"Werner Schroeter (is) the missing link between Jack Smith and Hans-Jürgen Syberberg, and arguably the key West German filmmaker of the past two decades.... (At) his best, Schroeter is the underground Sternberg-the threadbare extravagance of his mise-en-scène is equaled (and toughened) by a montage whose rhythmic originality can only be compared to that of Stan Brakhage. Although Schroeter's strongest period extended from the late '60s through the mid-'70s, he's capable of sudden revivals.... Schroeter made (The Rose King) as a tribute to his longtime superstar Magdalena Montezuma, who died shortly after the film wrapped. As florid as its title suggests, The Rose King uses a succession of voluptuously decrepit romantic images-bloody flowers, cobwebby windows, the churning ocean-to telegraph a tale of thwarted homoeroticism and vengeful mother love. The film's canny primitivism, lush score (a mixture of Strauss and Arabic pop), ferocious posing, and languid, if melodramatic, camera angles suggest the meeting of Ron Rice and Max Steiner. Montezuma was a great silent-style actress, and, despite a surfeit of cruelty during the final twenty minutes, The Rose King is as close to greatness as Schroeter has come since his masterpieces of twelve or fifteen years ago." J. Hoberman, Village Voice (3/25/86 and 11/18/86)