Woyzeck (1979)

User Rating:

7.2/10   

Director:

Werner Herzog

Writers:

Georg Büchner (play) and
Werner Herzog (writer)

Release Date:

24 August 1979 (USA)

Genre:

Drama

Plot:

Franz Woyzeck (Kinski) is a hapless, hopeless soldier, alone and powerless in society, assaulted from all sides by forces he cannot control.

Plot Keywords:

Soldier | Despair | Adulterous Wife | Brutality | Based On Play

Awards:

3 wins & 1 nomination

Cast

Klaus Kinski	...	Friedrich Johann Franz Woyzeck
Eva Mattes	...	Marie
Wolfgang Reichmann	...	Captain
Willy Semmelrogge	...	Doctor
Josef Bierbichler	...	Drum Major
Paul Burian	...	Andres
Volker Prechtel	...	Handwerksbursche (as Volker Prechtl)
Dieter Augustin	...	Marktschreier
Irm Hermann	...	Margret
Wolfgang Bächler	...	Jew
Rosemarie Heinikel		(as Rosy-Rosy Heinikel)
Herbert Fux	...	Unteroffizier
Thomas Mettke
Maria Mettke

Also Known As:

Werner Herzog's Woyzeck

Runtime:

Colombia:74 min | Hong Kong:81 min | USA:82 min

Country:

West Germany

Language:

German

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Australia:PG | Finland:K-16

Filming Locations:

Telc, Czech Republic

Company:

Werner Herzog Filmproduktion

Trivia:

The entire 80-minute film was shot with only 27 cuts.

Goofs:

Continuity: As a barber, Woyzeck smears some foam on the Captain's forehead, but when the camera changes, the foam's gone.

Quotes:

Marie: [to her man during a fight] I'd rather have a knife in my body than your hand on me.

Movie Connections:

Version of Woyzeck (2004) (TV)

Slow-moving, harrowing drama.

"Woyzeck" is a rather unusual and atypical installment in class-director Werner Herzog and class-actor Klaus Kinski's cinematic collaborations. They worked together on no less than five brilliant movies, but this production is the only one that isn't …well … "huge"! Other mutual accomplishments like "Aguirre, Wrath of God", "Cobra Verde" and "Fitzcarraldo" thrived on spectacular premises and featured massive set pieces, whereas "Woyzeck" is a rudimentary simple stage play adaptation relying on a solid script and another flawless acting performance by Klaus Kinski. The play, written by Georg Büchner in 1836 already, is a very depressing tale but it involves many themes that ideally fit the narrative style of acclaimed director Herzog. Woyzeck is an introvert and slightly awkward soldier living in a small German town by a river. Everybody in his surrounding abuses Woyzeck in some fashion. His wife openly cheats on him with various townsmen, his army superiors burden him with worthless jobs and the arrogantly obtrusive local doctor performs medical experiments on Woyzeck that exhaust him physically as well as mentally. The poor guy slowly gets trapped in a downwards spiral of insanity and oppressed aggression, resulting in a harrowing and nightmarish act of murder. Primarily, this film is another tour-de-force for the genuine acting talent Klaus Kinski. He may have been impossible to work with, but he sure was one of the most convincing and charismatic artists who ever walked this earth. Kinski's performance evolves together with his character. In the earliest scenes of the film, Woyzeck is a pitiable little servant but near the end – and during one massively disturbing sequence in particular – he's a petrifying madman with a legitimately maniacal glaze in his eyes. Kinski was a demigod and an extraordinary acting genius, and only Werner Herzog was a competent enough director to 'exploit' him the fullest. "Woyzeck" is an incredibly slow-paced and talkative film, notwithstanding the atmosphere is continuously intense and somewhat ominous. The costumes and photography are stunning and especially the musical score is unforgettable. The aforementioned massively disturbing climax sequence, also thanks to the slow-motion camera-work and mind-penetrating music, easily represents one of the most excruciating moments ever registered on pellicule.