Woyzeck (1979) User Reviews

"Running through creation like a razor"

[Steffi_P · 7/10 · 27 July 2007]

Woyzeck is Werner Herzog's only ever adaptation of a stage play. There are always problems in the transition of a play from stage to screen. The theatre relies on the power of words and performances, whereas cinema is built more upon images and set pieces. Herzog, an unconventional yet adaptable director, handles the conversion well, giving it a cinematic presentation while still retaining the integrity of the source material.

Buchner's play is a strong story, albeit incredibly grim and depressing. Klaus Kinski, as the title character, is driven insane by military routine and scientific over-analysis, and apparently the role had an irreversible effect on the already psychologically unstable actor. It's typical Herzog material, looking at insanity, dehumanisation and people driven to extremes. Also, like his previous picture Nosferatu, it is another link between the German New Wave and the German Expressionist movement of the 1920s, as it shares that movement's obsessions with psychological analysis and social entrapment.

In filming Woyzeck, Herzog creates an unusual mixture of obviously real locations and rather static, theatrical direction, with few cuts or camera moves. In typical Herzog style there is an unnerving quietness and tranquillity. He isn't afraid to flaunt the advantages of the cinematic medium over the theatrical, with some beautiful landscape shots, and Kinski darting about in and out of close-up and stepping into shot from behind the camera – an effect impossible on the stage. The climactic murder scene is also very well done, and here the picture is at its most openly cinematic.

Kinski is clearly very deep in his performance, and its no wonder the material had such an impact on him. It's a pity, but he is ideal for the role. It's hard to imagine anyone else bringing that much intensity and realism to the part. Really, these collaborations between him and Herzog are the best examples of his unique acting talent because they were, as far as I know, the only opportunities he had to play lead roles. Also worth a mention here are the excellent supporting performances from Eva Mattes and Josef Bierbichler, European actors who deserve far more recognition.

Because of its theatrical origins Woyzeck is perhaps the one Herzog film in which the narrative takes precedence over the look of the thing. On the one hand, this is a good thing because it is much more focused and doesn't digress as his pictures tend to. But for me it also makes it a weaker entry in his filmography, because his films generally rely on their powerful imagery. Still, it is watchable, short and sweet, with some interesting moments.

Nightmare schizo-comedy - Shakespeare a la Herzog

[mstomaso · 8/10 · 3 October 2005]

I will put the bottom line at the top so you can decide whether to bother reading on (and seeing this film).

This is certainly not a film for everybody. If you find the following review annoying, and you feel as if you wasted time reading it - BY ALL MEANS - avoid seeing this film, you simply won't enjoy it.

Another Herzog-Kinski masterwork, Woyzeck is one of the weirdest films of the 1970s. I do not use the word "weird" very often, but it is so appropriate for this film that an endless string of adjectives, adverbs and modifiers I would need to replace it seem thoroughly inadequate. Despite the vast and deep power and beauty of this film, I don't want to label it "good". Unlike some of the less surreal Herzog-Kinski collaborations, the amount of attention you pay to this film does not necessarily correspond to the amount of sense you will be able to make of it. Mostly, I think it's a film about psychosis - both personal psychosis (Woyzeck himself) and social psychosis (Woyzeck's miserable treatment at the hands of virtually everybody around him in his back-water town in Nazi occupied Poland).

For the first half of the film you will feel as if you are playing a VERY serious version of Monty Python's "Spot the Loonie." But, in this case, you are looking for the HEAD LOONIE in a whole melange of maniacs. The string of soliloquies which eventually leads to the climactic ending, hearkens back to Shakespearean tragedies, but until the very end, you don't necessarily know whether to think of this film as a comedy or the very dark and sinister tragedy that it seems to be. Even after the film exposes itself so dramatically in the end, I am still inclined to see it as a very deranged bit of comedy as much as anything else. Such is the beauty of Herzog's artistic method - nothing is straightforward, much is hideous and beautiful, and in a peculiar metaphysical and aesthetic sense, it all makes perfect sense.

Klaus Kinski gives a signature performance and the rest of the cast, though excellent, is barely noticeable with Kinski's intensity in the foreground. Though less accessible than many of Kinski's more popular works (Aguirre, Fitzcarraldo, Nosferatu), this is nevertheless a unique and brilliant blend of one of the greatest actor-director teams of all time.

You always look so hunted Woyzeck

[jaredmobarak · 6/10 · 27 January 2009]

Playwright Georg Büchner had passed on before his work could be published in any complete way. As a result, his finished pages have been reassembled multiple times by a number of artists and writers. I guess it is a well-known phenomenon to know that certain scenes are unnecessary and others can be moved around, yet still be Woyzeck. This ability to become new with every iteration has caused the work to become one of the most performed German plays ever and, as it is here from Werner Herzog, an often confusing yet captivating piece of art.

