User reviews

Land of Silence is a really great documentary, one of Herzog's best I must say. His other documentaries are a bit uneven, which his movies are not. But this one, as well as his recent "Little Dieter Needs to Fly", are amongst the most moving documentaries I've ever seen. And they are still unique, Werner Herzog's personal traits can be seen everywhere. The transcendent landscapes, pure human beings, humour, it's all there.

The text on the back cover explains the movie very well:

"Some who live in this land have learned to speak, though they communicate with each other by touch language: what they say comes from the most profound depths of human experience, and is often startingly beautiful and exiting. This is not a depressing movie at all. Neither is it a movie for voyeurs of the grotesque. As Anita Earle writes, 'It is, rather, a testament from another plane of existence'"

At some points in this movie I laughed. The camera often stays very long on lonely, depressing people who spend their days either sitting or lying down. But it wasn't meant to be comedy, it is a way for me to step back. It is a very 'close' picture, it really gets to you. You're thinking "Jesus", and you want to react. And still, it is an artwork.

Story of Fini Straubinger who is "trapped" in her own body being both deaf and blind. Since the condition came on later in life she is able to speak and tells us what its like. We also watch as she goes around helping those like her. Communication is done via touching or writing on the hands. It becomes clear that the people in the film with this condition are trying to live full lives. An amazing film that shows us what its like not to be able to hear or see. Hopeful and yet unnerving-its not a state one really wants to contemplate having-its an important film since we see the world with a different set of eyes. Taking the matter even further Herzog and his crew also show us what its like for people born deaf and blind and how hard it is for them to even learn the basic things we take for granted. Moving. Haunting. Worth a look since it will make you reflect on how we get along.

'If there were another World War, I wouldn't even notice it.'

The above quote closes the documentary Land of Silence and Darkness and in many ways sums it up perfectly. Film-maker Werner Herzog has over the years made many films – fiction and fact alike – that focus on outsiders on the extreme fringes of society. With this film, I think it could be argued that his subjects are the most remote and in some ways unknowable of all. The people in this film are all deaf-blind. The loss of these two most key senses puts them in a strange mysterious world where they are cut off from our reality. The principal character is a late middle-aged woman called Fini Straubinger who suffered a fall when she was nine, that went unreported and untreated. As a consequence of this, she gradually lost her sight and hearing so that by her teens she was deaf and blind. She subsequently spent thirty years in bed but later re-emerged and went on to focus on helping others in a similar situation. This involved teaching them to communicate and organising field visits.

Like is mostly the way with documentaries focusing on people with severe disabilities, at first the participants seem quite alien to us but as we observe them for a time they emerge as identifiably human. Fini is in a more unique position than her more famous counterpart Helen Keller, in that she lost her senses at an age old enough to remember more about them and the world around her. This has allowed her to learn to communicate via an extraordinary touch-based system. It still seems incredible for us to imagine what it must be like to be in a void without sound or vision only to intermittently feel this physical communication and moreover, to be able to actually function under these circumstances. Fini is frankly an extraordinary person and her achievements are quite astonishing. The documentary introduces us to several other deaf-blind who are in even more difficult and frankly heart-breaking situations. One middle-aged woman lives in an asylum after the only person who communicated with her, her mother, died. We also encounter some who have borne this affliction from birth. This makes it especially difficult teaching them anything, some concepts becoming completely impossible. One of the most memorable of these scenes involves a 22 year old man who has never been taught how to walk, chew or communicate. We first see him sitting on the floor buzzing strangely while violently throwing a ball about. He seems to all intents and purposes like an infant. Incredibly, once Fini interacts with him she immediately makes a communication breakthrough. There are many unbelievable scenes such as this sprinkled through this documentary and it is a film that makes you pause and not only remember how lucky you are but also to ponder what being human is actually all about.

This Herzog film is unorthodox, as usual. It is approximately an hour and a half long, and somewhere in the middle it might seem like the film is not going anywhere. However, those who permit themselves to feel the power of this harrowing documentary will discover in the ending of the film a moment well worth their persistence. What is the purpose of mature film making? I like to think it is the sincere attempt to help us understand what it means to be human. If this generalization is accurate, Herzog's LAND OF SILENCE AND DARKNESS is mature film making. It is literally investigating what it means to be human without the sense of sight and speech. It has a heroic figure in 56-year old Fini Straubinger and a number of other characters who are compellingly mystifying. We wonder what is happening inside the minds of these human beings who are partially cut off from the world around them.

