A young man named Kaspar Hauser suddenly appears in Nuremberg in 1828, barely able to talk or walk, and bearing a strange note.
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Title: The Enigma of Kaspar Hauser (1974)
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5 wins & 3 nominations.
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Cast
| Cast overview, first billed only: | |||
| Bruno S. | ... | Kaspar Hauser | |
 |
Walter Ladengast | ... | Professor Daumer |
| Brigitte Mira | ... | Kathe, Servant | |
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Willy Semmelrogge | ... | Circus director |
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Michael Kroecher | ... | Lord Stanhope |
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Hans Musäus | ... | Unknown Man |
| Henry van Lyck | ... | Cavalry Captain | |
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Gloria Doer | ... | Frau Hiltel |
| Volker Prechtel | ... | Hiltel the prison guard | |
| Herbert Achternbusch | ... | Bavarian Chicken Hypnotizer | |
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Wolfgang Bauer | ||
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Wilhelm Bayer | ... | Taunting Farmboy |
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Franz Brumbach | ||
| Johannes Buzalski | |||
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Helmut Döring | ... | Little King |
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Plot Summary
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Add Synopsis
Storyline
Herzog's film is based upon the true and mysterious story of Kaspar Hauser, a young man who suddenly appeared in Nuremberg in 1828, barely able to talk or walk, and bearing a strange note; he later explained that he had been held captive in a dungeon of some sort for his entire life that he could remember, and only recently was he released, for reasons unknown. His benefactor attempts to integrate him into society, with intriguing results. Written by Mike D'Angelo <mqd8478@is2.nyu.edu>
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Details
Country:
West GermanyLanguage:
GermanRelease Date:
1 November 1974 (West Germany) See more »Also Known As:
The Enigma of Kaspar Hauser See more »Edit
Box Office
Cumulative Worldwide Gross:
$2,874Company Credits
Production Co:
Werner Herzog Filmproduktion, Zweites Deutsches Fernsehen (ZDF), Filmverlag der Autoren See more »
Show more on
IMDbPro »
Technical Specs
Runtime:
Sound Mix:
MonoColor:
Color (Eastmancolor) (uncredited)Aspect Ratio:
1.66 : 1
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See more »
Later, he told of being locked in a dark cellar from birth. He had never seen another human being, a tree, a house before.
To this day no one knows where he came from - or who set him free.
Don't you hear that horrible screaming all around you? That screaming men call silence? See more »
Did You Know?
Goofs
After Kaspar is left in the town square, there is one shot of him where the way he holds the note, and the way the bandanna is tied, that is different from before or after. See more »Quotes
Kaspar Hauser: It seems to me that my coming into this world was a very hard fall.See more »
Crazy Credits
Opening credits prologue: One Sunday in 1828 a ragged boy was found abandoned in the town of N. He could hardly walk and spoke but one sentence.Later, he told of being locked in a dark cellar from birth. He had never seen another human being, a tree, a house before.
To this day no one knows where he came from - or who set him free.
Don't you hear that horrible screaming all around you? That screaming men call silence? See more »
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Even if this film had failed on the level of character or narrative (which it doesn't), I would still love this movie for its incredible imagery. The memory/dream sequences are haunting and will never leave my head. The opening shot of a field, long blades grass bowing under the wind to the music of Pachelbel, is extraordinary. And of course there's the performance of Bruno S, the most intensely hypnotic and genuine performance you will ever see.
But my favorite scene is of the impresario and the dwarf king and his kingdom. This is a true Herzog moment -- bizarre but somehow still a moment of striking epiphany -- the dwarf a parallel, isolated soul to Kasper's own isolated, lonely soul. The extremity and weirdness of moments like these seem commonplace and everyday in a Herzog film, and therefore somehow commonplace and everyday even in our own lives.