The first Herzog film I think I've ever seen is: Even Dwarfs Started Small. They showed it during the Cinema Season last year(2010) during my Foundation at Camberwell. It was one of the films I enjoyed the least at the time. I think the shock factor of it being so radically different from what I would normally watch just threw me off- I remember saying to Peter 'this is soooo weird!' a dozen times during it. Luckily, we had a long conversation about it afterwards and saw one or two of his other films since then, and I have truely fallen for Herzog's directing. In fact, I would love to go back and watch the Dwarfs film again and see if my impression changes- I think I would appreciate the filming more.
I digress...
I found this film while I was researching Cuban Film Posters for our essay (seen above).
Peter came over (my film buddy) and we watched it tonight.
What captured me most was the story- a tragic but beautiful one- told in such a realistic manner. Kasper Hauser's peaceful, quiet, and trusting nature, the subtle but effective styling, the nearly-painful slow scenes, the interaction with animals, the impeccable ease that Herzog captures a life apart from societies normal 'rules', the beautiful german with subtitles, the tension slowly built up in places, the dream sequences, when he first sits at a table and every distraction is shown to us one by one and we feel overwhelmed like he would... plus the way this mans brain worked, the things he said. So wonderful.
"Why can't I play piano like I breathe?"
"The apple is tired. Let it rest... See it is smart. It jumped over your foot and ran away... Smart apple."
"It feels strong in my heart... The music feels strong in my heart... I feel so unexpectedly old..."
"It seems to me that my coming into this world was a very hard fall."
I also thought it might be relevent for our society we are making- he was not concerned with how things were meant to be- but wanted to learn and be and he found beauty in simple things (like the garden).
P.S. there were a few scenes where it looked like he was knitting or crocheting. made me smile.
This is one of those films that truly captures my attention. No crocheting allowed while watching it!
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