbsp;and&nbsp;<em>Species<\/em>&nbsp;come from Swiss artist H.\u202fR.\u202fGiger. Known for his dark airbrush paintings and designs, Giger profoundly influenced the look of cinematic monsters since the 1980s with his female nightmare creatures.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Whether aliens or zombies, serial killers or prehistoric beasts \u2014 the American special effects master Gregory Nicotero has brought them all to the screen. In the digital age, Nicotero remains one of the last craftsmen of handmade, practical monsters rather than computer-generated ones. He has worked for all the major directors of the genre (Carpenter, Romero, Tarantino) and may well be considered a modern-day Dr. Frankenstein.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Unlike Hollywood\u2019s illusionary cinema, Japanese monster films have preserved their artificial aesthetic to this day. In Tokyo, Buttgereit meets actor Kenpachiro Satsuma, who has portrayed the giant lizard Godzilla and other&nbsp;<em>kaij\u016b<\/em>&nbsp;(Japanese giant monsters) since the 1970s in countless films. Trapped in a claustrophobic latex suit, he rampaged through miniature cities, giving Godzilla a human dimension. Teruyoshi Nakano, who has directed monster scenes for Toho Studios since the early 1970s, represents the traditional Japanese&nbsp;<em>suitmation<\/em>&nbsp;style and reflects on the intentional artificiality of Asian monster cinema.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Filmmaker Shinya Tsukamoto also grew up with Godzilla films, but his wild &#8220;splatter-punk&#8221; works such as&nbsp;<em>Tetsuo: The Iron Man<\/em>&nbsp;and&nbsp;<em>Tokyo Fist<\/em>, stand as the modern counterpoint to Satsuma and Nakano. His body-horror films have been featured at international festivals such as Cannes and represent contemporary Japan. His monsters are not gigantic like Godzilla &amp; co., but fragile mutations and cyborgs crawling out from beneath Tokyo\u2019s towers of concrete and steel.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">As an expert on Japanese monster culture, Buttgereit introduces American fan Paul Gavins, who regularly presents his self-made monster costumes at conventions. He lives the dream many fans only fantasize about: stepping into monster suits and becoming a celebrated&nbsp;<em>Mon-Star<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-right wp-block-paragraph\">Arte press text<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-right wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p> &#8230; <a title=\"Monsterland by J\u00f6rg Buttgereit\" class=\"read-more\" href=\"https:\/\/www.christopher-rowe.de\/en\/works\/non-fiction\/monsterland-by-jorg-buttgereit\/\" aria-label=\"Read more about Monsterland by J\u00f6rg Buttgereit\">Mehr &#8230;<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":2251,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[59,61],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2838","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-non-fiction","category-works","generate-columns","tablet-grid-50","mobile-grid-100","grid-parent","grid-33","no-featured-image-padding","resize-featured-image"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.christopher-rowe.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2838","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.christopher-rowe.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.christopher-rowe.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.christopher-rowe.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.christopher-rowe.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2838"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.christopher-rowe.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2838\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3423,"href":"https:\/\/www.christopher-rowe.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2838\/revisions\/3423"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.christopher-rowe.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2251"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.christopher-rowe.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2838"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.christopher-rowe.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2838"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.christopher-rowe.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2838"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}