Herakles

"Herakles" is a short insight into the Greek myth about Herakles. We observe hero while training. It is a silent movie and the only words are the subtitles, that are only questions whether Herakles will defeat someone (they are all connected with the myth).

What can be interesting is that Herakles is shown only physically, actually there is not much time to see his face and his surrounding is rather murky and dark. The questions are asked while Herkles is preparing as if there were some doubts. In the myth Herakles is rather a pure hero, here he gets a quality of uncertainty. He is shown as a motivated and strong, but rather human, however by that I do not mean that Herzog wants to attribute humanity to him. A hero is a man and a god, therefore it would be pointless.

I must admit that I am very careful while rendering Herzog's film. You cannot really say at what he was aiming. It is probably film done in result of experimenting with filming (it is his first film). Probably Herzog visualized his loose interpretation or rather his attitude towards Herakles. This film is not spectacular or meaningful, but is a gracious creation of imagination. The best thing you can to do is to enjoy it for yourself.

At first glance, "Herakles" is not exactly what one would expect to be Herzog's first film. If anything, it just feels like an experimental gay fetish video, but, right when I was about to rage over the lack of Kenneth Anger's co-director credit, Herzog's intent became more and more clear. This simplistic film directly references the classic Greek myth of Hercules, as well as providing some interesting commentary on the whole idea of the traditional "hero".

Visually, the film is often creative and nice, if a bit repetitive, but when realizing the subcontext, the film definitely gets more interesting. It certainly is nowhere near Herzog's best short film, but it still provides a decent and slightly thought provoking starting point for his soon to be absolutely legendary career.

'Herakles' is, of course, the Greek form of the name 'Hercules'. This is also the title of the first film made by the great director Werner Herzog. Produced on a bootlace budget, this short film with no soundtrack is very crude indeed. To call it amateurish, or even just plain bad, would be churlish: Herzog clearly lacked the hardware and the money to make anything better. And yet, watching this film in hindsight, there really are no glimmerings of the immense talent which Herzog would later display in his mature, more elaborate works.

Basically, 'Herakles' is an omnium-gatherum of film clips depicting images of machismo. Some of those images are explicitly macho: we see various body-builders flexing their biceps and triceps. Other images seen here are not macho in the literal sense, but are indirectly related to testosterone or cojones on some level: we see military aircraft making bombing raids, and footage of car crashes. This is a very phallic movie, in the same sense as many of Kenneth Anger's films, though with the phallocentrism being less obvious.

Supposedly, Herzog made this film to show the revulsion he felt (and still feels?) for the cult of machismo. Well, maybe. But Herzog is intelligent enough to realise that many people are going to be attracted to precisely the imagery which he claims to despise. Many people are aroused -- sexually and otherwise -- by car crashes. The body-builder cult must have its devotees, or it would no longer exist.

I have a lot of respect for Herzog's career overall. I tend to be sympathetic to the early efforts of aspiring filmmakers, as I realise they need to express their own vision whilst at the same time offering something with enough broad appeal that it will receive distribution and find appreciative audiences. I believe that Herzog was trying to have it both ways when he made 'Herakles': attempting to express his own distaste for this sort of phallocracy while at the same time knowing full well that other viewers would find it appealing. Rather than attempting to deconstruct 'Herakles', I feel that Werner Herzog's long and fluent film career as a whole will serve as a much better mission statement for this very talented director.

this status explains the ambiguity of purpose and the temptation to define it as experiment. because it is a film about bodies and questions. Herakles is just an interpreted hero from a lost world, the social critic seems obvious, the desire to keep the meaning of story is vain. it could be boring for many viewers. but it has the virtue to be a challenge. and little more. a form to read, from a modern angle, the works of Herkules who becomes symbol for a never ending fight against the details of contemporary society. poetic and provocative. like each film by Werner Herzog. a trait. and a precious virtue.

Herakles (1960)

** (out of 4)

Werner Herzog's first film is about a young man who works out hoping to become very muscular one day. Nothing too interesting here.

Last Words (1967)

** (out of 4)

Another Werner Herzog short, this one I'm guessing was meant to be some sort of spoof about people and their last words but none of it is all that funny.

Unprecedented Defence of the Fortress Deutschkreutz, The (1966)

** (out of 4)

Herzog spoof of war and soldiers and the thoughts that creep into ones mind. There are a few funny jokes but again, nothing too interesting.

Precautions About Fanatics (1969)

** 1/2 (out of 4)

Herzog short is just one running gag about a fanatic at a race horse. A few laughs.