Sit back, relax, close your eyes. Imagine this. A film...a flicker on the movie screen. There are laughing, yelling, running dwarfs setting fires as a driverless car spins around senselessly behind them...they tie a monkey to a cross and the soundtrack sounds like a tribal chant. That is but one brief moment in this 95 minute hellride.
You might hate this movie, even if you love Herzog and all his other movies. You might love this movie, especially if you love Herzog and all his other movies! It's an odd film, no doubt, even odder than the average Herzog film. But it all works. The cast of characters is made up entirely of dwarfs, most of whom are mentally insane and are rebelling against their mental institution. They inhabit a desolate, almost post apocalyptic landscape where everything seems ugly and unpleasant. Animals roam around, many of them die or are at least harmed in some way (early Herzog films are quite questionable in terms of animal abuse)...there are blind dwarfs who are bullied and tricked, a camel is ready to give birth, and plenty more. Everything is uncomfortable...the entire atmosphere is ugly and off putting. Nothing seems to be right. And, yet, it is still uproariously hilarious. There aren't really any "gags" in the film exactly; instead, the humor derives from the surreal absurdities planted in nearly every frame of the film. It's a very zany, Herzogian type of comedy that will only appeal to certain watchers.
The whole film is balls to the walls crazy from start to finish, it never takes a breather and instead wanders gleefully through the many corridors of utter insanity. It is anarchic, upsetting, creepy, uncomfortable, humorous, immature, avant garde, sensational, and a brilliant product of a wholly unique type of cinema that Herzog seems to have revolutionized. What type of cinema is this exactly? I cannot say...it is so dark, wonderful, and strange that it defies language and can only be witnessed through visuals...
You might hate this movie, even if you love Herzog and all his other movies. You might love this movie, especially if you love Herzog and all his other movies! It's an odd film, no doubt, even odder than the average Herzog film. But it all works. The cast of characters is made up entirely of dwarfs, most of whom are mentally insane and are rebelling against their mental institution. They inhabit a desolate, almost post apocalyptic landscape where everything seems ugly and unpleasant. Animals roam around, many of them die or are at least harmed in some way (early Herzog films are quite questionable in terms of animal abuse)...there are blind dwarfs who are bullied and tricked, a camel is ready to give birth, and plenty more. Everything is uncomfortable...the entire atmosphere is ugly and off putting. Nothing seems to be right. And, yet, it is still uproariously hilarious. There aren't really any "gags" in the film exactly; instead, the humor derives from the surreal absurdities planted in nearly every frame of the film. It's a very zany, Herzogian type of comedy that will only appeal to certain watchers.
The whole film is balls to the walls crazy from start to finish, it never takes a breather and instead wanders gleefully through the many corridors of utter insanity. It is anarchic, upsetting, creepy, uncomfortable, humorous, immature, avant garde, sensational, and a brilliant product of a wholly unique type of cinema that Herzog seems to have revolutionized. What type of cinema is this exactly? I cannot say...it is so dark, wonderful, and strange that it defies language and can only be witnessed through visuals...