Madness

Just finished watching Werner Herzog's Woyzeck for the first time in maybe a decade, and the second time ever. A great, great film, much better than I was able to appreciate the first time.

It's impossible to get a good hold on the movie, because of the wildness of the play it largely follows. Woyzeck's madness is tantalizing because it seems to involve some sort of specific vision the audience is never quite able to grasp. But that vision seems to have some sort of terrible beauty.

I am one of those who is absolutely head-over-heels rapt by Klaus Kinski in the Herzog movies. I know a lot of his effectiveness is a result of self-conscious effects, but I go with him anyway. You just never see his combination of commitment and imagination, and he is gifted with a uniquely expressive, charismatic face. As Herzog says, Brando and the like are just little kiddies compared to Kinski when it comes to method-like acting.

Ewa Mattes is also wonderful in the movie, complicated, strong yet damaged, a perfect foil to Kinski. Her earthy beauty is thoroughly believable, though it can summon the slightly distracting question of what Woyzeck was like when they got together in the first place. Did she love him, or just use him? That we are moved to ponder these questions in such an expressionistic, almost surreal drama is a testament to the acting abilities of Kinski and Mattes.

I hesitate to attach the following clip, as it is the climax of the film and should be reached gradually. I also don't want people to think I get off on watching women get stabbed. But if you've never seen a Herzog/Kinski film before, the first minute or two of this clip should convince you to have a look.

Just before this clip starts, Woyzeck has walked Marie down to the still pond at the geographical center of the film. She sees he is very out of sorts, he talks some mild crazy talk, she asks, "What is it?", and we suddenly go into slo-mo and the grinding, keening sounds of a period, country string quartet.