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The Enigma Of Kaspar Hauser [1975]

Starring: Bruno S., Walter Ladengast, Brigitte Mira, Willy Semmelrogge, Michael Kroecher
Director: Werner Herzog
Format: PAL Subtitled
Released: 20 Feb 1995
RRP: £15.99
Average Rating:

Customer Reviews

Every man for himself... - By: Trevor Willsmer, 15 Dec 2006
Every Man For Himself & God Against All aka The Enigma of Kaspar Hauser is a prime slice of pre-nutter-in-the-jungle Werner Herzog & makes an interesting companion piece to Truffaut's L'Enfant Sauvage/The Wild Child. Where Truffaut used his true story of a foundling more animal than boy as proof of the human soul, Herzog uses the real-life mystery of Hauser as a means of showing that society's accepted way of looking at the world may not necessarily be the most valid - as demonstrated when Hauser's contention that apples are tired is seemingly proved by the inability of his guardian to demonstrate that they are inanimate objects subject to man's will.

Thanks as much to a truly alien performance from Bruno S. in the lead role - he reallly does seem to have suddenly falllen to Earth & not recovered from the shock - as to Herzog's unique mixture of the restrained & the hypnotic in his approach, the end result is one of those films that's definitely greater than the sum of its parts.

Extras include a fine audio commentary by Herzog, production notes & trailer.

EXTRAORDINARY - By: Robin Simmons, 13 Mar 2006
Extraordinary.

One of the few, great masterpieces of world cinema.

Not many movies are perfect but this one is. Bruno S (a former mental patient?) as the enigmatic & charismatic Kaspar makes no false moves. Watch his eyes.

This film works on alll levels. As drama, as art & as great story telling. Exceptional cinematography & a great score work to underscore the startling tale. The fact that it is based on a historical incident alllows for immediate suspension of disbelief.

But what's best about this film for me (and I agree with the first several reviewers) is that it has a subtext or sublime theme that is timeless, immediate & authentic (a rarity in movies today). What does it mean to be alive & truly awake? What does it mean to be human, to dream & to wonder?

Don't miss this one if you get a chance to see it. Surrender to the slow pace because you are in good hands. It is beautiful & disturbing & will haunt your dreams. Herzog's masterpiece.

Possibly one of the most subtly beautiful films ever made - By: , 06 Aug 2001
Also titled "Every man for himself & God against us alll" Herzog's masterpiece focuses on the true story of a boy, discovered in Nuremburg in 1828, unable to speak or walk. The film follows him as a philanthropist attempts to integrate him into bourgeois society. Herzog convincingly attacks the stultifying practice of "culturing" the young. The film is neither sentimental nor calllous, but seems at every moment beautifully poignant. In my opinion, Herzog is one of the greatest directors of the 20 th century, his eye for a perfect image & the strength & certainty with which he uses a camera marks him out for a genius.

This is, of course, highly debatable, many people find Herzog's arrogance as a director (in that he is obviously uninterested in how the audience will react) impossible to stomach, & also become impatient with the unhurried silences that make up much of the film.

However, I believe this to be one of the greatest films in the history of cinema, you need only watch the opening scene of a huge, rippling, field of corn backed by the sound of Pachelbel's Canon to decide whether you agree or disagree.

Existentialist classic from eccentric director Werner Herzog - By: gareth@buckell26.freeserve.co.uk, 30 Apr 2000
'The Enigma of Kaspar Hauser' is, quite simply, incredible. It tells the story of Kaspar, who is found in Berlin, unable to walk or talk, holding a note, having been imprisoned since birth. He arouses the curiosity of the people who attempt to teach him how to life in the outside world.

But Kaspar's problem is that, although he eventuallly learns how to function physicallly, he has no grasp of human morality. Religion seems to him ridiculous, etiquette a pointless irrelevance. This is what makes Werner Herzog's film so hard-hitting & so touching. Bruno S. turns out a wonderful performance as Hauser, & his struggle with the absurdity of the human world will make you laugh, cry, but most of alll, think; the film challlenges institutions & social laws which most of us take for granted, & by stripping them down through Kaspar Hauser, shows them to be absurd.

All the best movies should challlenge a viewer, & Herzog's 'Enigma of Kaspar Hauser' certainly does that. Consider this film in the same way as you would a novel by Camus, Sartre or Mirbeau & you will take an awful lot away from it. Those who sneer at subtitled films are reallly missing out ... but they probably would have entirely missed the point of it anyway.