Shot very theatrically, from the use of multiple static setups—don't be surprised to view a scene from an unmoving position while the actors come close to the lens, distorting somewhat, before they move back into frame—to the bombastic acting. Josef Bierbichler is the guiltiest here as the Drum Major our titular Franz Woyzeck's love Marie has an affair with, but both Wolfgang Reichmann and Willy Semmelrogge as the Captain and Doctor respectively don't fall too far behind him. The acting works for certain scenes, adding a sense of artifice like an interesting monologue by a drunk outside a bar, waxing poetic about how humanity is evil. There truly is a sense of the beyond as though we are watching an alternate universe with every aspect familiar yet slightly off-kilter. This effect is amplified by the camera-work, allowing for some excruciatingly long scenes depicting the breakdown of the human soul. Even from the opening credits, watching Kinski's Woyzeck do push-ups while constantly being kicked for way too long, we experience some fantastic acting as a result. No scene is more memorable than the murder of Marie, shot in slomotion while an orchestral piece plays, drowning out all sound. You can get lost in Kinski's eyes as he goes from love to anger to malice to regret. The tears welling up as we just stare at him in close-up without a cut. It's just a powerhouse-acting clinic.

Perhaps I should delve into the story a bit. Remember, though, this description comes from both the film and reading an online synopsis of the play because Herzog doesn't feel the need for exposition. Woyzeck has fathered a child with his mistress Marie, a fact that the entire town knows. In order to support them, he begins to do odd jobs for his military Captain—shaving him for instance—and participates in clinical studies with a local doctor, the current experiment being that he eats only peas. Woyzeck is beaten physically and emotionally until he can take no more. Breaking from reality, he starts to hear and see things; anger boils inside him, unable to stay there as the voices beg him to let it out. Like a trained lab animal, Woyzeck drifts off into his thoughts, but is at the ready when spoken to by a superior officer—posture straight and all "yes sirs". He is no longer a man of free will; everything he does is either an order, a remark made to plant the seed, or his insanity speaking out to him.

There are many existential aspects throughout with outside forces assailing him without an ability to stop them. He becomes the circus trick so blatantly metaphoric to a dressed-up monkey and mathematical genius horse in a scene that contains the most glaringly strange cut of Marie basically leaving her child and Woyzeck to sit all giggly with the Drum Major two rows back. Used and abused by society, Woyzeck is a stand-in for what stronger people have been doing to the weak for centuries. Made into a parlor trick, an entertainment for those who wield control over him, this man is at the mercy of no longer differentiating between right and wrong. It is an interesting thing done by Herzog in that he doesn't show us the man before the insanity. Rather, we are introduced to Woyzeck at the cusp of his tipping point, almost saying that we are all there, just waiting to be pushed over. To be human, therefore, is to be fragile enough to allow yourself to be manipulated from emotion, to be led astray.

In the end though, this is Herzog's vision of the story: a man lost and left alone by society rather than embraced and brought inside it. Someone so troubled that he would kill the one thing he loved above all else, whose insanity leaves him unsure of how to even dispose of the murder weapon. After throwing the knife into the river, he follows it deeper and deeper, telling himself they might find it. I originally thought this was him going to his death by drowning, (verified when reading a play synopsis), however, when the police are shown at the end, I thought the man at the left was Woyzeck there to identify the body. And the river wasn't very wide, so he'd have gotten to the other side. Either way, it concludes with written text superimposed over the image speaking of how it had been so long since they've had a murder quite like this. Even here, Woyzeck is proved to be the catalyst for a demented storybook ending, the cause of a new spectacle for the people to see. Society has become so lost that rather than see the human tragedy of a dead woman, they just see the excitement of a murder and all that goes along with it. Humanity has decided to sever ties with itself, death just another stage of life to be gawked at by outsiders, the value of the soul all but gone.

My Favorite Kinski/Herzog

[chexmix · 2 June 2003]

I seriously need to re-watch *all* of Herzog's films, but in the flicker of memory this is my favorite.

For me, the static camera-work fits the hothouse atmosphere of Buchner's play perfectly. I think especially of the early scene where Woyzeck is shaving the Captain, and the camera doesn't move *at all* for what seems like forever ... technically, it is reminiscent of some of Jim Jarmusch's early films where the camera is hilariously static. Here, it is horrifyingly static.

And Kinski has never been more possessed, more demonically almost out of control. I just can't watch him, particularly during the intense (slow motion!) climactic sequence, and then "come back" to Hollywood movies and watch ... well, say, Kevin Costner. Sorry. Guess I'm a snob.

Finally, the strange, sawing music just sends me over the top every time, my skin tingling. To me this is an absolutely unforgettable, brilliant film experience. It disturbs the living hell out of me, and I like that.

Compellingly bleak ...

[parry_na · 7/10 · 23 November 2019]

Made the same year as the peerless 'Nosferatu the Vampyre', 'Woyzeck' again brings together the mighty partnership of Klaus Kinski and Director Werner Herzog. Whereas Kinski's portrayal of the vampire remains a highpoint of understated power, here his intensity hits overdrive and crosses the blurred line between insanity and over-acting.

The story is a deceptively simple one. Woyzeck is a soldier who is forced to take menial jobs and perform degrading experiments in order to feed his family. This leads to his mental breakdown, which results in a shocking act at the film's climax. As he loses his mind, you can believe in him totally, but that is partly because his frantic movements and extreme facial expressions indicate the grip of his senses is fragile to begin with. In true Herzog style, the film drinks up the main character's flaws and falls from (lowly) grace without spectacle or glamour.