Land of Silence and Darkness was Werner Herzog's first documentary. He still had a little bit of ways to go in terms of his style in a straightforward mode; the same year he made an experimental abstract documentary called Fata Morgana that showed him already a master of "directing landscapes" and getting a mood and setting that was unique. With LOS&D it's a little different- it's a little like the German equivalent of one of those touching documentaries that are on HBO every now and then. He's mostly there not to make any grand visual statements or ubiquitous metaphors, but to capture this insulated world where people survive against all obstacles. It's in the Herzog vein of thought and execution, of showing painfully human beings who've been unfortunately by no fault of their own into a fringe group where the act of communication has to be an obstacle itself, that the film is most powerful. Fini Straubinger is one of those gentle, courageous souls that deserves to be shown more in film, and Herzog has her pegged as a good subject- someone who communicates to those who have none (dead-blind boys from birth who barely know how to swallow let alone learn the alphabet or 'good' or 'bad') all through hand-pointing.

While Herzog lays on the orchestral strings over scenes that could be silent themselves, the people speak volumes about how the spirit of humanity and the goodness of human beings can live on in the right circumstances. There's a subtext that Herzog reaches at well of the neglect the people have been served, of some people like the woman who used to use braille but forgot and are put wrongfully in sanitariums, when they could be in the right care functional up to a point in society. So there is that part that is a running theme in most of Herzog's work that's striking, the society at large with the stragglers, those that are just trying to keep up. And out of this he makes at least a few moments, without much interference, into little moments of documentary poetry, like the boy who is ambivalent but finally does go around in the pool and feels ecstatic about being under a shower. Or the simple composition of the young man who can barely eat a banana, but merely the slightest bit of work from Fini gets him reacting.

Wedging on the line between unsentimental and sentimental is a hard thing to do with a group like this, and on a first feature-length documentary Herzog tries and for the most part makes it a brave turn on a subject neglected and bright and moving. It makes sense he would say that this is the one film he's made in decades that he wants to be available most; ironically it is overshadowed by the more astounding (if more crowd-pleasing) work with Grizzly Man and Little Dieter. Even if it isn't a great film, it is a must-see, which is rare in documentary film.

... this Werner Herzog film - as powerful today as when it was made, introduces us to Fini, deaf and blind, and the empathetic things she does to help those similarly affected.

Herzog's documentary is a stunning revelation of what it means to be human. When we first see the profoundly disabled people on the screen, we shy away from them, disturbed to consider that these creatures might be people like ourselves. But through the love of the woman whose work Herzog captures here, we discover them as precisely what they -- and we -- are: human brothers and sisters endowed by God with both the need for love and an unimpaired (despite physical handicaps) capacity to love. Watching this movie some 20 years ago, I found this remarkable film one of the most exhilarating cinematic experiences of my life (and I'm now 55 and a veteran of many, many movies, and this film retains its wondrous place in my memory), a testament to the unity of the universal human family told with the artist's -- Herzog's -- aesthetic objectivity, yet clearly giving voice to a passionate embrace and advocacy of life, no matter how physically disabled.

'Land of Silence and the Darkness', written and directed by Werner Herzog, is an extraordinary documentary -- remember that word, please -- about Fini Straubinger. As a child in Germany, she suffered a terrible fall which caused a popping sensation in her neck. She was afraid to tell her parents (I can well believe this), so the injury was never treated. As a teen, she progressively lost her hearing and her sight, becoming totally deaf and blind. When Herzog made this film, Straubinger was well past middle age, and had spent most of her life in silence and darkness.

Americans who see this film will be reminded of Helen Keller. But Keller lost her sight and hearing (to scarlet fever) in very early childhood, and retained only very slight memory of her stolen senses. (Touchingly, Keller did recall seeing the rainbows formed by sunlight refracted through the crystal prisms of her mother's chandelier.) Because Straubinger retained a full memory and understanding of vision and sound, she became useful as an ambassador to the kingdoms of the blind and deaf. Fini Straubinger has dedicated her life to working with people who are deaf and blind, most of whom have borne those double handicaps either from birth or (like Keller) from infancy.

