The Mystery of Kaspar Hauser [VHS]

The Mystery of Kaspar Hauser [VHS]
by Werner Herzog

The Mystery of Kaspar Hauser [VHS]

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Product details

Actor: Brigitte Mira, Bruno S., Michael Kroecher, Walter Ladengast, Willy Semmelrogge
Director: Werner Herzog
Cinematographer: J?rg Schmidt-Reitwein
Producer: Werner Herzog
Writer: Werner Herzog
Editor: Beate Mainka-Jellinghaus
Writer: Jakob Wassermann
Edition: VHS Tape
Audio: English (Subtitled)
Format: Color, Letterboxed, NTSC, Subtitled
Running Time: 110 minutes
Release Date: 1998-01-01
Audience Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Publisher: New Yorker Video
Studio: New Yorker Video

VHS Movie Reviews of The Mystery of Kaspar Hauser [VHS]

Movie Review: Visionary art film - a personal favorite.
Summary: 5 Stars

I've just finished watching 'The Enigma of Kasper Hauser' three times in the space of two days, the third time with the voice-over commentary of director Werner Herzog. Obviously I am of the opinion that this is an important and meaningful film. As I make that statement, I'm also fully aware that the film won't appeal to many because of Herzog's idiosyncratic methods of film-making.

Herzog describes himself as not being a theoretician, but rather a director who acts largely on creative instincts. There are certain actors whom he loves for having an appearance which appeals to this mysterious inner instinct. The same goes for landscapes, architecture, room arrangements, and basically anything which has a singular, strange, or unique aura. Herzog says that initially many of these insertions into his films seem out of place, but in retrospect, they somehow add a needed and perfect touch.

This reliance of Herzog on his creative intuition as being infallible was a revelation to me. When watching 'The Enigma of Kaspar Hauser' I had thought, perhaps, that many of the incidental scenes or sequences had been specifically planned to direct the viewer's mind into a recognition of certain metaphysical or philosophical concepts he wanted to convey. But we find from his commentary that some of the most mysteriously evocative and beautiful sequences came from very incidental sources, but were somehow integrated into this film in such a manner they seem indispensable. The many shots of animals in captivity, the scenes of Kaspar with an infant and other children, an isolated but lingering shot of a crucifix with a suffering Christ, all seemed to carry a tacit message about the condition of Kaspar in relation to the world, but of these obviously deliberate devices, Herzog said nothing.

This fusion of intuition as well as intentionally crafted elements make for a very powerful combination. There is a great cohesiveness and direction to the story, but also a transcendent and visionary aspect which could not have been achieved had the the film been assembled too deliberately.

Overall Herzog was faithful to the actual circumstances of the events regarding the mystery of Kaspar Hauser, but did indulge in some fabricated events in order to give expression to some personal artistic, or perhaps, psychological impulses. But the story as it was actually recorded by historical accounts provided ample material for the sort of message Herzog wanted to embed in the film.

Kaspar, suddenly thrust into society, after having been locked in isolation all his life, is poked, prodded, patronized, cajoled, and coerced in an attempt to make him conform to the accepted values of his supposedly more advanced fellows. But due to the un-imprinted nature of his blank mind, Kaspar sees the world and its phenomena in a fresh and unbiased way, not having acquired the prejudices and preconceptions of his instructors. His insistence on the validity of his naive way of perceiving causes consternation in the professors, priests, and philanthropists who all try to influence Kaspar to accept their view of reality.

These would-be benefactors are so affronted by meeting opposition to their dogmatic opinions that they fail to comprehend that Kaspar in some ways has surpassed them in insight. His insistence on representing the truth as he sees it bestows on him an aura of dignity, almost saintliness, despite the halting and uncouth mannerisms which he is never able to completely overcome. Kaspar is much more attuned to spiritual, or, psychological truths than his contemporaries, who reveal their basic smallness of mind by being consumed with the need for reductionist explanations for Kaspar's enigmatic behavior.

In the spirit of this representation of the contrast between Kaspar's uninhibited, hence radical, outlook and the petty, bourgeois insistence on "facts", details, and common-sense, Herzog was right not to analyse his film too intricately. He gives indications of the general drift of what he wants to say in the film, but delights more in talking about how it came together as a complete whole through strokes of intuition and the providential availability of cast, scenery, and film artifacts which were originated in completely different contexts than 'The Enigma of Kaspar Hauser'.

Werner Herzog's original title for the film was 'Every Man for Himself, and God against All' which seems much more pertinent than the title used for American release. It is a dark and mysterious film, beautiful both in it's visual quality and it's emotional evocations. As I said at the beginning, there are many who won't appreciate this kind of film-making, but if you enjoy movies which make their statements mostly by implication and which explore substantial metaphysical concepts, this might be a winner for you.

Movie Review: Not what I thought it would be
Summary: 1 Stars

I was looking for a movie in German, it was advertised, on the cover it states as the language - German it is in English

Movie Review: "What a fine, what a beautiful report this will make!"
Summary: 5 Stars

When Clemens Scheitz, the scribe from "Kasper Hauser", walks away at the end of the film, muttering to himself what a fine report he will make of the mystery of the abandoned young man Kasper Hauser, it is apparent that Werner Herzog is making a statement about missing the forest for the trees. Or perhaps a more apt analogy would be missing the beauty of the forest because we are too busy counting all the leaves. Either way, the true enigma, the true mystery surrounding Kasper, according to Herzog, is not so much where he came from and how he existed before being abandoned in the village square, but how a person with no experience whatsoever with the outside world would perceive reality. What would a bird, a tree, a fellow human seem like to someone who had been locked in a cellar for their entire life? How would it be different from someone with a normal upbringing? Would either one be more valid?