Although the relationship between director and leading man was always fractious, co-star Eva Mattes as Marie has always spoken fondly of Kinski and their time working together.

The film is typically bleak but compelling. My score is 7 out of 10.

The tale of an unsettling army private with a sturdy performance from Klaus Kinski

[ma-cortes · 7/10 · 26 July 2021]

Based on the play by Georg Buchner about Franz Woyzeck : Klaus Kinski as an unfortunate and hopeless soldier . Mired in the ranks of the Germany Army he finds alone and powerless against a ruthless society and a rigid military authority that exploits him , as well as being harassed by his superiors and tortured in bizarre scientific experiments . Tormented by rare visions and weird voices , betrayed by his wife : Eva Mattes , in public by the unbearable weight of social and sexual oppression , he is increasingly pushed to the edge .

Chilling and sad portrayal of a man plunging into insanity when he is assaulted from all sides by forces he can not control , being caught between the cruel command , poverty and his distant wife . Werner Herzog's film is based upon a prestigious play dealing with a very strange , mysterious and bizarre character , gradually devolving into maniac instinct . Not the same dizzy folly as Aguirre , but Herzog´s similarly long perspective conjures as a brooding and thought-provoking film of man's aimless tracks throughout an egoistic society and harsh vision of human suffering beyond despair , eventually cracking when he discovers his wife's infedility . Here there are echoes of prestigious authors as Shakespeare , Beltor Bretch , Samuel Beckett , among others . Klaus Kinski gives a portentous interpretation in the title role as the hapless soldier who snaps when he learns his wife is having an affair. Along with Eva Mattes who is pretty well too , as his unfaithful spouse .

The motion picture was competently directed by Werner Herzog, though some may find hard to take . This great German director Herzog has made several thoughtful , provoking and interesting films , such as : "Fata Morgana" , "Aguirre Wrath of God" , "The Enigma of Kaspar Hauser", "Heart of Glass" , "Stroszek", "Woyzeck" , "Nosferatu the Vampire", "Where the Green Ants Dream" , "Cobra Verde" ,"Lessons in Darkness", "My Dearest Enemy", "Invincible" , "The White Diamond", "Grizzly Man", "Rescue Dawn" , among others. Rating : 7/10 above average and irresistible movie thanks to Kiski's extraordinary performance . The flick will appeal to Werner Herzog and Klaus Kinski followers.

That Wacky Klaus Kinski

[gavin6942 · 7/10 · 3 February 2016]

Franz Woyzeck (Klaus Kinski) is a hapless, hopeless soldier, alone and powerless in society, assaulted from all sides by forces he can not control.

Filming for "Woyzeck" in Telč, Czechoslovakia, began just five days after work on Herzog's "Nosferatu the Vampyre" had ended. Herzog used the same exhausted crew and star. The scenes were accomplished mostly in a single take, which allowed the filming to be completed in only 18 days; it was edited in just four. This does not surprise me in the slightest given the huge body of work that Herzog has put out.

This film really begins and ends with Klaus Kinski, one of the strangest actors who ever lived. In real life, he was a terrible person. But in many ways, this made him a great actor. He was never handsome, and always had crazy just beneath the surface. You could call him the German Jack Nicholson, bu it would be more accurate to call Nicholson a pale shade of Kinski. This may be his finest role, though for my taste I prefer such films as "Crawlspace".

Left Elbow Index

[eldino33 · 10/10 · 6 November 2009]

The Left Elbow Index considers seven specific elements of a film on a scale of 10 to 1, with 10 being highest, to help in deciding if a film is worth watching: acting, sets, dialogue, plot, character, continuity, and artistry. The acting in this film is superb and thereby rates a 10. Klaus Kinski is exceptional, so much so that it unlikely anyone else could do nearly as well in this role. He is simply stunning. In this regard, it is beyond Shakespearian. Werner Herzog, in his well publicized love-hate relation with Kinski, claims people like Brando are just kintergarten compared to Kinski--no faint praise, indeed. The sets is this film seem carefully planned and constructed. They are appropriate and uncontrived, whether indoors or out, therefore a 9. Dialogue rates a 10 in that it is at times appropriately ironic, profound, or normal. It all cases one listens to every word. The film is replete with dozens of unforgettable lines, like: "Death should be cheap but it should not be free" (by the pawnbroker selling the knife) and "When she got to the moon she found it was made of rotted wood" (by Marie). The Index believes that the plot is an 8, mostly because there seems to be some misleading action. Perhaps this is related to Woyzeck's mental state. It seems unlikely that a sane person could follow his trail. Character development rates a 10, whether related to major or to minor characters. Continuity (an 8) results in a consistent view of the action. For example, the role of the military, morality for the poor, the idea that the poor will work in heaven, and other ideas never escape the intellectual frame of the film. Consistent costuming lends to this. Herzog's background in history and the humanities certainly provides an easy 10 rating for artistry. His use of light and dark rivals that of the THE POTATO EATERS, the kitchen scene with Marie reminds one of GIRL SITTING BY THE WINDOW, and there are other traditional allusions. Herzog says he made the film in just eighteen days, and edited the cuts in just four days. He claims that is how it should be, that it was perfect. Perfect, of course, is an imperfect word. I'm not certain I would claim this film is perfect: however, it is exceptional enough for me to put it on my "see often" list. The Index gives it a 9.3---a bonus for dealing with the absurdity of human existence pushes it closer to a 10. I strongly recommend this film.