Herzog follows Straubinger on a trip through Germany, financed by an organisation for the deaf-blind. We see her communicating with other deaf-blind people through a sort of tapping code. Activities which the rest of us take for granted are truly alien experiences for these unfortunate souls. For instance, the simple act of taking a shower: for someone who has never experienced this before, and cannot have it adequately explained, the sudden onslaught of pressurised water is deeply terrifying. In the final sequence, we see a deaf-blind man hugging a tree: attempting to experience this alien life-form through his senses of touch, taste and smell.

One sequence, showing Straubinger interacting with a chimpanzee, I found unpleasant and unnecessary. I get the impression that this scene was staged by Herzog in an ill-thought attempt to inject some light 'comedy relief' into a subject that audiences might find deeply depressing.

I made a point of identifying this film as a documentary, meaning it's non-fiction. Indeed, Fini Straubinger is a real person: her blindness, her deafness, and (more importantly) her work with the deaf-blind are all real, all true. At one point in this film, Straubinger tells us that her most vivid sensory memory -- before the darkness and silence closed in -- is an image of the rapturous faces of ski jumpers as they leap into the sky. After this film was released, Herzog admitted in an interview that Straubinger had never seen a ski jumper: Herzog wrote those lines for her, because he felt that ski jumpers provided the visual symbol (I refuse to misuse the word 'metaphor') which would simultaneously represent sensory rapture and Straubinger's own isolation.

I reluctantly concede that this sort of fictionalisation is a valid device in documentary films. Those of us who are fortunate to see and hear cannot truly experience the dark silent world of Fini Straubinger and her colleagues. (Unless we too are conscripted into that realm, by accidents or illness.) Since this film can never truly put us into the mind of a deaf-blind person -- especially one who has been both deaf and blind since birth, like most of the people encountered here -- some degree of invention is necessary. I recall an anecdote told by Albert Einstein (too long to repeat here; send me an email if you want the details) concerning his attempt to explain milk to a blind man: this incident never actually occurred, but Einstein told the story to prove a point about his theory of relativity.

'Land of Silence and the Darkness' is a fascinating film about a fascinating human being. My rating: 8 out of 10.

LAND OF SILENCE AND DARKNESS is an early documentary in the career of German film-maker Werner Herzog, a story laced with sadness and alienation that bears some stylistic similarity to Herzog's dramatic film THE ENIGMA OF KASPAR HAUSER. This one's all real though, a documentary that proves to be depressing and uplifting in equal measure.

It's a documentary that explores the world of deafblind people living in Germany, controlled by a campaigning woman, Fini Straubinger, who makes it her business to travel the country and help those in need. What transpires is a travelogue fraught with unforgettable moments; moments that I don't mind admitting had me in tears on more than one occasion. The sequence with a 22 year old man who's never had any education or even contact with the outside world - he can't even walk - is the film's moving highlight.

Herzog lets his story speak for himself, although he makes some strong choices as director. Visits to a cactus house and a zoo are utterly engrossing and the addition of some classic music to the soundtrack really helps to tug at the heartstrings. Not an easy film to watch then, but one which is nevertheless thoroughly compelling.

What I was surprised by is how lively she is despite being in the land of silence and darkness. I assumed the film would sulk within a depressing hellscape, which kept me from it for a long time. Rather, she was a brilliant woman and a humanitarian. The poetry of the film is the evolution, adaptation, ingenuity; it posits if you are confined to one sense, imagine the methods of experiencing the world. So, they put their hands on cactuses and animals and derive some great feeling from that. One sense is enough to discern the world's nuance since we are all breaking down the data around us abstractly regardless. She confided to the other man with a smile, "I don't hear or see either." Lastly, consider how odd it is as cinema: we don't experience them not seeing or hearing but we see them as they are, and so much of this film exists in our imagination ('what it would be like') as the world does to them. Therefore this is a kind of cinema of the mind that operates almost invisibly; in this way it reinvents the form while at the same time operating on the surface as this deeply beautiful and resonant portrait.

What a beautiful film this is.

I saw it many years ago and it holds up on a re-watch. What makes this different from other documentarians making a film on this subject is that Werner does not pity and patronize these people. Instead he is fascinated by them, he reveres and admires them and the unique perspective they have on life.

Their experience of consciousness itself is completely different from ours and in this wonderful humane film the great man shows the utmost respect for his subjects.

My only complaint is that Herzog doesn't narrate the film himself.

