Personne ne veut jouer avec moi

This is another unexpected Werner Herzog short - I've discovered two tonight (it's been too busy a day to watch something feature-length).

No One Will Play with Me is about a bunch of kids, and one of them feels ostracized. Things sort of turn around for him, but there's not really much of a story here, and it does end at a point, kind of anticlimactically.

Still, I appreciate Herzog doing something weird again here (the man is relentless in his pursuit of the cinematically unexpected), and there is some empathy that shines through in this look at bullying and the struggles of being a young kid at school. It might lay it on just a little thick, but it was kind of interesting and I admired the attempt enough to call this one decent overall.

Werner Herzog short film about how there is no bad kids only bad parents. The premise of the film is that a young boy is kept segregated by the rest of his classmates who refuse to have anything to do with them. One day he ends up making friends with a girl in his class and we see what was behind all of the dislike of the boy. Awkward short film that doesn't quite work completely. Certainly its short nature seems to indicate that Herzog had an idea that he went for and that seems to be the problem it's a little too straight forward. Worth a look if you run across it but not something to search out unless you're a Herzog completeist.

No One Will Play With Me (1976)

*** (out of 4)

Werner Herzog directed short about a young boy who plays alone in his classroom because no on there wants to play with him. One day a girl goes back to his house to see his pet raven and then we learn why he is the way he is. This is a rather bleak and depressing little film and Herzog perfectly captures the mood of the "secret", which I won't reveal here.

Dark Glow of the Mountain, The (1984)

*** 1/2 (out of 4)

Interesting documentary from Werner Herzog follows world famous mountain climbers Reinhold Messner and Hans Kammerlander as they scale both of the Gasherbrum mountains, which are 8,000 meters each. The documentary really doesn't focus on the difficulty of the climb but instead the psychology of what it takes to be willing to do something as dangerous as this. Herzog asks some hard questions about their mental state and if they have a death wish and their answers are kind of unique.

Ballad of a Little Soldier (1984)

** 1/2 (out of 4)

Werner Herzog documentary takes a look at the children soldiers caught up in the Miskito Indian battle in Nicaragua. The first part of the film takes a look at the adults doing their thing but it grows rather boring pretty quickly. The interviews by Herzog are honest and straight forward but nothing really picks up the drama actually going on with the kids.

The focus of this film is Martin, a young boy who has come to be neglected by his classmates. The ridicule he faces has forced him into solitude, as he can always be found in his little fort. It's not that he is anti-social, he wants nothing more than to play with the other children. But they are having none of it. His numerous attempts at finding a playmate go unheeded. The other children tell him to go back to his pigsty, and whisper rumours about him regarding why no one should play with him. Success! While waiting to be picked up.. Martin makes a friend, a young girl, Nicole, who he has convinced to play with him , as she wants to see his pet crow, Max. The poor boy seems also to be neglected at home. As his mother is ill, he must rely on popcorn for nourishment- breakfast lunch and dinner. On top of this his father beats him. The two children become best friends and Nicole's mother starts to take care of the young boy. Ecstatic hes found a new friend, Martin gives Nicole his only worldly possession, his pet Crow. To return the favour, she organizes the children in the class to collect money to buy two guinea pigs for Martin, which are named "Laurel" and "Hardy". This humble and innocent act overcomes the other children's preconceptions and allows them to accept Martin as an integrated member of the class.

While shot like a documentary, it is actually a scripted short film that seems to be sending the message, "Be nice to the poor kid, cause he's probably getting beat by his dad". Feels like an anti-bullying film that was made for elementary school children to watch. Very mediocre, but it's watchable, nicely shot, and hey, it's Herzog...so you've got to see it!!! 5 out of 10.

Just got to see a projection of this (along with Heart of Glass that was made the same year). I was led to believe before seeing this short, that it was another of Herzog's documentaries, but this isn't the case, is quite clearly staged action.

It tells the story of a young boy who is excluded from the rest of his classmates, the underlying reason for which is not made clear to start. He spends his time having to play in the corner of the classroom on his own, excluded from the group. The boy eventually befriends a girl in the class and invites her home to meet his talking pet raven. It is at this point that the boy's exclusion from the school group starts to become clear, as he reveals to his new friend the disruptive and abusive upbringing he has had to suffer at the hands of his parents.

Apart from the apparent underlying message (that there is no such thing as a problem child, only problem parents), what I found interesting about this short was the period of Herzog's cinematic development in which it was made. Having seen a fair number of Herzog's films, I would have assumed from the basic structure and production of this short, that it would have been one of the first shorts he committed to film. However, by 1976 when this was made he had already made a number of feature films (The Wrath of God, Even Dwarfs Started Small etc) and some highly respected documentaries (Land of Silence and Darkness – that I recommended to anyone!). I quite enjoyed this little short, but to anyone interested in Herzog, go and see some of his great documentaries before seeing this.

As for the guinea pigs, I wont ruin that; you'll have to find out for yourself. It's bound to induce a few ‘ahhhhs' in the audience though.