Pea Soup

[owen-watts · 6/10 · 26 October 2021]

Sadly it was only when looking this up after seeing it, and noting that it was an adaptation of an unfinished play, that Woyzeck made any sort of sense to me. It feels very empty and skeletal, which lends it a haunting ambience not really backed up by depth of plot. Kinski, playing a gaunt and penniless soldier driven mad by a diet of exclusively peas, is the central character here but plenty of others pop up and soliloquise at random. The ending seems unclear, the reasoning and purpose equally seem fairly opaque - all that's left in my mind are some picturesque images of the stunningly idiosyncratic Czech town of Telc where it was all filmed.

the most heart-wrenching piece of film Herzog/Kinski did (or, at least, that I have seen yet)

[Quinoa1984 · 10/10 · 25 November 2006]

Don't get me wrong, I thought Aguirre was a great movie, Fitzcarraldo was a wildly mad genius of an epic, and Nosferatu was a very respectable take on the legend, but watching Woyzeck is like getting an immense, harsh, and assuredly charged rush of poetic madness from a filmmaker and star who know exactly what they're doing. It's not "perfect", then again when it comes to poetry Herzog usually dominates with visuals over dialog (he's also working off of another source this time as well). But here is a case where the sense of forbidding fatalism is at an incredible high, and looking at Klaus Kinski's face at times is like looking into the soul of a truly tortured, insane form of a human being.

What's interesting, and even quite tragic to an extent, in seeing the tale of Woyzeck is that he is basically an underling, who is fed a strict diet of peas and the occasional mutton, and is totally subservient to his fairly whacked out superior officers. What it is exactly that Woyzeck is doing as an officer is anyone's guess, but to me seeing how the higher-ups treated Woyzeck is fascist (though for what end who can say, aside from their amusement at their manic squire).

Then there's Marie, played by Eva Mattes in a well deserved Cannes winning turn, Woyzeck's love and mother of his little out-of-wedlock boy. One can already tell in little scenes like when Woyzeck makes his co-soldier duck into the bushes over a 'did you hear that/see that' not-there presence that he's on edge. Needless to say it only adds salt to the wound when Woyzeck accuses Marie of adultery, as it's with a brutish Captain (Wolfgang Reichmann in a small but imposing role). And then it all leads up to a terrifying crime that comes from somewhere inside of Woyzeck, where it's been building up increasingly over time.

Herzog presents this story, based on an unfinished play, with a breathtaking visual scheme, however with less of the epic visual virtuosity of Aguirre and this time settles for something more basic, but still always eye-grabbing. I didn't even notice how few cuts there are supposed to be (less than 30), but it gives the audience much more time to really feel and be enveloped by these characters, particularly Woyzeck and Marie.

There have already been some great, powerhouse scenes- some with the tension stacked up incredibly, like when Woyzeck is stuck without an explanation, aside from crazy philosophy, as to why he urinated on a wall, or when Woyzeck makes the full-on accusation to Marie about the affair, with full Kinski-body-gyrations included- by the time the climax comes around. But for me, this is really not only one of Herzog's most moving and bleak scenes, but maybe one of the most heartbreaking in all of cinema. We as the audience can guess what has been coming; there's practically a Crime & Punishment sensibility that's been streaming forward in the ten-fifteen minutes preceding this scene. Yet the combination of three cinematic elements becomes overwhelming for me as a movie-viewer.

At first we see the actual murder happen, with the film's main music title playing over slow-motion and Kinski with a face that would make Joe Pesci cringe. But then we get another piece of music, a much more sad piece of music not heard yet in the film, as Woyzeck continues slower and slower until stopping loaded with tears in his eyes, and still in slow-motion. I started to feel so connected somehow to what was going on I teared up, too. Throughout the film I knew Woyzeck was crazy, and from the opening scene (which is actually kind of hilarious when taken out of context) throughout the picture, I knew something had to give. But the power of director's aesthetic choice, which is spellbinding and fully dramatic, and Kinski's performance make it something comparable to Dreyer and Falconetti in Joan of Arc.

While I would have recommended Woyzeck anyway, especially if you're just getting into Herzog's work, this scene alone makes it almost mandatory for many movie-buffs to seek it out. And as for Kinski, it's arguable if this might be his finest non-epic film performance, as a simple man completely torn in his mind, given to delusions of grandeur and, actually delusions of the paranoid and depleted, and to a crushing sense of loss that sends him to his conclusion. A+

Woyzeck, Werner Herzog, 1979

[FrankieTeardrop · 7/10 · 10 July 2003]

Woyzeck is a private in the German army, struggling to maintain his sanity in a world that torments him at every step. Suspecting his wife of infidelity and abused both physically and mentally by his superiors, his problems come to a head in a shocking final act. Kinski is brilliant here as the disturbed soldier, as is Eva Mattes as his wife. There are a few scenes here that aren't brilliant, but this is a very good Herzog film.

