WOYZECK II – Klaus Kinski
Klaus Kinski in Woyzeck
Written by Herzog, Woyzeck is an adaptation of an unfinished 1836 play by Georg Büchner (who died of typhus at twenty-three) that is reputedly based on a real murder of a military man’s lover. Until the turn of the twentieth century, Büchner and his play were all but forgotten, but the author was rediscovered when Modernism arose in the early part of the last century. Woyzeck was seen as a herald of both Modernism and Absurdism, with its lead character described as a sort of pre-Beckettian creation. Such interpretation is validated right in the first scene following the credits, as the camera, at faster-than-normal speed, shows an officer forcing Woyzeck to do squats and pushups until he drops. Kinski is comical and pathetic at once, as the audience is supposed to both identify with his character and pity him — even when he claims to hear voices urging him to ‘Stab! Stab!’ (There is some question over whether or not Woyzeck drowns in the river when he goes back to retrieve the knife with which he killed Marie, even though there’s absolutely no evidence of this in the film.)
The DVD, part of Anchor Bay’s Herzog-Kinski box set, is in a 1.66:1 aspect ratio. The colors are muted, and the print is a bit faded, though Jörg Schmidt-Reitwein’s cinematography is sterling, especially his use of shade, and the display of rustic, deep-green, gold, and brown hues in the forest scenes. Fiedelquartett Telc’s musical soundtrack is apt, for it’s not grand and baroque but amateurish and off key. The lone exception is the Guitar Concerto by Antonio Vivaldi that ends the film, where detectives praise the beauty of the murder scene right next to the pond where the film opened.
The only extras on the disc are a three-minute trailer, filmographies, and a photo gallery. (There is no dubbed track; the film is presented in German with English subtitles.) Given that Woyzeck is one of Herzog’s lesser-known works, a film commentary should have been recorded especially considering that on most other Herzog DVDs the director usually provides incisive remarks.
Critics usually dismiss Woyzeck for its visuals — the darkness and static camera shots, which they claim are part of the film’s staginess. They’re wrong. Not that the film isn’t stagy, but that Herzog’s approach is per se a bad thing. The visuals all work splendidly in evoking mood. In reality, the "staginess" that prevents Woyzeck from achieving greatness is the overabundance of philosophical monologues from a variety of dimwitted characters. But that’s not a major quibble for this excellent little film, with the ‘little’ being used in all its best connotations.
To a great extent, whether Woyzeck is seen as a dark comedy or a sinister drama depends upon the viewer’s mood. Like all the Herzog-Kinski collaborations, the film deals wonderfully with alienation and loneliness: the desire to stay sane under stressful and abnormal circumstances, the inability to cope with frustration, and the (usually unsuccessful) attempts to stave off paranoia when under physical or psychological attack. That so few other films even ponder these questions, however fleetingly, is something to be rued.
On the other hand, Werner Herzog deserves all the praise he can get, even for his ‘lesser’ films. After all, a lesser Herzog will beat ninety-nine out of a hundred so-called ‘masterpieces’ from Hollywood. When failures can still get those kinds of odds you’re playing with house money, and that’s when it’s ok to think small to reach deeply.
© Dan Schneider
Note: The views expressed in this article are those of Mr. Schneider, and they may not reflect the views of the Alternative Film Guide.
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Tags: Classic Movies, DVDs, Film Reviews, Georg Büchner, Klaus Kinski, Werner Herzog, Woyzeck
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