Heart of Glass

"Only watch under hypnosis." ▼ №¢

I love Werner Herzog. He sucked us all into the madness of Aguirre, he pulled us up Fitzcarraldo's mountain, he exposed to us Dieter's need to fly. He took strange and unequaled leaps in cinematic history that left his audience awed and inspired.

This film does not constitute one of those leaps. Well, it leaps alright, but I don't think it quite lands, if you know what I mean. Herzog put the entire cast (except the prophet) under hypnosis before they were put on film. This is an interesting factoid, no doubt, and typical of the kind of lengths Herzog would go to in attempting a new cinematic vision, but in fact it makes for lame storytelling. Don't watch this film unless you are a member of the Herzog Historical Institute. It is a tiresome and garbled film that makes no sense whatsoever. (And now I just know someone's going to watch it and tell me it's their favorite movie ever.)

Favorite Moments: Two men drinking beer and quietly threatening each other's lives.