7/10.

The best Herzog/Kinski?

[enochsneed · 9/10 · 14 June 2005]

Compared with the other films they made together in the Andes, the Amazon and West Africa this Herzog/Kinski version of 'Woyzeck' seems very small-scale indeed. The shoot was equally small-scale, with a brief schedule and long takes to reduce the number of set-ups.

I think the film is all the better for this. The story telling is brisk and straightforward and the acting uniformly excellent. If Kinski had only made this one film we would have known he was a remarkable actor. From the opening scene his movement and body-language convey Woyzeck's feverish restlessness and inner tensions. Here we don't have Kinski the raving 'ubermensch', but a pitiful little runt of a man who is put upon by everyone. Even his doctor treats Woyzeck as no more than a laboratory animal. Woyzeck meanwhile is so conditioned to a life of obedience that he willingly lives on nothing but peas for months on end as part of the doctor's investigations.

The last straw comes when Woyzeck's common-law wife has a night of sex with a handsome army musician. We are not asked to judge this woman: she enjoys sex, she thinks the musician will be a good sexual partner so she gives herself to him.

Woyzeck is distraught. The one person he felt he could trust in this world has betrayed him. He can't fight back against the musician (a robust man who lifts Woyzeck with one hand). His frustration turns into tortured insanity and murder.

This short, intense film is a little masterpiece. Highly recommended.

Madness.

[Abyss47 · 6/10 · 7 June 2013]

The picture on the film's IMDb page spoils a major plot point, so make of that what you will. Unfortunately, I saw it before I watched the film.

After loving nearly every minute of the previous Herzog-Kinski collaborations, I was excited to dig my teeth into this one since I had the DVD laying around.

Unfortunately, it turned out to be a step down in nearly every category.

It's based on a stage play, so naturally, it feels more staged than its predecessors, and thus, it felt visually lacking for the most part. Don't get me wrong, though, I admired the use of lighting and shadows in certain shots, and thought the general framing was quite good. But there was rarely a shot that caught my attention and made me go, "Wow, that's great", like in Nosferatu, where there are several amazing images - I revisited that film for the first time last night. I almost feel bad for revisiting Nosferatu in such close approximation as watching Woyzeck for the first time, because it only served to illuminate just how much worse the latter is.

Kinski's presence in Aguirre and Nosferatu was extremely powerful; unforgettable, dare I say. I couldn't take my eyes off him in those films. Here, he plays a character who may have sounded interesting on paper, but turned out to be, I don't want to say bland, as Kinski did a very good job playing Woyzeck, but it's just not a character I cared to witness in action for nearly an hour and a half. He's the type of character who's psychologically damaged and gets driven insane by everything he's witnessed in society, and most likely when he was in war, which we don't get to witness. We just know he's a soldier with severe mental problems, and we get to see how he goes about his day and behaves, which is in a very unusual way. He also has to deal with getting abused at his job, by his superiors, and having to deal with his wife having apparent sexual relations with other men.

Back to the ending. Although I knew it was coming, I still found it to be an affecting sequence, as the terrific combination of Kinski's facial expressions, slow-mo, music, and the sheer brutality of the act made it a sequence I won't soon forget. Even more impressive is the fact it was all done in one take. Kinski was completely in the moment, not once seeming to be distracted. In the moments after that, he continues to be great, as he acknowledges that his wife was a necessary sacrifice for him to be free. And we notice in the dancing scene that his wife's death took a huge load off of him. That doesn't last for long, though, as people notice the blood on him and start to become suspicious that he killed someone. Woyzeck goes back to the murder scene to try and wash the blood of his wife off of him, but realizing that such a cruel act could never simply be "erased" from memory, and that murder is truly in his nature, he seemingly hallucinates and then drowns in the pond right by his wife's dead body. The final shot is of his dead wife covered up and about to be put into a coffin, with apparently some words from the play up on the screen.

This has went on for too long, so I'm going to end this by saying that although this has become my least favorite feature length Herzog film, it had enough strengths for me to consider it above average, which says a lot about how much I admire Herzog as a director. Since I own it, it'll be easy for me to revisit the film when I feel like giving it a second chance, too.

I guess I am the voice of dissent, but I hated this film.

[planktonrules · 2/10 · 13 June 2015]

For years, folks have gone practically insane extolling the virtues of the collaboration between director Werner Herzog and the actor Klaus Kinski. Their films such as "Aguirre: The Wrath of God" and "Fitzcarraldo" are favorites of many foreign film buffs. Well, I've seen these and other Herzog/Kinski collaborations and am not so enamored by them. However, of all their films, the one that I am most out of step about is "Woyzeck"--a film loved by some but which I thoroughly hated.

The film has very little in the way of plot. It's set in Germany in the 19th century and mostly consists of the lowly soldier Woyzeck (Kinski) being mistreated by everyone. His commanding officer treats him almost like a pet, the doctor does weird experiments on him, other soldiers beat him up and his wife cheats on him. This continues for the entire movie until the end, when Woyzech snaps. There really isn't much more to the story than this and I found it all very ponderous and about as interesting as watching a boil fester!

