framptonhollis A man's uncle, and said uncle's two dearest friends, an alcoholic recently released from prison and an abused prostitute, has come from Germany to live and work along w/him in Wisconsin. In America. The American Dream. The man, who is, in actuality, a minor character, if a somewhat vital one, is driving the three around the town in his truck. He's obviously a simple man, w/a thick, easily mockable accent and an oft present smile of the somewhat creepy variety, but he goes off to spew some fascinating dialogue right then and there. He explains that there have been four murders in that very town, and he believes that there was a fifth one, b/c one farmer drove away on his tractor one day and never returned, no explanations or traces left behind. The police looked into the case for some time, but gave up, but this man, steering a rusty, blatantly-low-quality(-to-put-it-rather-nicely) vehicle of stereotypical proportions, this man right here goes out to the frozen ponds near his home every Sunday w/a metal detector and looks for signs of this missing man's tractor. Besides a rather brief scene later on in the film, this little factoid is never really mentioned again, and Lord knows it has no real affect on the plot. In the grand scheme of things, this kind-of-(unintentionally, on his part)-goofy man gets little screen time in this film, and in almost any other film such dialogue would be seen as somehow "out of place," unnecessary; but, the truth is that it kind of IS necessary. Particularly in a film like 'Stroszek.' 'Stroszek' is a film about many things, but, upon my fourth viewing of it today, one of its themes stuck out among all others, and that theme is the presence of the absurd in our everyday lives. Many films explore such an idea, and so do even more works of literature , but 'Stroszek' does it even better than many of those works, no matter how masterful they be, as 'Stroszek' does it in such a way that feels so odd/surreal, but at the same time so unbelievably, undeniably REAL that I champion it as a pure masterpiece of the absurd. It is, of course, a masterpiece "of" many other things as well; including, but not limited to: tragedy, comedy, tragicomedy, cinema, & art. It is so funny, so sad, the performances are strange and different but completely pitch perfect and, in the end, absolutely outstanding. Everything about the filmmaking is done w/subtle mastery, and the simultaneous brutality and sensitivity of Herzog's storytelling is something else...out-of-the-extraordinary...beautiful, cruel, comic, violently devastating, a psychological trip through total paralyzing darkness w/sprinkles of likability and hilarity. Only a man w/such talent and eccentricity as Herzog can craft such a brilliant, weird, funny, cold, insightful, and heartbreaking masterpiece that serves as both a savage satire and uniquely sincere drama.

avik-basu1889 The quintessential premise of a Werner Herzog film involves an ambitious protagonist trying(misguidedly, on most occasions) to beat all the odds and overcome the obstacles and the obstacles generally involve nature's merciless wrath. Herzog has made a career out of capturing the struggle of 'Man vs Nature' where nature is beautiful, but at the same time unforgiving and vicious. 'Stroszek' however does not involve a protagonist trying to conquer nature. It involves a group of social outcasts trying to overcome something else. It's about the trio of Bruno, Eva and Scheitz trying to overcome social injustice cum marginalisation and financial insufficiency. This struggle forces them to leave Berlin and head towards America which leads to the prospect of having to overcome further barriers in the form of cultural traditions and of course above all, the language.'Stroszek' is widely regarded as one of Herzog's best films, however from a personal standpoint I have to admit that on this first viewing, I was left feeling a bit underwhelmed as I admired the film more than actually loving/liking it. Interestingly, the film contains quite a few of the trademark Herzog elements that I love and adore in his other films like his unique brand of absurdist humour, his alacrity to capture moments that have very little to do with the overall plot, beautiful use of trance-inducing music to set a specific tone,etc. I also like Herzog's underlining of the fragility of the so-called 'American Dream' and the philosophical message that marginalisation and despair exists in all societies and countries transcending geographical borders. However in spite of these elements working well, the sum of its parts felt inferior to the respective parts. This might be because I never really felt any emotional connection during the film which is necessary for a story that shows characters being beaten down by society and poverty. Maybe this emotional detachment is intentional in the sense that Herzog possibly wants the viewer to feel the detachment and disillusionment of his characters and such an approach of preventing the viewer from getting emotionally overwhelmed has been successfully used by various directors. But somehow the emotional distance in 'Stroszek' prevented me from fully loving the film. However my impression and view changing radically after another viewing is not beyond the realms of possibility as one thing the film made me want to do despite not completely impressing me, is watching it again.

gavin6942 In Berlin, an alcoholic man (Bruno S.), recently released from prison, joins his elderly friend and a prostitute in a determined dream to leave Germany and seek a better life in Wisconsin.The film came to my attention because of its being filmed in Plainfield, Wisconsin. I caught a radio interview with Errol Morris and my interest turned to his time there with Werner Herzog. While they never made the film they had planned to make (concerning Ed Gein), I almost wonder if what came out of all that may be better.The plot of this one is simple, but it is the moments that really sell it. What are we to make of the premature baby? The man from the bank who has Bruno signing documents he obviously cannot read or understand? There is something powerful about this film, though I am not exactly sure what it is.

zetes Herzog reunites with Bruno S. The film begins with S. being released from jail after some public drunkenness. After some hard times involving his girlfriend's pimps, he and she (Eva Mattes) decide to accompany a friend who is moving to America. They end up in small town Wisconsin. Unfortunately, life is no better there. I have avoided this film for a while because, from the description, it sounded kind of anti-American and maybe particularly anti-Wisconsin, the state in which I grew up. Those fears were unfounded. Herzog, of course, is not that kind of guy, and he spends a lot of his time in the United States. This isn't even really a satire, like I thought it would be. Unfortunately, I don't think it's much of anything. Bruno S. is such a messed-up person (both in real life and in the characters he played for Herzog) that the fact that he can't adjust to life in America is neither surprising nor at all damning. It seems like life is going to be hard for the guy no matter where he goes. Because of that, it's kind of hard to get too invested in this movie. It never feels like Herzog had much of a plan for it, anyway, and it just kind of plods along. I did love the final sequence. I could watch that chicken dance for two hours.