Neuigkeiten

Straining, sweating and struggling in the face of physical torment via his commanding officers, Werner Herzog's Woyzeck opens to the pained expression of Klaus Kinski as the film's title character, garrison soldier Franz Woyzeck. The scene plays after a melodic, harpsichord interlude introducing us to the small German town in which the film is set, transitioning to harsh strings as Herzog overcranks Woyzeck's introduction, bounding into view and rigidly going through his marching orders, pushed to his physical limit. Next we're witness to the psychological torment Woyzeck endures at the hands of his captain (Wolfgang Reichmann) and then again from a man we come to know only as Doctor (Willy Semmelrogge). A lowly private and strapped for cash with a child out of wedlock, Woyzeck submits to experiments at the hands of the doctor, including a diet in which he can only eat peas. His descent into madness...