By the way, don't assume I am anti-Herzog. He's made many brilliant films (especially his documentaries) and he is the reason I saw this film in the first place.

Intense, Powerful, Disturbing

[kacey18 · 5 August 2000]

One of Werner Herzog's most unrecognized films, Woyzeck is utterly brilliant.

Few films succeed at portraying frustration and madness as much as this. Among them are Scorsese's "Taxi Driver" and Lodge Kerrigan's "Clean Shaven"

Klaus Kinski's performance is so good that just watching him is tiring, and the viewer is left anticipating when he will finally snap. Few films stick with me as much as this one and the sped up opening sequence is one of the most memorable opening scenes of any film I've seen.

Strong adaptation about the eternal scapegoat

[Horst_In_Translation · 6/10 · 31 July 2016]

"Woyzeck" is a West German live action film from 1979, so it is over 35 years old. It is probably the most known version of the famous Georg Büchner play and the reason is probably that it was Werner Herzog who adapted Büchner's work for his movie here. And the actors are well-known too. Klaus Kinski, over the age of 50, was a big star back then and here we have another collaboration between him and Herzog. He also won a German Film Award that year, even if it was for "Nosferatu" and not for "Woyzeck". Eva Mattes, very very young still, was nominated for a German Film Award for her supporting performance in here. She lost, but probably was not said as she won at the prestigious Cannes Film Festival for the same performance. This is one oh Herzog's shorter films, not counting his really short films, but only his full features. It runs for approximately 77 minutes not counting credits.

We read Woyzeck at school and I remember it being one of the works that I enjoyed more, even if I don't remember too much as it's been quite a while. I will admit that my hopes for this Herzog films were kinda high, especially as I really love some other works by the filmmakers. And i was not disappointed once again by him. It is a really solid adaptation of the story that is interesting to watch from start to finish. I know that Herzog initially intended to cast Bruno S. as the title character, but I believe going for Kinski was ultimately the right choice, even if I really like good old Bruno too. Kinski is always perfect for aggressive and violent characters and people may say Woyzeck was too nice early on here, but I don't think that. He was just restrained and it was still a convincing performance. Lets be honest here: His character was the Prügelknabe and scapegoat for everybody. The doctor and the captain constantly mocked him verbally and the Drum Major even assaulted him physically. But he was not strong enough to stand up to them either physically or in terms of reputation and profession. So his anger kept rising and exploded in the face of the only character who probably respected, maybe even loved him. You could also say that everybody else's words or deeds meant nothing to him, but Marie's actions did and she was the one who caused him to turn into a monster. The murder sequence was certainly one of the finest cinematic moments of 1979 and Kinski and Mattes really nailed their characters in there. Then again, both played very convincingly from start to finish. Woyzeck is definitely one of the better films from the 1970s. I recommend checking it out. Herzog is so reliable and here he delivered quality once again.

Werner Herzog's adaptation of Georg Büchner's classic play

[Billiam-4 · 7/10 · 16 March 2022]

Werner Herzog's adaptation of Georg Büchner's classic play was filmed an d cut in 18 days, and the quick-shot production does show in the minimalist settings, but Klaus Kinski's intense, over-heated performance remains quite memorable.

Cinema Omnivore - Woyzeck (1979) 7.3/10

[lasttimeisaw · 7/10 · 22 February 2022]

"Although a 50-year-old Kinski is incontrovertibly too old for Woyzeck, who, in Georg Büchner's play, is a military young man, but constantly seen hot and bothered, he really breaks a sweat to manifest the volcanic upheaval that seethes underneath, and this time, it is not egoism, bigotry or menace, but something masochistic, Woyzeck is a cipher, a pipsqueak, he cannot rival in brawn the drum major (Bierbichler), whom Marie fancies, rarely Kinski is seen so hapless, frantic in a piteous way, preoccupied with hallucinations and apocalyptic visions, even his movement is unnatural, also dissimilar from Dracula's tardy, calculated gait, Woyzeck doesn't walk but skulks about, hops at one's beck and call, a simian mimicry."

read my full review on my blog: Cinema Omnivore, thanks.

Good

[Cosmoeticadotcom · 8/10 · 24 September 2008]

One of the signs of a great artist is that even when not at the top of his game he is still capable of flashes of utter brilliance. Such is the case in Werner Herzog's 1979 film Woyzeck, starring his friend and bane Klaus Kinski. It is not a great film, but is a film with moments of greatness in its eighty minute length, and was the third of five films made by the director-actor team. Part of the reason the film, as a whole, does not reach greatness is because it wears its stage roots too strongly, especially in its overtly philosophic monologues. Not surprisingly, for a stagey film, the tale is claustrophobic, and was shot in just eighteen days, in 1978, in Czechoslovakia, less than a week after Herzog wrapped on his film Nosferatu, Phantom Of The Night, the remake of the F.W. Murnau silent film horror classic.

