Guy THE ENIGMA OF KASPAR HAUSER is based on the true story of a 19th century German peasant who was supposedly brought up in a locked room without any human contact, only to be released to fend for himself. The film covers his his release, his discovery, his role as part of a travelling circus and his adoption by a Professor who tries to transform him. He is taught to read, write and speak properly but as a result of his odd upbringing he has strange opinions which infuriate visiting logicians and clergy. Obviously this challenge to accepted norms has some similarities with 1970s West Germany, when the film was made, but these are not overstated. Eventually Kaspar finds solace in music but is first attacked and later killed by parties unknown; a mystery which the film makes no attempt to solve. His final words relate a dream he has had, of nomads in the desert (which used rushes from another Herzog film). There is no real plot and little message but the oddness of the story and the acting by first-timer Bruno S gives it a compelling dream-like quality.

Bene Cumb Various nations have their own stories about persons spending their childhood and/or youth outside community; in Germany, Kaspar Hauser's fate is best known - but still a mystery. Talented German filmmaker Werner Herzog created a real and tragicomic story out of it, where retarded Kaspar shows often most sympathy towards others, and his distinct questions did not fit into narrow and established structure of German society. Bruno S. as Kaspar is a wonderful finding - he was not a actor and, possessing many qualities his character had, he could be himself in many occasions. The choice of music, and beautiful German towns and landscapes provide additional value to the film. Its beginning, however, is protracted, and some scenes are torpid - apparently the approach of Herzog, but needlessly prolonging the film. As Hauser's life is generally known, then the 2nd third of the film is the most interesting, you can even giggle several times.A solid classic, at times grievous to watch, thus not to everyone's taste.

Armand Kaspar Hauser was one of my childhood hero. strange, mysterious, it is perfect prey for large speculations. and for circles of imagination. and this is basic virtue of Herzog film - the respect for pieces of accuracy. and the option for Bruno S. as Kasper. then - the impression of dream who grow -up in the mind of lead character. and the delicate manner to put rules to world. a movie about solitude of each difference. like many movies of Werner Herzog, a poem about man. nothing new, nothing complicated. only a hidden pain. and the innocence as tool to transform the world and its silhouettes in signs for a long way far from small circle of usual law. a film out of definition. because not images gives sense. only the veil of a state of soul.

ShootingShark In 1828 in Nuremberg, a young man is discovered who appears to have had no contact with other people and can only write his name - Kaspar Hauser. Adopted by the locals, he begins his education, but can he ever truly be a normal member of society ?Based on a well-documented case, this is a charming, eerie, thoughtful little film about a man in extraordinary circumstances. Kaspar is the victim of a cruel fate which causes him to despair once he realises it, and yet at the same time he has a unique perspective, a way of seeing the world that no-one else can, typified by his response to the logician's story of the two villages. He is both helpless and peerless at the same time. Herzog fills the movie with dreamy images (a beautiful shot of a wheat field blowing in the wind with Pachelbel playing on the soundtrack) and grainy sequences representing Kaspar's dreams, elegantly conveying his mental state in purely visual terms. Perhaps his most inspired touch though is in casting Bruno S(chleinstein), a non-actor raised largely in mental institutions, who has more than a little kinship with the protagonist. He seems to embody Kaspar perfectly; his confusion, ideology, affection for nature. He never looks at anyone directly, and with his rustic features and small eyes permanently focused a few feet ahead of him, he gives a unique performance that no trained actor could deliver. Jörg Schmidt-Reitwein shoots the movie with wonderful style, capturing a tremendous early nineteenth-century look but adding many creative abstract shots, like the one of Kaspar watching his reflection in the water barrel. The film was made thirty-five years ago, but could just as easily have been made a hundred years ago. An intriguing tale of a lost childhood and a mysterious death. The English title is The Enigma Of Kaspar Hauser, although the German title literally translates as Everyone For Himself And God Against All.