Invincible (2001)

User Rating:

6.6/10   

Director:

Werner Herzog

Writer (WGA):

Werner Herzog (written by)

Release Date:

2 December 2001 (Hungary)

Genre:

Drama | War

Plot:

A Jewish strongman performs in Berlin as the blond Aryan hero Siegfried.

Plot Keywords:

Strongman | Jewish | Poland | Rabbi | Occult

Cast

Tim Roth	...	Hersche Steinschneider / Erik Jan Hanussen
Jouko Ahola	...	Zishe Breitbart
Anna Gourari	...	Marta Farra
Max Raabe	...	Master of Ceremonies
Jacob Wein	...	Benjamin Breitbart
Gustav-Peter Wöhler	...	Alfred Landwehr (as Gustav Peter Woehler)
Udo Kier	...	Count Helldorf
Herbert Golder	...	Rabbi Edelmann
Gary Bart	...	Yitzak Breitbart
Renate Krößner	...	Mother Breitbart
Ben-Tzion Hershberg	...	Gershon
Rebecca Wein	...	Rebecca
Raphael Wein	...	Raphael
Daniel Wein	...	Daniel
Chana Wein	...	Chana

Also Known As:

Unbesiegbar (Germany)

MPAA:

Rated PG-13 for some sexual content and thematic elements.

Runtime:

Argentina:133 min (Mar del Plata Film Festival) | Italy:128 min (Venice Film Festival) | UK:133 min | USA:133 min

Country:

UK | Germany | Ireland | USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

USA:PG-13 (certificate #38406) | Malaysia:(Banned) | Argentina:13 | France:U | Germany:6 | UK:12 | Singapore:PG | Canada:PG

Filming Locations:

Berlin, Germany

Company:

Werner Herzog Filmproduktion

Trivia:

An elderly woman who lived in one of the houses near where the marketplace scenes were shot, once stepped out into it with a shopping bag and, even though director Werner Herzog told her it was just a movie set, insisted on shopping and interrupted the shoot for 15 minutes.

Goofs:

Factual errors: The real Marta Faria was a talented strong-woman in her own right; she could wrap a steel bar around her arm and once supported the front legs of a large elephant on her shoulders. She was not the slender pianist seen in the movie.

Quotes:

Hanussen: No jew should be as strong as you are.

Movie Connections:

References Dr. Mabuse, der Spieler - Ein Bild der Zeit (1922)

Soundtrack:

Sweet and Lovely

The invincible Werner Herzog

I just saw this touching movie at the Stockholm Film Festival, and I have to say Herzog is still as poignant, charming and direct in his storytelling as ever. Not afraid to cast people who just have pure feelings, no plastic acting-by-the-book moves and more than one and a half expressions on their faces.

The frame of the story is a little jewish village in Poland in 1932, where a big family lives a poor but happy life. The eldest and the youngest sons, Zishe and Benjamin, mocked by some people as the thick and the thin, lead us through thick and thin of their lives. Based on a true story, the legend of the Invincible Zishe Breitbart, played bravely and somewhat charmingly naive by Jouko Ahola (the 1997 and 1999 strongest man), still is told among the jewish people. A man who accepted his physical strength as the gift of God, and thereby felt obliged to define his goal by that call. When he gets hired at a varieté in Berlin, he finds himself confronted with the Nazis, his strange employer Jan Hanussen, played by the impressive Tim Roth, who wants to sell him off as Siegfried, a blond, germanic hero who can even lift an elephant. It is obvious that Zishe has to decide whether he wants to deny his identity or rather become a Samson and fight for who he is. A touch of romance is added by the real life concert pianist Anna Gourari, who is almost over-acting, almost resembling a silent movie actress.

A very international, very special cast. Told in a simple, poetic and beautifully photographed way, Herzog manages to make you overlook the only downside of the whole movie: the bad language, german spiced english.

For people who care more about the persons than the action, this movie comes highly recommended.