Film Excess - Free Ukraine - Stop Putin - End the war NOW!!: Heart of Glass/Herz aus Glas (1976) - Industrialized apathy explored in Herzog's odd art drama

5/28/2022

Heart of Glass/Herz aus Glas (1976) - Industrialized apathy explored in Herzog's odd art drama

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A somber and introspective, water-painted poster for Werner Herzog's Heart of Glass

We are introduced to a German village in the 18th century, where fanciful theories of blowing glass - the local industry - and the ruby glass created there dictate the odd inhabitants' doings.

Heart of Glass is written by Herbert Achternbusch (Der Neger Erwin (1981)) and co-writer/producer/director, great German filmmaker Werner Herzog (Signs of Life/Lebenszeichen (1968)). The original title is directly translated as the English title.

It is an inordinately bizarre film. The content of the story is strange in itself, but the acting performances, all (except for the factory workers and the character Hias) achieved under hypnosis are particularly unique and weird in a trance-like, out-of-the-body way. This also brings some fun to the film, which is otherwise a dreary affair, despite its high strangeness quality, bereft of an actual plot.

The nonsense-poetical lines coming out of the hypnotized actors seem suspect as the works of a drug-affected filmmaker, - but I have no proof of course. Heart of Glass is not a good film, but it must rank among the strangest of all time. Featuring a beautiful and thrilling sequence of glassblowing.

My Son, My Son, What Have Ye Done (2009) - Herzog and Shannon take us down the rabbit-hole
The Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans/Bad Lieutenant (2009) or, Werner Herzog's Bad Lieutenant
Cobra Verde/Slave Coast (1987) - Herzog and Kinski's final work delves into the madness of slavery

Fitzcarraldo (1982) - Herzog's mad Amazonian opera monument
Even Dwarfs Started Small/Auch Zwerge Haben Klein Angefangen (1970) - Herzog teases us to react with uniquely odd experimental drama

Watch a trailer for the film here

Cost: Unknown

Box office: Unknown

= Uncertain

[Heart of Glass premiered 13 November (Paris Film Festival) and runs 94 minutes. Shooting took place in Switzerland, Ireland, Germany and in Wyoming, Alaska, New York and Utah. The film had a fairly small release in a handful of countries, and cost and gross details are regrettably not available online. It won a German Film award. Roger Ebert gave the film a 4/4 star review, translating to 4 notches over this one. Herzog returned with Mit Mir Will Niemand Spielen (1976, short) and theatrically with Stroszek (1977). Heart of Glass is fresh at 92 % with a 7.60/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of Heart of Glass?

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Donald Sutherland has passed away

Born in Canada, Sutherland battled polio as a child. His first credit was in Suspense (1963, TV-series) and his first film was The Castle of the Living Dead (1964). Later credits in his remarkable career include The Saint (1965-66), The Dirty Dozen (1967), M*A*S*H (1970), Kelly's Heroes (1970), Klute (1971), Don't Look Now (1973), 1900 (1976), Casanova (1976), The Eagle Has Landed (1976), Ordinary People (1980), A Dry White Season (1989), JFK (1991), Outbreak (1995), Fallen (1998), Virus (1999), Fierce People (2005), Pride & Prejudice (2005), Lord of War (2005), The Hunger Games (2012), The Undoing (2020, miniseries) and many more. He passed away at age 88. R.I.P.

Roger Corman has passed away

Born in Detroit, Michigan, Corman had a sprawling, intellectually hungry life as a youth and young man before arriving with his first film in 1955, Five Guns West. He would follow that with titles such as Apache Woman, It Conquered the World, Attack of the Crab Monsters, Teenage Cave Man, A Bucket of Blood, House of Usher, The Little Shop of Horrors, The Pit and the Pendulum, The Intruder, The Raven, The Terror, The Masque of Red Death, The Tomb of Ligeia, The Wild Angels, The Trip, Bloody Mama and many more. As a producer he was behind almost 500 films. Arguably among the most important filmmakers of the 20th century, Corman passed away at age 98. R.I.P.

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Born in Chicago, Friedkin accrued TV credits prior to his advance to the big screen as the director of Good TImes (1967), The Birthday Party (1968), The Night They Raided Minsky's (1968) and The Boys in the Band (1970) before his major breakthrough, The French Connection (1971), for which he won his only Oscar. He followed it up with the even bigger smash, The Exorcist (1973), arguably the best horror film of all time, for which he was Oscar-nominated. Later credits include Sorcerer (1977), Cruising (1980), To Live and Die in L.A. (1985), Rampage (1987), Rules of Engagement (2000), Killer Joe (2011) and The Devil and Father Amorth (2017, documentary). Friedkin passed away at age 87. R.I.P.

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Born in Alabama to deaf parents, Fletcher got her first credits in late-1950s TV-series.She took a 10 year-long sabbatical to devote her time to motherhood after the release of A Gathering of Eagles, but then came back and soon saw her career's most important part, as Nurse Ratched in One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1975), for which she won her sole Oscar. Later credits include Exorcist II: The Heretic (1977), The Lucky Star (1980), Brainstorm (1983), Two Moon Junction (1988), Cruel Intentions (1999), A Perfect Man (2013) and many more. Fletcher passed away at age 88. R.I.P.

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Adopted from an orphenage at a young age, Liotta got hooked on acting in high school. He had various TV credits in the late 1970s and early 80s, with his film debut in The Lonely Lady (1983). Later credits include Something Wild (1986), Field of Dreams (1989), Goodfellas (1990), Cop Land (1997), Hannibal (2001), Blow (2001), Narc (2002), John Q (2002), Identity (2003), Observe and Report (2009), Youth in Revolt (2009), The Details (2011), Killing THem Softly (2012), The Place Beyond the Pines (2012), Shades of Blue (2016-18), The Simpsons (2018, TV-series), Marriage Story (2019), The Many Saints of Newark (2021), Black Bird (2022, TV-series) and many more. Liotta passed away at age 67 in his sleep while on production in the Dominican Republic. R.I.P.

Philip Baker Hall has died

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Film Excess - Free Ukraine - Stop Putin - End the war NOW!!

Eagerly anticipating this week ... (15-24)

5/28/2022

Heart of Glass/Herz aus Glas (1976) - Industrialized apathy explored in Herzog's odd art drama

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