Herz aus Glas (1976)

Director:

Werner Herzog

Writers:

Herbert Achternbusch (writer)
Werner Herzog (writer)

Release Date:

17 December 1976 (West Germany)

Genre:

Comedy | Drama

Plot:

The foreman of a small village glassworks dies without revealing the secret to the famous "Ruby Glass".

Plot Keywords:

Hypnotized Cast | Mountain | Glass Blower | Glass Making | Experimental Film

Awards:

1 win

Cast

Josef Bierbichler	...	Hias
Stefan Güttler	...	Huttenbesitzer
Clemens Scheitz	...	Adalbert
Sonja Skiba	...	Ludmilla
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Wolf Albrecht
Thomas Binkley
Janos Fischer
Wilhelm Friedrich
Edith Gratz
Alois Hruschka
Egmont Hugel
Amad Ibn Ghassem Nadij
Sterling Jones
Karl Kaufmann
Brunhilde Klöckner
Helmut Kossick
Helmut Krüger
Wolfram Kunkel
Werner Lederle
Richard Levitt
Sepp Müller
Agnes Nuissl
Volker Prechtel
Bernhard Schabel
Karl Schwarzmayer		(as Walter Schwarzmeier)
Friedrich Steinhauer
Arno Vahrenwald
Andrea von Ramm
Detlev Weiler
Siegfried Wolf
Karl Yblagger

Also Known As:

Heart of Glass (USA)

Runtime:

94 min

Country:

West Germany

Language:

German

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Filming Locations:

Alaska, USA

Company:

Werner Herzog Filmproduktion

Trivia:

The majority of the actors (with the exception of Hias and the glass blowers) were actually hypnotized by Werner Herzog and perform under hypnosis on screen.

Movie Connections:

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

an incredibly dense atmosphere

This is a truly mesmerizing movie experience. It manages to balance that fine line between stylization and total realism, not unlike Kubrick, though he never ventured this far. The cinematography is almost like in a documentary, but the performances and narrative is totally abstract and stylized. In my opinion, it succesfully transports the viewer into another reality. It is a film that invites you to meditate and free-associate at your own will. The narrative, linear but disjointed, suggests a breakdown of time itself, a consequence of the lost secret of the glass. The long sections with hypnotizing music and magical landscapes balances well with the rest of the story, and there are scenes were dialogue, visuals and music, creates an incredibly dense atmosphere. There is also a welcome sense of humor which prevents it from becoming overly pretentious. I found it to be a very inspiring and unique movie, and I recommend it to anyone tired of the ordinary.