Stroszek
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Movie Reviews of Stroszek
Movie Review: What's with the chicken?
Summary: 4 Stars
I watched the film twice in a row, the second time with the director's commentary, which added quite a bit. The director tells us that the lead character, Bruno, was just playing himself, often improvising, and had a miserable childhood living in institutions. He seems, to me, to be intelligent, hapless, and so odd.
The only professional actor I remember in the film is the woman playing the leading female role, Eva. She plays a German prostitute who gets mistreated by her pimp.
The rest of the cast is non-professional. Bruno is just a very odd man. The pimp is what he appears to be in the film, a tough guy who enjoys hurting and humiliating people. The elderly lunatic who accompanies Bruno to America is just that, an elderly lunatic. The minor characters are just people who were recruited or happened to be around during the shooting.
It's an interesting story. They flee from Germany to get away from the dangerous pimp who harasses them. They take a boat to New York City and show us the view from the Empire State Building, a magnet for tourists. The only time I went up there was at the insistence of a tourist friend I was showing the town to. Then they go across country to Wisconsin.
I'm happy for them that they have escaped the abuse they were experiencing in Germany, but they end up not doing well in America either. Bruno is a mess, what can I say. He's an interesting mess though.
The main reason I put on the director's commentary was to find out why he spent so much time showing a dancing chicken at the end of the movie. Well, he disappointed there. Instead of explaining why the scene was there, he just said how much he loves the scene, and then let it play in its entirety without a word of explanation.
That is one hell of an odd scene, that dancing chicken. You'd think it would be symbolic of something, and perhaps it is. Symbolic of the animated senselessness of our lives? Or of Bruno's? I really can't say. Unfortunately, it is one of those cases where the artist doesn't explain himself, and just lets you take out of it whatever you want. I hate that. I hate when artists refuse to explain what they meant. Maybe he was just enjoying the sensation of watching a dancing chicken.
Movie Review: Funny and Thought-Provoking
Summary: 4 Stars
Stroszek, the most accessible film by the mythic Werner Herzog is both a fish-out-of-water comedy and an symbolic commentary on American culture. The three German immigrants who journey to America in search of a better life find life to be just as hard as in their homeland. The American Indian who hangs out with them, (and who is featured on the DVD cover) is perhaps the most symbolic figure in the film. He is both a native and a foreigner to the white American world. He has learned to deal with the pain of being a foreigner and how to blend in. Stroszek could not assimilate, and the final twenty minutes (which could be one of the finest ending sequences in film history) ambiguously shows how a crazy culture can inspire the most even-handed man to do crazy things.Movie Review: 3.5 stars out of 4
Summary: 4 Stars
The Bottom Line:
Strozek is undeniably slow at times, but it's so fascinatingly bleak in its depiction of middle America that the viewer can't help coming away impressed--throw in a couple of scenes that function perfectly as metaphors and linger in the brain (the perpetually dancing chicken, tiny baby with a vicelike grip) and it's a movie that I'll remember, even if I didn't enjoy it per se.
Movie Review: Nothing Special
Summary: 3 Stars
'Storszek' is a film by Werner Herzog about and down-and-out struggling German citizen who moves to the United States in order for a better life. He brings along a prostitute and an older man to live with him in the states. There is really nothing special about this movie. Many important things from the plot are either left out or just plain confusing. The film has a good message in showing that life in America is difficult and frustrating too, and that the streets are not paved with gold in this country. The movie has a really annoying ending where a chicken is dancing while loud hillbilly music is playing in the background. From what I have seen from Werner Herzog, his films can be divided into two categories. First are his films Klaus Kinski, which are actually really good and worth watching. All his other stuff is pretentious gargabe and a waste of time.