Auch Zwerge haben klein angefangen (1970)

Director:

Werner Herzog

Writer:

Werner Herzog (writer)

Release Date:

2 February 1971 (West Germany)

Genre:

Comedy | Drama | Horror

Plot:

The inhabitants of an institution in a remote country rebel against their keepers. Their acts of rebellion are by turns humorous...

Plot Keywords:

Rebellion | Chaos | Disturbing | Dwarf | Absurdism

Cast

Helmut Döring	...	Hombré
Paul Glauer	...	Erzieher
Gisela Hertwig	...	Pobrecita
Hertel Minkner	...	Chicklets
Gertrud Piccini	...	Piccini
Marianne Saar	...	Theresa
Brigitte Saar	...	Cochina
Gerd Gickel	...	Pepe
Erna Gschwendtner	...	Azucar
Gerhard Maerz	...	Territory
Alfredo Piccini	...	Anselmo
Erna Smollarz	...	Schweppes
Lajos Zsarnoczay	...	Chapparo
Pepi Hermine	...	The President

Also Known As:

Even Dwarfs Started Small (International: English title)

Runtime:

96 min

Country:

West Germany

Language:

German

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

UK:PG | Australia:M (2008) | West Germany:16 (bw)

Filming Locations:

Lanzarote, Canary Islands, Spain

Company:

Werner Herzog Filmproduktion

Trivia:

Werner Herzog promised the cast he would jump into a field of cactuses if they managed to pull through the movie. Eventually, he fulfilled his promise.

Movie Connections:

Featured in Bis ans Ende... und dann noch weiter. Die ekstatische Welt des Filmemachers Werner Herzog (1989) (TV)

You laugh for a while until it sinks in.

Werner Herzog made his madman mark with this, his second feature film. Inmates at some sort of institution take over for hilarious and anarchic results. You laugh for a while until it sinks in. The haunting tone, other world locations and sympathy with those on the edge of society set the scene for Herzog's later and better-known masterpieces AGUIRRE and MYSTERY OF KASPAR HAUSER. The German director doesn't exploit outcasts; he loves and defends them, showing that normal people are the ones with something to prove. He insists that it is not the actors who are small, but "the world that has gotten out of shape." Filming was rough: one actor was run over by the driver-less car in the film and another caught on fire. Herzog promised the actors that at the end of shooting he would jump into a spiny cactus to show his understanding. He still has some of the needles in his leg. But this won't appeal to a lot of the usual trash film hounds, as they really want the mainstream versions of "edgy".