At the end of "Kasper Hauser", I realized I had watched a very tender movie, one that floated around the edges of my mind for several days after. I am not a fan of all of Herzog's films, though I do enjoy several of them. But what makes "Kasper" one of his best is the fantastic performance of Bruno S. I believe Herzog took some flak for casting Bruno, since there was some question of his competancy. I don't know about that, but I thought he handled the acting chores in both "Kasper" and in Stroszek superbly, and because of Herzog's direction, Bruno's characters emerge with the most humanity, the most dignity.

This film garners high reviews here, and deservedly so, for its thought provoking subject matter and sensuous filmmaking technique. Someone unfamiliar with Herzog's films might be disappointed after watching though. This is not your standard Hollywood type movie. That's not to say one is better than the other - beauty is always in the eye of the beholder - but this is a German film, with English subtitles, and that is enough to discourage some people from watching right there. The other thing is Herzog's directing style is also different, at times difficult to adjust to. When he discovers a shot he likes, he lingers. And lingers. And lingers some more, until, as a viewer, I'm tempted to shout at the screen, "Ok, already".

If you are a Herzog fan, and haven't seen "Kasper Hauser", I'd strongly recommend it. If you are not, but are looking for something different and thought provoking, then it's definitely still recommended, though with the caveat that Herzog's films require a bit of an adjustment if you are used to the mainstream. With some patience and open-mindedness, though, they can also be just as fulfilling, if not more so.

Movie Review: "I dreamt of the Caucasus..."
Summary: 5 Stars

It seems that every Herzog film I see is better than the last, and "The Enigma of Kaspar Hauser" continues that trend. Herzog tells the story of the apparently feral youth who showed up in a Bavarian town in the early 19th century, and of the five years he lived being groomed for "civilization."

In Herzog's hands, the tale is a melancholy and occasionally poignant one. Hauser is unspeakably abused for most of his life by his jailer (his father?), chained to a cellar basement with no human companionship, never having seen the light of day. Upon his mysterious release, he's barely able to speak or stand, and is viewed as something between a "noble savage" and a monster. Taken in hand by a kindly doctor, Kaspar gradually learns to speak and to feel and haltingly express sometimes overwhelming emotions when confronted with the beauty of the natural world, music, and poetry. But he feels trapped inside his own limitations and frustratingly stymied. As his Sehnsucht deepens, he finds himself increasingly alienated by the civilized world into which he's been cast and the identity that's being forced on him by those authority figures who think they know best.

The depth of Kaspar's soul-hunger is expressed several times throughout the film, but perhaps the most memorable occasion is when he's asked if he ever dreamt during his years of speechless imprisonment. "Yes," he replies. "I dreamt of the Caucasus." He dreamt of high, cold, pure places. In that single line, it seems to me that Herzog captures the mystery, joy, and tragedy of the human longing for transcendence.

The script is excellent, the cinematography entrancing--corn rippling in the wind, Kaspar sucking an egg and gazing out through a crack in the shed where he sits, the interspersions of magic lantern-like images of tall mountain peaks and barren deserts--and the musical score nicely accenturates the scenes and story. But without a doubt, the center of the film is the incomparable performance of Bruno S. as Kaspar.

Viewers might be interested in comparing Herzog's "Kaspar" with Truffaut's "L'Enfant sauvage."

Movie Review: unforgettable
Summary: 5 Stars

One of the best films I've seen in a while. This is a very somber true story of a strange young man who suddenly appeared in the middle of Nuremberg, Germany in 1828. He had been abandoned by his parents and was left locked up alone in a dungeon for 17 years. He had no human contact other than a man who would come in to periodically clean and feed him (bread and water) like a caged animal. For whatever reason which was not explained, the man who fed and cleaned him eventually took him out, taught him how to walk and write and discarded him in the middle of town. This story focuses on his life and interactions with others. I think the film was beautifully done and it will haunt my memory for a very long time, perhaps forever.

Hauser's character mentioned in the film "why is everything so difficult for me?". Are things much easier for any of us though? We learned how to do a lot more at a younger age than him, but we all struggle to varying degrees. Hauser struggles in ways most of us as adults don't, but we struggle in ways he does not.

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Summary of The Mystery of Kaspar Hauser [VHS]

In his widely acclaimed attempt to fathom The Enigma of Kaspar Hauser, director Werner Herzog probes a real-life mystery that has puzzled German society for nearly two centuries. In the title role, Herzog ingeniously cast the equally mysterious street musician Bruno S., whose mesmerizing performance is unique in the history of film. Isolated since infancy in a dank cellar, the now-adult Kaspar is abandoned in 1820s Nuremburg by his unknown custodian; townsfolk futilely speculate on his origins, and he's shaped by a bourgeois villager who places rigid, conflicting restraints on his new and peculiar perspective on the world around him. It's telling that Herzog's preferred title is Every Man for Himself and God Against All, for this is an eerily effective cautionary tale about an innocent man of nature who moves from one prison to another in a cruelly fateful universe. The mystery lingers, making The Enigma of Kaspar Hauser a deep, resonant reflection on the nature of humanity. --Jeff Shannon

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