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.

 

Related posts:

Werner Herzog: Jack Reacher (2012) - Highly entertaining, dark hero-vehicle for Tom Cruise (supporting actor) 
2010 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED I] 
Happy People: A Year in the Taiga (2010) - Herzog and Vasyukov invite us to meet a remote, tough Siberian people 

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?

Even Dwarfs Started Small/Auch Zwerge Haben Klein Angefangen (1970) - Herzog teases us to react with uniquely odd experimental drama

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An unusual poster for Werner Herzog's Even Dwarfs Started Small, which begs us to squint to make out what it is showing us, which is in itself quite funny

A group of dwarfs revolt against the institution they inhabit, and in fits of childlike glee destroy what they can there.

Even Dwarfs Started Small is the second film from great German writer-director Werner Herzog (Fitzcarraldo (1982)). It is an experimental drama in B/W that seems to be inspired by dreams, although it doesn't resemble any dream I've ever had. Some have opined that it has nightmarish qualities, but the contagious laughter and sheer silly glee of the dwarfs bar me from really feeling this alleged aspect of the film.
Because of the immobile, flat structure of the action, (it is not appropriate to really call it a plot), in which things just appear to happen without much in the way of causality, Even Dwarfs Started Small feels long. Some of the episodes in it are amusing, and the unique oddity of the whole movie is also hard not to embrace I find, - even if the meaning in it, - if indeed there is any, (which it is fair to be skeptical about), - escapes me.

Related posts:

Werner Herzog: Jack Reacher (2012) - Highly entertaining, dark hero-vehicle for Tom Cruise (actor) 
2010 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED I] 
Happy People: A Year in the Taiga (2010) - Herzog and Vasyukov invite us to meet a remote, tough Siberian people 
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 

Watch the first minute of the film here

Cost: 0.2 mil. $
Box office: Unknown
= Unknown
[Even Dwarfs Started Small premiered in May (Cannes) and runs 96 minutes. It was shot on Lanzarote, Spain. Stories about the production include that Herzog would direct one actor not to laugh and then tease him with a barrage of funny faces during the shot, so the guy would break down in laughter throughout the scene. One actor was overrun by the car driving in circles but was unscarred and immediately ready for more shooting. The same actor later caught fire, which Herzog put out, whereupon he swore that he could throw himself in a cactus patch and allow his actors to film it, if no one else was injured during shooting. No one was, and Herzog kept his promise. The film was released unrated in a small release in North America a few months after playing at the New York Film Festival. It played in West Germany and, years later, in Spain, Japan, Portugal, Greece and Australia. Herzog released 4 documentaries before his next fiction feature, which paired him with his 'muse' through many following films (Klaus Kinski), Aguirre, the Wrath of God/Aguirre, der Zorn Gottes (1972). 5,227 Rotten Tomatoes users have given Even Dwarfs Started Small an average rating of 3.7/5.]

What do you think of Even Dwarfs Started Small?