Only the great Werner Herzog could've made this film.

Great filmmaker that he is, one reliable constant in all of Werner Herzog's works, fiction and non-fiction alike, is a fascination with humanity in all our variety and complexity. Great as so many of his works are, few are as immediately striking as this one is. We can sympathize and empathize, but without living ourselves with a disability, it can be hard to fathom the actual experience of deafblindness. Through Herzog's film, however, we're given remarkable, illuminating perspective that's low-key captivating - not just the struggles that the condition can entail, but also the uniqueness and richness of lives that the sighted and hearing can't imagine. One expects much of Herzog, certainly, and still I'm impressed with just how thoughtful, substantive, and meaningful 'Land of silence and darkness' is.

On the most basic level we're treated to discussion of deafness, and blindness, that speak to details of the afflictions that are often glossed over, if indeed they are spoken of at all, and gradations thereof from one person to the next. We also see, of course, proliferate use of the tactile signing that is used for communication, significant and gratifying explanation of the language system, and the partnerships that exist between the deaf-blind and their companions who effectively serve as conduits for interaction with the world around them. Atop these foundations are built portraits of individuals' personal histories and difficulties, but also their fond memories, the assertion of their singular identities, and the lives that they are still able to lead when accommodated with the necessary considerations and tools. To that point, even if Herzog's tableau didn't specifically include material that directly speaks to disability rights (it does), there could hardly be a more pointed illustration of the need of society to account for, respect, and integrate those with disabilities, and how despairingly far we have to go even fifty years after this picture was first released.

Even among documentaries there are relatively few titles that distinctly speak to disabilities, and deafblindness least of all. I'm hard-pressed to think of anyone who could be better suited to provide that edification other than Herzog, whose approach to any subject matter is consistently smart, mindful, objective, and appreciative at a fundamental level. It would be all too easy, when exploring disability, to unwittingly slip into a method that's patronizing, or exploitative, or which in any other manner talks down to those with disabilities or treats them as lesser than. With Herzog we are assured of earnest examination and portrayal, giving as complete an image of possible of what it means to be deaf-blind, and where such folks fit into society and the world at large. 'Land of silence and darkness' is difficult, in some measure, and one can't help but feel a little sad, yet it's also inspiring and heartwarming, and pleasing, and genuinely absorbing, both for the scenes we're given and the people we meet, and for the ideas that the figures discuss herein or that the filmmaker himself brings up in sparse instances of narration. The result is a movie that unquestionably stands out even among such a treasured oeuvre, let alone among cinema at large, as we're exposed to an underrepresented and underserved segment of the population that is no less deserving of life, dignity, and happiness as a fragment of the diversity of humanity.

It's impossible not to share in Herzog's fascination as we watch, and between that shared feeling, the supremely attentive tack that the man adopts, and all that is included in these eighty-five minutes, the feature is really nothing less than tremendous. I assumed when I sat to watch that I'd like this, and my expectations were still surpassed. This may not appeal to all comers, yet for those who are open to documentaries, who admire Herzog in particular, or who are just keen on learning more about our world or are avid cinephiles, this is a terrific, engrossing viewing experience that is very relevant, and I'm pleased to give 'Land of silence and darkness' my very high and hearty recommendation.

Werner Herzog is absolutely one of the greatest - if not the greatest - documentary filmmaker(s) of all time (and he's arguably just as great a filmmaker when it comes to non-documentaries too).

This is truly one of the best documentaries I've seen from him so far. It tells the story of a woman in her 50s named Fini Straubinger, who for 40-something years has been both blind and deaf.

We learn of her past and see how she lives in a world that's almost exclusively designed for people with all five of their senses. Through her, we meet a number of other people of various ages and lifestyles who must also live without their sense of sight and hearing.

Herzog's approach to the subject is very empathetic. It never feels exploitative or like some kind of cruel "freak show"- you get the sense he wants to understand how the people who live like this think and feel, how they can (or can't) communicate with each other and the others around them, and how they experience the parts of life that they can. It's an approach that is both informative for a viewer and also quite moving.

Straubinger is a strong central figure forty ground the documentary, and her determination to live life the best she can and help those around her with similar conditions to her is admirable.

It all adds up to a really good - borderline great - documentary that is one of Herzog's best, and a very engaging and emotional experience that will stick with me.