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Stroszek
Now THIS is riding shotgun!
Even though this is a movie by Werner Herzog, who is an expert at calling out the absurdities of life, I was still surprised to learn this is partially based on a true story. Bruno S. was indeed a street musician who not only spent a lot of time in institutions, but also was subject to the kind of cruel and unusual punishment he describes to Eva. It explains why he gives such a natural, unforced and watchable performance, and with this one and his work in The Enigma of Kaspar Hauser, it's too bad his acting career fell off after this movie. Natural is how I would describe the majority of this movie, with so many moments coming across as if Herzog started filming without telling the cast. I doubt that Bruno's courtyard performance or Scheitz and his nephew's odd mannerisms would have left as much of an impression otherwise. I also credit Herzog for how he depicts how odd life in America can be from both the perspective of outsiders like our hapless trio and from its citizens. That he does this best wordlessly - well, with words you can understand, anyway - with the auction and dancing chicken finale is the icing on the cake. What's more, when you consider that these and the movie's many other absurdities come at the expense of prostitution, abuse, financial ruin and suicide, it's pretty amazing that it can still be labeled as a comedy.
When I think about my takeaways from this movie, my mind goes in varying directions. When I think about how good of a "best laid plans" story it tells, I then think about how well it pokes fun at American life, and then I consider whether active or passive spiritual death is preferable. The one that matters the most to me, however, is that it doesn't pay to be an outsider, at least as not as much as it used to in our more homogenized modern world. If you don't speak the local language, have an addiction, possess barely any marketable skills, have a talent that most people consider a curiosity or, like Bruno, are unfortunate enough for all of these to apply, if the people around you don't take away your reasons for getting up in the morning, the system will. While I think this is a great movie, it's not perfect. My pet peeves with Herzog's direction of scenes lasting longer than they need to and him often making me unsure of what I'm supposed to be looking at also apply here. What's important, though, is that I want to seek out everything Bruno S. was involved with and wish that Herzog had more comedies in his filmography.
Now THIS is riding shotgun!
Even though this is a movie by Werner Herzog, who is an expert at calling out the absurdities of life, I was still surprised to learn this is partially based on a true story. Bruno S. was indeed a street musician who not only spent a lot of time in institutions, but also was subject to the kind of cruel and unusual punishment he describes to Eva. It explains why he gives such a natural, unforced and watchable performance, and with this one and his work in The Enigma of Kaspar Hauser, it's too bad his acting career fell off after this movie. Natural is how I would describe the majority of this movie, with so many moments coming across as if Herzog started filming without telling the cast. I doubt that Bruno's courtyard performance or Scheitz and his nephew's odd mannerisms would have left as much of an impression otherwise. I also credit Herzog for how he depicts how odd life in America can be from both the perspective of outsiders like our hapless trio and from its citizens. That he does this best wordlessly - well, with words you can understand, anyway - with the auction and dancing chicken finale is the icing on the cake. What's more, when you consider that these and the movie's many other absurdities come at the expense of prostitution, abuse, financial ruin and suicide, it's pretty amazing that it can still be labeled as a comedy.
When I think about my takeaways from this movie, my mind goes in varying directions. When I think about how good of a "best laid plans" story it tells, I then think about how well it pokes fun at American life, and then I consider whether active or passive spiritual death is preferable. The one that matters the most to me, however, is that it doesn't pay to be an outsider, at least as not as much as it used to in our more homogenized modern world. If you don't speak the local language, have an addiction, possess barely any marketable skills, have a talent that most people consider a curiosity or, like Bruno, are unfortunate enough for all of these to apply, if the people around you don't take away your reasons for getting up in the morning, the system will. While I think this is a great movie, it's not perfect. My pet peeves with Herzog's direction of scenes lasting longer than they need to and him often making me unsure of what I'm supposed to be looking at also apply here. What's important, though, is that I want to seek out everything Bruno S. was involved with and wish that Herzog had more comedies in his filmography.