The tale is a simple one, about a German soldier, Friedrich Johann Franz Woyzeck (Kinski), in the early 19th Century, who slowly goes mad and kills his faithless lover Marie (Eva Mattes), possibly an ex-prostitute, who is having sex with another military man. Many critics claim that the woman is Woyzeck's wife, but, as they live apart and she does not bear his name, there is no evidence within the film for this assertion- which is often the case in film criticism, that false information is repeated ad infinitum. But, as simple a tale as the film tells, it is the how of this film that lifts it from possible banality to near greatness. Kinski's performance, as usual, is riveting, and even though nowhere near as mesmerizing as his titanic performance in Aguirre: The Wrath Of God, it is nonetheless brilliant.

The most commented upon scene is the one where Woyzeck murders his lover near a pond. It is done in slow motion and to music, and has a certain brilliance to it- especially as Kinski's character briefly realizes he has gone over the edge, but this sort of violence has been done before on screen, if not as well. A better scene comes when Woyzeck's doctor tosses a cat out of a second story window, and Woyzeck catches it, then quivers as the cat shits on him. It's the kind of odd thing that happens in reality that rarely occurs in film, and Kinski's portrayal of his reaction to it is every bit as wonderful as the murder scene. What separates a film like this from the trite, opulent, and ultimately stale Merchant/Ivory sort of film, however, is that this film should, by all rights, be a costume drama, yet it is not. Yes, there are costumes, but the reality shown in this film is not of soaring landscapes and marvelous old buildings, but of grimy streets, hand-held camera shots of dark, dingy little apartments, not of clean, gilt mansions. This is an intimate period piece, not a costume drama, and its people are life sized quivering little people, not semi-mythic towering heroic creatures. Herzog, as he did in Aguirre and in The Enigma Of Kaspar Hauser, shows the viewer the world as it was, not as how it should have been.

Woyzeck is usually dismissed in the Herzog canon by critics for its visuals- the darkness and static camera shots, for they claim that is part of its staginess. They're wrong. Not in that such shots are not 'stagey,' but in that that's a bad thing in the film. The visuals all work splendidly in evoking mood. The stagey aspect of the film that denies it greatness is the often too deeply philosophical monologues from such dimwitted characters. This kills some of the realism that film does better than stage productions. Yet, that's not a major quibble for this excellent little film, with the 'little' being used in all its best connotations. Whether Woyzeck is seen as a dark comedy or sinister drama depends upon the viewer's mood, to a great extent. Like all of the Herzog-Kinski collaborations, this film deals wonderfully with alienation and loneliness, the desire to stay sane under stressful and abnormal circumstances, the inability to cope with frustration, and the staving off of paranoia (usually failed) when under attack- either physically or psychologically. That so few other films, especially in Hollywood, even ponder these aspects momentarily, much less set them center stage, is a thing to be rued. Werner Herzog, however, deserves all the praise he can get, even for these 'lesser' films in his oeuvre, for a lesser Herzog will beat ninety-nine out of a hundred so-called critical 'masterpieces' from Hollywood. When failures can still get those kinds of odds you're playing with 'house money,' and that's when it's OK to think small to reach deeply.

Low-key but intense psychological drama

[Red-Barracuda · 6/10 · 24 July 2011]

Woyzeck is probably the most obscure of the celebrated Werner Herzog / Klaus Kinski collaborations. It's certainly the most low-key of the five films. While Kinski is probably at his least deranged, although this is of course very relative. In it he plays a psychologically troubled soldier called Woyzeck who is victimised from all angles. His captain and doctor continually torment him, while his wife has an affair behind his back with a macho drum major. All of this contributes to Woyzeck's ultimate descent into violent madness.

The film is quite theatrical with most scenes consisting of single unbroken takes that last for several minutes at a time with no edits. This ensures that the pace remains slow but the dramatic intensity is increased. It enables both Kinski and Eva Mattes especially to flex their acting muscles in some scenes of high emotion. To compliment this Herzog captures the picturesque town and countryside beautifully to offset the intense human dramas. While the atonal music maintains the atmosphere of discomfort. Probably not the most accessible of movies overall to be fair. Nevertheless, Woyzeck is yet another impressive Herzog/Kinski collaboration and should offer something interesting to fans of either of these two men.

As "Beautiful a murder as you could hope for"

[avshalom-mane · 8/10 · 14 September 2012]

This is not a spoiler as it reveals little more than what is included in the original trailer.

As "Beautiful a murder as you could hope for," remarks the Policeman in the final scene of Herzog's Woyzeck . And he is right. Herzog adaptation of Buchner's play is a triumph of cinema. While most "murder films" focus on plot and atmosphere rather than character (i.e. Hitchcock's Psycho), Woyzeck takes us slowly and elegantly into the protagonist's psyche in such a way that the final murder scene is an explosion of cinematic poetry. Herzog's rather faithful rendition of Buchner's play benefits from its adaptation the screen and gives up nearly nothing of the original theatrical performance. For example, in remaining faithful to the original text, the prolific amount of monologues gives us insight into the characters' internal state and makes every action more meaningful. The long speeches are refreshing after being overexposed the choppy interchange of half sentences that are characteristic of most contemporary screenplays. And yet Herzog's adaptation is not merely a filmed play.

