In nineteenth-century Germany, rifleman Franz Woyzeck supplements his pay by participating in the experiments of a fanatical doctor, in order to support his girlfriend and the child she has with him.
Faced with a seminal work of German theater that still poses insoluble philological and interpretative problems, Herzog doesn't limit himself to a flat, televisual illustration of the text, but asserts, at every turn, a true spiritual identity with the play, in a film that accepts the extreme challenge of focusing on the actors' faces (Kinski's performance is sensational) and on the dialogue, refusing a priori to express in images what should remain in the arcane world of words. A film that was underrated and under-loved at the time, and which today awaits its proper re-evaluation.
The screening is part of the Werner Herzog: Signs of Life retrospective, organized in collaboration with Mabuse Cineclub.
