Land des Schweigens und der Dunkelheit (1971)

Director:

Werner Herzog

Writer:

Werner Herzog (writer)

Release Date:

22 October 2002 (Hong Kong)

Genre:

Documentary

Plot:

Through examining Fini Straubinger, an old woman who has been deaf and blind since her teens, and her work on behalf of other deaf-blind people...

Plot Keywords:

Blind | Deaf | Disabled | Human Relationship | Isolation

Awards:

1 win

Cast

Fini Straubinger	...	Herself
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
M. Baaske
Elsa Fehrer	...	Herself
Heinrich Fleischmann
Rolf Illig	...	Narrator (voice)
Vladimir Kokol
Resi Mittermeier	...	Herself

Also Known As:

Land of Silence and Darkness (International: English title)

Runtime:

85 min

Country:

West Germany

Language:

German

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Sound Mix:

Mono

Filming Locations:

Hannover, Lower Saxony, Germany

Company:

Referat für Filmgeschichte

Movie Connections:

Featured in Was ich bin, sind meine Filme (1979)

Heavy insight into the land of nothingness

Land of Silence is a really great documentary, one of Herzog's best I must say. His other documentaries are a bit uneven, which his movies are not. But this one, as well as his recent "Little Dieter Needs to Fly", are amongst the most moving documentaries I've ever seen. And they are still unique, Werner Herzog's personal traits can be seen everywhere. The transcendent landscapes, pure human beings, humour, it's all there.

The text on the back cover explains the movie very well:

"Some who live in this land have learned to speak, though they communicate with each other by touch language: what they say comes from the most profound depths of human experience, and is often startingly beautiful and exiting. This is not a depressing movie at all. Neither is it a movie for voyeurs of the grotesque. As Anita Earle writes, 'It is, rather, a testament from another plane of existence'"

At some points in this movie I laughed. The camera often stays very long on lonely, depressing people who spend their days either sitting or lying down. But it wasn't meant to be comedy, it is a way for me to step back. It is a very 'close' picture, it really gets to you. You're thinking "Jesus", and you want to react. And still, it is an artwork.