also known as Herz aus Glas
Heart of Glass1976
What makes this film worth watching?
3 members like this review
If I fully understood the story I would expound on it but it is still a mesmerising film. The lighting in every shot is like it was set by some great Flemish artist. The actors never broke their trance like states. The opening made me believe the seer was some form of fallen angel telling his stories to a deaf populace. The music was spare and never dominated and Medieval in nature.
Starring
- Josef Bierbichler - Hias
- Stefan Guttler - Huttenbesitzer
- Werner Herzog - Glass Transporter
- Volker Prechtel
- Clemens Scheitz - Adalbert
- Sonja Skiba - Ludmilla
Poster & Images
Member Reviews (5)
If I fully understood the story I would expound on it but it is still a mesmerising film. The lighting in every shot is like it was set by some great Flemish artist. The actors never broke their trance like states. The opening made me believe the seer was some form of fallen angel telling his stories to a deaf populace. The music was spare and never dominated and Medieval in nature.
Werner does existential.
Quite literally hypnotic, Herzog's experimental film is filled with the haze of dreams and magic. This is a cinematic masterpiece. Jorge Schmidt-Reitwein's cinematography is unforgettable.
I know this isn't possible on Fandor, but I recommend watching this film for a second time with Herzog's commentary. It becomes a fascinating documentary in that light.
Still not sure how to feel about Werner Herzog films (have only watched two); they can be absolutely stunning visually in one scene but then super grainy with out-of-place shots in another. Perhaps it's done on purpose...but why? The story was a bit difficult to follow and the dialog overdone at times. With that said the acting was superb, and the characters, distinctly written --all very eccentric but in their own individual ways. Even though it was difficult to follow the story (I lost interest in the main plot about 30 min in) I kept watching simply because of the thought-provoking scenes and unusual characters. I felt that there was a message somewhere but I just couldn't find it.
There are many interpretations for the so called "grainy" shots. I believe that they are intended to appear painterly as if seen through a thin veil. Based on the woven like texture of the grain and the fact that it has no movement of it's own, I believe they may have , in fact, been shot through or overlayed during printing, with some thin fabric. And definitely not out of place. Forget about Hollywood narratives when watching Herzog. You have to look at it as poetry. If you don't you'll always be lost.