In
1828 a young man (Bruno S.) is taken from a castle cell by a mysterious
man, and left with a note and a prayer book in the middle of a town.
The town's people find him and discover that he has spent his entire
life chained to the floor of the cell, never walking, talking or seeing
the outside world. A man without any knowledge and a child-like
naïvety, he is eventually taken in by a local gentleman who looks
after him for two years. Kaspar's past remains a mystery, but
there are people who seem to want him dead.
Although
based around a well documented real incident, as with his other
'historical' films, Herzog takes the basic frame and works his own
story around it. The story is that of a man who is essentially 'born'
fully grown and the script contains some wonderful references to his
naïve and child-like attitude to every day situations. There are
elements of comedy and tragedy running throughout the film - much of the
comedy comes from Kaspar's ideas, and the attempts of the townspeople
to educate him although importantly the film never mocks his situation or plays it up for cheap laughs. The
tragedy is very notable towards the start, as the people see him like a
circus animal and humiliate Kaspar - some of the scenes are very awkward and hard
to sit through. The pacing is very slow and gentle and most of the
film is dialogue based, unlike most Kaspar Hauser films it doesn't dwell on his original identity or motives.
Herzog's
direction is strong here with some clever camera-work - at the start of
the film as Kaspar is experiencing the outside world for the first
time, the camera will often focus on random, every-day objects that
Kaspar is obviously seeing for the first time. Generally, however,
Herzog keeps the direction in the background, with some nice long shots
that lets the story tell itself. The soundtrack is composed of a mix of
well known classical music that fits the film well.
While
the direction and storyline are solid, the casting proves to be the
most controversial and ultimately memorable aspect of the film. The
lead actor, known only as Bruno S. was a street musician in Berlin who
had spent most of his life in institutions and care homes after being
abused by his mother from a young age. Herzog noticed him in a short
film about street musicians and decided that he would be perfect
casting for the film role. Bruno manages to convey a
wonderful naïve innocence in the character, and his
performance is one that could easily be considered terrible, but for
the part he plays, is completely suitable. He reads every line out loud
as though reading from a script, but this is quite plausible for a man
who has only learnt language in the previous two years. He similarly
has a tendacy to sit completely still and unmoving, despite people
talking to him or moving around, something that a man who sat, bound,
on the floor of a castle for 16 years might be prone to do. There has
been some criticism of the casting of a 40 year old man in a role that
(if historically accurate) should be played by a 16 year old, however
Werner Herzog has repeatedly pointed out that the film itself is
fictional, and that the age of the character is irrelevant to the story
that emerges. Ultimately, Bruno is an inspired and unique actor who
fits the role perfectly and is mostly responsible for the film's
sucess, he would later go on to star in Herzog's
Stroszeck
(1977). There are some familiar faces in the rest of the cast
including Walter Ladengast as Kaspar's mentor, who would appear as
Van Helsing in
Nosferatu: Phantom der Nacht (1979) and the eccentric little Clemens Scheitz as the town scribe who would appear in several Herzog films including
Stroszeck (1977) and
Nosferatu: Phantom der Nacht (1979). Herzog's favourite composer, Florian Fricke (of Popul Vuh) makes a brief appearance as a blind pianist.
The Enigma of Kaspar Hauser
is a highly recommended watch - boasting a clever script and a very
strong lead performance. Among Herzog's best films and an interesting
place to start to explore his non-Kinski works. This film is not
recommended to anyone looking for a documentary style adaptation of the
Kaspar Hauser story.
