There’s no hero quite like a Werner Herzog hero. In both his fiction and documentary films, Herzog has profiled ambitious, oddball protagonists conquered by both inner and outer demons. Herzog, who turns 80 in September, recently published his first novel; it imagines the early life of his friend Hiroo Onada, a Japanese soldier who defended a small island in the Philippines for 29 years after World War II ended. This doomed dreamer aligns closely with the title character in “Stroszek,” a forgotten yet unforgettable film in which Bruno S. delivers a heartbreaking and honest performance as a man whose tragic fate feels inevitable, mirroring the actor’s real life all too honestly. And the result is Herzog’s best and most understated film; he offers a singular and brutal depiction of strangers in a strange land.
Oh, and what a strange land it is! Unlike Herzog’s early epics, “Aguirre, the Wrath of God” (1972) and “Fitzcarraldo” (1982)— both filmed under harsh conditions in the Peruvian jungles — “Stroszek” takes place primarily in rural Wisconsin. Despite its relatively small scale, “Stroszek’s” backstory is as fascinating as that of Herzog’s massive productions. Herzog was in Wisconsin visiting the town where the serial killer Ed Gein (who inspired “Psycho“) lived, planning to meet friend and filmmaker Errol Morris to collaborate on a project. Morris didn’t show, and Herzog’s car broke down, which led him to the mechanic who plays a key role in “Stroszek.” Herzog wrote a script in three days, and decided he would cast Bruno instead of Klaus Kinski in a story that resembled the canonical German play “Woyzeck.” (Two years later, Herzog and his frequent leading man Kinski would link up to make “Woyzeck”).
A Perfect Cast, Where Every Character Matters
The entire cast feels exactly right, with a mix of professional and non-actors, in both the German and American sequences. Every character matters, though none are as important as the man named in the title. The movie opens when Bruno’s life is hitting reset. He’s being released from what looks less like prison than a halfway house, and we learn that his latest brush with the law had something to do with his alcohol consumption. From there, he heads — where else? — to a bar. There he runs into a future partner, Eva (Eva Mattes), a prostitute; he later brings her home to meet a future partner-in-crime, his neighbor, Scheitz (Clemens Scheitz).
Eva Mattes and Bruno S. in “Stroszek.” (Photo: Photo: Werner Herzog Filmproduktion).
After a series of frightening encounters with Eva’s pimps, Bruno and Eva both realize their German days are numbered. Conveniently, Scheitz had been planning to move in with his nephew in Wisconsin, so Bruno and Eva decide to join him on that journey. The first sign of danger is when Bruno’s pet bird Beo is confiscated in New York City. He wonders outloud: what kind of place is this, to take Beo from me? Meanwhile Eva and Scheitz are too busy taking in the Manhattan Bridge views to consider the sad case of Beo, and what it might portend for this trio.
Once they get to Wisconsin, Bruno and Eva borrow enough money to buy a mobile home, a TV and all the furnishings; all of this seems too good to be true to Bruno. Red lights keep flashing, but Herzog never pounds us over the head. When Bruno gets a job, his boss — the mechanic — points out the two neighbors riding past each other on tractors. Both have guns, and are silently disputing who owns more of the land. Stay away from them, the mechanic says, because eventually those two will shoot each other. That’s a stark warning to Bruno about what life is really like in this land of opportunity; protect what’s yours, because someone is always there to take it from you.
‘Stroszek’ is Herzog’s best and most understated film…”
One of the Oddest Films Ever Made?
Roger Ebert, a lifetime champion of Herzog’s, called “Stroszek” “one of the oddest films ever made.” I disagree. It’s true that these are unique characters, but the storyline is fairly straightforward: three oddballs head West in pursuit of the American dream. At times it’s funny and has moments of melodrama, but the genre it most effectively sends up is Western. Bruno even evokes a Western hero (the good guy) in one of the film’s final scenes, wearing a cowboy hat while holding up a barber shop (the bad guy) with Scheitz. He came to America with nothing but his bird; now he’s on the run with nothing except $30 he took from the barber, a stolen turkey, and a shotgun. At that point, there’s only one way out.
Clemens Scheitz and Bruno S. in “Stroszek.” (Photo: Photo: Werner Herzog Filmproduktion).
From start to finish, this is Bruno’s film; and Herzog uses these actors’ real names to blur the line between fact and fiction. In real life, Bruno S. (1932-2010) was a street musician, abandoned by his mother (a prostitute, like Eva), and spending the first third of his life in various institutions. Herzog saw him featured in the documentary, “Bruno the Black – One Day a Hunter Blew His Horn” (1970). He cast him as the title role in “The Enigma of Kaspar Hauser” (1974); it was based on a true story about a troubled young man who spends most of his life in a darkened cell, only to be adopted by a family with sinister intentions. Bruno’s suffering is treated delicately in both “Kaspar Hauser” and “Stroszek,” a testament to both his stellar performance and Herzog’s compassionate lens.
From start to finish, this is Bruno’s film; and Herzog uses these actors’ real names to blur the line between fact and fiction.”
A Sad Story, and One of Tragic Heroes
Bruno’s Stroszek is defeated by forces that surround him, but like Hiroo Onada, refuses to go down without a fight. The audience knows the fight is futile, and Bruno probably does too. His suffering hurts more in his adopted home than in Germany, because — to paraphrase him — in America, they take his trailer, his girlfriend, and bird, and they do it dispassionately, with a smile. This small miracle of a film is timely and timeless; it’s deserving of a wider audience who want to see an off-kilter coming-to-America story told by an outsider (Herzog), through the perspective of a real-life “Woyzeck” (Bruno S.). A sad story, yes, but Herzog’s heroes do not wear capes. Here, Bruno dons a cowboy hat, plays the glockenspiel, and pays to watch chickens dance. He can’t make it here, and won’t make it anywhere else.
“Stroszek” is currently available to watch on Fandor Amazon Channel. You can also watch it for free with ads on Tubi TV, Fandor, and Popcornflix.
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