Stroszek (1977)
Starring: Bruno
S., Eva
Mattes Director: Werner
Herzog
Easy times come hard
January 12, 2009
I missed out seeing the 70's films by German
director Werner Herzog--after all, I was only a child at the time. Anyway, I
recently viewed & reviewed the director's very weird, neo-horror flick
HEART OF GLASS. In that review I expressed concern that Herzog had more or less
"lifted" the styles of the great European directors of same era.
However, I was interested enough to view Herzog's 1977 film STROSZEK. This film
is more literal & realistic...AND very good.
Herzog follows in the footsteps of other talented directors in that he works
with a sort of core or repetory group of actors who appear in one film after
another. I recognized many faces from HEART OF GLASS also playing in STROSZEK.
At the center of the script is the character Stroszek, who I think is the same
as the actor Bruno S., who is more or less playing himself. The American
satrical director John Waters (HAIR SPRAY, PINK FLAMINGOS, POLYESTER, LOVE IN
THE DUST etc.) is also known for casting people off the street to act in his
films--often with good results. This seems to work for Herzog as well. Just as
in HEART OF GLASS, you can catch a few actors who seem to be looking at the off-camera
director during a shoot. Nonetheless, it's an interesting technique that can be
traced back to the European mediaeval Miracle Plays.
Another production element that Walters & Herzog have in common is that pop
music is an important component used to illustrate--or counterpoint--the
script. Unlike Waters though, some of the music & sounds in Herzog's films
are grinding & nerve rattling. There is good music too, such as in the
movie's's opening sequence.
Stroszek is released from a "reformatory." You get the impression
he's been in & out of jail and/or mental institution most of his life. One
of the first things he does is to haul an accordian & some kind of
percussion instrument in a beat up old wagon, taking his 1 man band into an
alley where he gives a "recital." There are elements of Berlin
"dark cabaret" in the performance that reminded me of today's Tiger
Lillies "Shockheaded Peter." Stroszek's recital is wonderful.
Herzog sets his film in the underworld of the Berlin "lumpen
prolitariat." This is the lowest strata of the low. (German theatre
director Bertolt Brecht set most of his "epic theatre" operas &
musicals in this milieu.) Stroszek is attracted to a young prostitute called
Eva, and she in turn is totally dominated by her abusive pimp/boyfriend and his
equally vicious associate. The movie is extremely brutal in these opening
scenes, as Eva is physically & sexually abused & Strosek is physically
& mentally abused by the louts.
In another apartment--or sharing the same apartment--there is a strange little
man. He is the same actor who played a strange little man in HEART OF GLASS. He
has the most fragile face I've ever seen.
The little man says that he is moving to rural Winconsin where a relative has a
ranch ("pile of crap" would be more apt.) He invites Stroszek &
Eva to join him. Stroszek thinks it's a great idea & convinces Eva that
this is just what they need to keep their relationship intact. This is like
when a man & a woman can't get along, so decide to have a baby in order to
improve their relationship. It's a recipe for complete d-i-s-a-s-t-e-r.
Wincosin is a bust. Other reviwers have covered the plot from that point, so
I'll focus on a couple points that struck my fancy. As stated above, music
plays a subtle role in the movie. The song EASY TIMES COME HARD FOR ME is
playing on the radio in one secene. It is an instrumental version, but the
lyrics, I feel, are relevant. "Easy times come hard for me and oh, my
darling/ time again to dream that you are coming home/Happy times I've had with
you, do you know, my darling/ will there ever be a time I'm not alone?"
I'm not sure if the director assumed that everybody knew the un-sung lyrics,
but for me the quoted verse above sums up Stroszek's mental/emotional
impairment projected into his hopeless non-relationship with Eva.
Near the end of the film, the little man & Stroszek are on the run from the
law (and that's another whole story). They go into a convenience store to
purchase some on-the-lam provisions, and Strosek elects to purchase...a 30 lb.
frozen turkey!
I believe STROSZEK is an imporant (AND entertaining) cross-cultural film...and
what does Herzog do with the last precious minutes? He places his hero at a
sort of barnyard animal freak show. You drop a coin in an open-view cage. In
one cage when you drop in the coin, a miniature juke box starts playing &
the chicken inside does a little dance! In another cage a chicken plays a
piano, and yet in another a duck beats on a drum...and you know what? The
little hen can really dance! She really does captivate attention.
The film concludes without even trying to supply any kind of ends-tied-up
conclusion. This is a hallmark of European neo-realism. You can see this in
Vittorio De Sica's UMBERTO, D and Francois Truffaut's THE 400 BLOWS. I
appreciate this aspect because it's very true to life. No fudged, romantic
endings.
Just more questions, often left unanswered.
Umberto
D. - Criterion Collection
The
400 Blows - Criterion Collection
Polyester
John
Waters Collection #3: Pink Flamingos/ Female Trouble
Hairspray
The
Threepenny Opera - Criterion Collection
Shockheaded
Peter and Other Songs from the Tiger Lillies
Twin
Peaks - The Definitive Gold Box Edition (The Complete Series)
The
Damned
Review: JEFarrow
Updated 02/09