Stroszek

★★★★★

(1977)

Though Stroszek is perhaps Herzog's least seen film of the 1970's it remains as kind of wonderful backhanded diss on the American Dream. Though on the surface it may often feel like Herzog being Herzog for Herzog's sake, Stroszek is filled with wonderful images and a beautifully real performance from Bruno S. and most of the unknown local cast. The actor, best know for his role in The Enigma of Kaspar Hauser was picked by Herzog because of his background in mental hospitals and detention centres, using this knowledge to bring out a sad and troubled performance, Herzog had promised Bruno the lead in his next project Woyzeck  but decided that it needed the unique touch of Klaus Kinski.

As Bruno had already taken time off from his minimum wage job to film, Herzog has said that he felt indebted to the troubled young man and wrote Stroszek for him in only 3 days. Of course the only thing bigger than Herzog's fictional tall tales are his factual tall and one must doubt his truth constantly. The man has also said that when he found himself stranded in Wisconsin, USA with a flat tire he discovered a small mechanic's shed and decided then that he would make a film there and small seeds for what would become Stroszek were planted.

Stranger still, Herzog claims he was actually there to meet film maker Errol Morris, who had bailed on him. Not surprising really given that the pair had decided to visit the grave of the mother of notorious serial killer Ed Gein (The inspiration for Psycho) in order to dig up her coffin, proving of disproving that Gein himself had exhumed the body along with other bodies from the same site. The premise of the film is as loose and wandering as the journey taken to make it. It uses Herzog's strength as a documentarian to capture real and fictitious moments, often with in the same scene, blending a reality and fantasy;

When Bruno, a scruffy short alcoholic musician, is released from jail in Berlin he stops in at a bar cheerily named Beer Heaven, he offers his new flat as a safe house to a prostitute named Eva (Eva Mattes) in trouble with her pimp and sets about starting anew. Though Herzog paints Berlin as a seedy bleak place, it's well and truly eclipsed in many ways by Wisconsin, USA in the films turning point, when the pair, along with Stroszek's old man neighbour , decide to move there. A simple road tripping film at heart is soon turned on its end through Herzog's skewed view of the land of milk and honey, building to a surreal finale which is a beautiful as anything filmed in during the 70's; A fresh, productive and controversial period in American cinema.

Seen by many American critics at the time as an attack on their home soil (and of course it is in a way), Strozsek actually portrays fears and desires for all of us. The Trio's new large mobile home, a symbol of American culture and small time success, is also a drain on our wanderer's money and energy. Frequent visits from the grinning bank manager threatening repossession pave the way to one of the films most touching moments when Stoszek produces a small inwardly bent sculpture, telling Eva, in the third person, that "this is Bruno." He talks of his trepidation in fleeing Germany, and of living inside a system as strange and hurtful (in a completely different way) as the Nazi regime. It's a stunning scene, both powerful and thought-provoking despite Brunos extreme view.

Up to the films staggering climax, some how involving all of Herzog's loves, it is filled with magical moments. A doctor showing the struggling Bruno a premature baby's strong grip before nursing it to sleep is a wonder, the live score, often just Bruno on his piano accordion or at the piano is strange and carnival like in sound but also deeply sad and the music of Chet Atkins is beautifully utilised. The downward spiral of Brunos journey is perfectly realised and shot, brilliantly haphazard and totally controlled in the way only Herzog can manage.

A difficult watch for some but Stroszek is still a vital film in Herzog's never-ending cannon of work. Perhaps it's even shadowed more darkly now than ever before by our global financial situation. Let's hope the chicken stops dancing soon...