I taped this off Turner Classic Movies on September 7, 2017. It was part of a Werner Herzog marathon, and this was the only one I hadn’t seen. It tells the tale of Bruno Stroszek (Bruno S.), who gets out of jail after serving a long stretch for alcohol-fueled infractions. First thing he does when he gets out is go to the bar, order a beer, and bring a hooker home. This Stroszek is my kind of dude. When he finds out the streetwalker, whose name is Eva (Eva Mattes), is still being beaten up by her pimp, he convinces her to go with him and his old fogey roommate (Clemens Scheitz) to Wisconsin to begin life anew.
Like most Herzog movies, Stroszek has a weird allure to it that most filmmakers just can’t replicate. From using a mentally challenged leading man to the preemie ward scene, there are moments here that run the gamut from hauntingly beautiful to downright bizarre. All of this is wildly uneven to be sure, and sometimes the stories behind the making of the film outshine the finished product itself. (Herzog decided to film in Plainfield, Wisconsin just because it was the birthplace of Ed Gein.)
The film is essentially broken into two halves. The first is Stroszek getting out of jail and befriending Eva. The second is their Wisconsin adventure. Both have their definite ups and downs. The German-set scenes are sometimes dawdling, but that kind of adds to the offbeat “hang out” kind of vibe. The Wisconsin scenes are a bit of a mixed bag too as the finale goes on far too long. (How many shots of dancing chickens does one need?)
I can’t say Stroszek is a perfect movie. What I can say is that it’s a strange, unique, and sometimes poignant one. It is simultaneously a love letter to and a condemnation of the American Dream as we know it. So, because of that, it’s definitely worth checking out.
No comments:
Post a Comment