Jeder für sich und Gott gegen alle (1974)

User Rating:

8.1/10   

Director:

Werner Herzog

Writer:

Werner Herzog (writer)

Release Date:

1 November 1974 (West Germany)

Genre:

Biography | Drama | History

Plot:

Herzog's film is based upon the true and mysterious story of Kaspar Hauser, a young man who suddenly appeared in Nuremberg in 1828...

Plot Keywords:

Captive | Logic | Nonconformity | Social Guidance | Re Education

Awards:

6 wins & 1 nomination

Cast

Bruno S.	...	Kaspar Hauser
Walter Ladengast	...	Professor Daumer
Brigitte Mira	...	Kathe, Servant
Willy Semmelrogge	...	Circus director
Michael Kroecher	...	Lord Stanhope
Hans Musäus	...	Unknown Man
Marcus Weller
Gloria Doer	...	Frau Hiltel
Volker Prechtel	...	Hiltel the prison guard
Herbert Achternbusch	...	Bavarian Chicken Hypnotizer
Wolfgang Bauer
Wilhelm Bayer	...	Taunting Farmboy
Franz Brumbach
Johannes Buzalski
Helmut Döring	...	Little King

Also Known As:

Every Man for Himself and God Against All
Kaspar Hauser - Jeder für sich und Gott gegen alle (West Germany)
The Enigma of Kaspar Hauser
The Mystery of Kaspar Hauser
El enigma de Gaspar Hauser (Spain) [es]
Kaspar Hauser (Hungary) [hu]
Kaspar Hauserin tapaus (Finland) [fi]
Kasper Hauser - var och en för sig och Gud mot alla (Sweden) [sv]
Kazdý pro sebe a Buh proti vsem (Czechoslovakia: Czech title) [cs]
L'enigma di Kaspar Hauser (Italy) [it]
L'enigme de Kaspar Hauser (France) [fr]
O Enigma de Kaspar Hauser (Brazil) [pt]
O kathenas gia ton eafto tou kai o Theos enantion olon (Greece) (reissue title) [el]
Tajna Kaspara Hausera (Croatia) [hr]
To ainigma tou Kaspar Hauser (Greece) [el]

Runtime:

110 min

Country:

West Germany

Language:

German

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Australia:PG | Canada:G (Québec) | Canada:PG (Ontario) | Sweden:11 | UK:PG | West Germany:12 (bw)

Filming Locations:

Dinkelsbühl, Bavaria, Germany

Company:

Filmverlag der Autoren

Quotes:

Kaspar Hauser: Mother, I am so far away from everything.

Movie Connections:

Featured in Was ich bin, sind meine Filme (1979)

My favorite Herzog Film

Even if this film had failed on the level of character or narrative (which it doesn't), I would still love this movie for its incredible imagery. The memory/dream sequences are haunting and will never leave my head. The opening shot of a field, long blades grass bowing under the wind to the music of Pachelbel, is extraordinary. And of course there's the performance of Bruno S, the most intensely hypnotic and genuine performance you will ever see.

But my favorite scene is of the impresario and the dwarf king and his kingdom. This is a true Herzog moment -- bizarre but somehow still a moment of striking epiphany -- the dwarf a parallel, isolated soul to Kasper's own isolated, lonely soul. The extremity and weirdness of moments like these seem commonplace and everyday in a Herzog film, and therefore somehow commonplace and everyday even in our own lives. One of my ten favorite films of all time.