Stroszek

(Germany, 1977, 108 mins)

35mm

writer: Werner Herzog
cinematographer: Thomas Mauch
editor: Beate Mainka-Jellinghaus
original music: Chet Atkins, Sonny Terry
sound: Haymo Heyder, Peter van Anft
production manager: Walter Saxer
producer: Willi Segler
cast: Bruno S., Eva Mattes, Clemens Scheitz, Clayton Szalpinski, Ely Rodriguez, Alfred Edel, Scott McKain, Ralph Wade, Michael Gahr

• IMDB Film Info
• Trailer

Bruno S., newly released from German prison, seeks out his friend Eva, a curvy and earnest prostitute who keeps getting in trouble with her handlers. Bruno is unlike anyone you’ve seen on screen before: a genuinely complex and curious street musician cast by Herzog in his earlier film The Enigma of Kaspar Hauser. Eva’s pimps keep hassling the defenseless Bruno, until he and his elderly neighbor, Mr. Scheitz, decide that the trio (plus Bruno's mynah bird, Beo) should look for, well, not quite the American dream but at least a little peace. Scheitz’s nephew, is turns out, is living in a place called Wisconsin: they need to look it up in the atlas. Roger Ebert wrote about Stroszek in 2002: “Who else but Werner Herzog would make a film about a retarded ex-prisoner, a little old man and a prostitute, who leave Germany to begin a new life in a house trailer in Wisconsin? Who else would shoot the film in the hometown of Ed Gein, the murderer who inspired Psycho? Who else would cast all the local roles with locals? Who else would end the movie with a policeman radioing, ‘We've got a truck on fire, can't find the switch to turn the ski lift off, and can't stop the dancing chicken. Send an electrician.’ Stroszek is one of the oddest films ever made. It is impossible for the audience to anticipate a single shot or development. We watch with a kind of fascination, because Herzog cuts loose from narrative and follows his characters through the relentless logic of their adventure. Then there is the haunting impact of the performance by Bruno S., who is at every moment playing himself.” With music by Chet Atkins and Sonny Terry. Winner, Best Film, 1978 German Film Critics Award. Thank you to Werner Herzog Films for providing this print.

Sponsored By:

UW Center for European Studies

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