The acting, directing and cinematography are beautifully coordinated. Kinsky's brilliant performance as Woyzeck makes us believe that there is no other actor that could pull off the role with such vigor and passion, and of course, in such a frighteningly convincing way. And of course Herzog's direction is strongly felt. And last but not least, most of the cinematography is gorgeous and beautifully framed. To be sure it is not a perfect film, there are some almost clumsy panning shots, and the film's rushed production is evident in the editing. This is why I give the film an 8. And yet this film will forever change the way you look at cinema.

Lesser, but engrossing

[Leofwine_draca · 6/10 · 23 December 2020]

WOYZECK is a lesser film from Werner Herzog, coming straight after NOSFERATU and shot in just a couple of weeks. It's another very visual production with a slow pace and a little light in terms of plotting, but in its depiction of a man driven to the brink of madness and beyond it works a treat. Klaus Kinski gives a typically unnerving performance in the title role, madder than he's ever been before, and actually better than he was as Nosferatu or Aguirre; his face alone is the kind of thing to create nightmares and his portrayal of despair is awe-inspiring. The usual odd comedy and animal scenes work quite nicely here, but it's only at the end that Herzog's full power as director comes to light during one incredible riverside set-piece.

Werner Herzog at his most disturbingly nightmarish

[TheLittleSongbird · 9/10 · 30 June 2017]

Despite being perhaps the shortest film length-wise of director Werner Herzog and actor (and one of his more frequent collaborators) Klaus Kinski, visually and thematically one may find 'Woyzeck' one of their least accessible. Then again, some familiarity with the story/play does help, as was the case with me through the Berg opera 'Wozzeck'.

Admittedly, for Herzog, 'Woyzeck' is somewhat weird and can be very disturbing and tense (like the story should be, particularly in the climactic moments), anyone looking for "entertainment" or "feel-good" (though research on the film and play should be enough to say not to expect either) are best looking elsewhere. Although it is not the most consistently involving Herzog film pace-wise, 'Woyzeck' is to me one of his most under-appreciated, it just falls shy of being a masterpiece but is still great.

'Woyzeck' is very atmospheric visually. Not one's definition of "beautiful", having more of a more static and bleaker look than other Herzog films. The production design and lighting drip with startling atmosphere though and the photography is striking in its own way. The visuals are very stylised but that's effective and essential in showing Woyzeck's state of mind and reinforcing suppression of a sexual and socio-political nature. This is particularly true in the truly harrowing murder scene, with some of the most ingenious use of slow motion in film from personal perspective, all the climactic moments benefit but particularly this scene.

The music, in mood and style, enhances the nerve-shredding intensity of the climactic scenes in particular. The use of the lovely Marcello Adagio accompanying the murder could easily have come across as a big gimmick in how it was arranged to fit the images, however as it was once again crucial in mirroring the state of mind of the titular character it proved effective.

Regarding the dialogue, there are many memorable lines that stays with one for a while, and the story has many dramatically riveting moments in particularly the final third, is rich in static but tense atmosphere and is interesting thematically. Occasionally, the pace drags a little, particularly when everyone and everything is being introduced, but not dreadfully so.

Herzog typically directs superbly, delivering on substance as well as style. Woyzeck is a brilliantly realised and vividly real titular character, and while the other characters aren't as interesting or as meaty they are hardly neglected or weak characters in this regard.

Klaus Kinski dominates the cast in a portrayal that is grippingly disturbing and intensely poignant, Woyzeck's descent is both frightening and heart-wrenching. Eva Mattes comes off best in support as sultry and feisty Marie, while Wolfgang Reichmann has fun with the Captain.

Overall, not the best Herzog/Kinski film but a very good and under-appreciated one. 9/10 Bethany Cox

Go to the theater instead!

[jeppem · 3/10 · 2 July 2008]

I had previously seen Tom Waits version of Woyzeck in the theater which I love, read the novel, which is equally good. Watching this 'classic' was a disgrace to movie lovers across the globe. I found the film cheap and mainly bought it because of Kinski I must admit. He does a good job in this movie, which just ends out being dull and long (though it isn't that long!). The scenes are built up as if you sat in the theater - long shots from one side, only with few closeups now and then. It felt to me as a waste of time, as I had hoped to watch Woyzeck THE MOVIE, not another run of a theater play. If you like Kinski, watch the movie to see his grotesque faces, if not - leave it alone.

Kinski

[turing77 · 1 August 2004]

This movie is a mere bagatelle when contrasted with Herzog's other herculean efforts on Aquirre and Fitzcarraldo. The story is simple and quaint, the scale small, but the performance by Kinski is titanic. The sequence where Woyzeck murders his wife is absolutely unbelievable. The scene is set in slow-motion to music, so all acting is visual. With his face, Kinski becomes a man who has killed his wife. This isn't acting: this is reality. It is one of the most impressive and heart-wrenching things ever captured on film. No wonder Herzog, that stickler for authenticity, kept coming back to Kinski, no matter how intolerable the man became. Eva Mattes as Frau Woyzeck is luminous, and the photography is exceptional. As with all Herzog works, there is a feast of imagery for the eyes.