WOYZECK

Germany, 1978, 82 minutes, Colour.
Klaus Kinski, Eva Mattes.
Directed by Werner Herzog.

Woyzeck was written and directed by Werner Herzog. It is one of several films that the actor made with actor Klaus Kinski. These included Aguirre, Nosferatu, Fitzcarraldo. Kinski is an intense actor and is required to give a manic performance here as an ordinary soldier in Germany of the early 19th century, a hard working man, a man conscious of his class, fixed in his morality in the lower classes, used as an experiment for a physician to test human capacities given particular diets. It culminates in his violent murder of his lover.

The film was based on a 19th century German play and photographed in Czechoslovakia. The film is a philosophical reflection on a variety of issues, military chiefs, the wealthy, women all reflecting on ethics, philosophy and morality. The running time is short - but it is quite a striking intellectual film.

1. The work of Werner Herzog, his intensity, exploration of him in relationships, philosophical reflections, social themes, madness and violence?

2. The adaptation of a 19th century play? The brief running time? Episodic? The cumulative effect of the scenes and the portrait of Woyzeck?

3. Czech locations, the period town, the military? The musical score?

4. The philosophical reflections about life, class, religion, morality, the military and war, the church, Mores, medicine and experimentation? Personal responsibility?

5. Klaus Kinski, his screen presence, his intensity? The credits and his drilling, always in a hurry? Cutting the officers hair and the discussion? With the Maree and the child? His various tasks? The discussions, the haste? The doctor and the experiments, the diet? His illness? His being set up as an example? His growing jealousy, the pressure, the relationship with Maree, his violent eruption and killing her? The return to the inn, the women and his advances, his deranged state?

6. Maree, the child, her love for Franz? The discussions, his erratic visits? The attraction towards the officers, relationships and affairs? Bewildered by Franz's erratic attention? Her death? The pathos?

7. The military types, the garrison, life in the garrison, work, the officers, the ordinary men? The use of the army, the garrison and the presence? Philosophising about war and violence?

8. The doctor, 19th century medicine, his experiments, diet? The effect on Woyzeck and his observations? His responsibility for Woyzeck's behaviour?

9. The town, the people, the times? A glimpse of another world?