29. The Enigma of Kaspar Hauser (Jeder für sich und Gott gegen alle); movie review

 

THE ENIGMAN OF KASPAR HIUASER ((JEDER FÜR SICH UND GOTT GEGEN ALLE)

Cert PG

109 mins

BBFC advice: Contains  mild violence, bloody images, autopsy scene

I first watched The Enigma of Kaspar Hauser for a Werner Herzog season back in 2013.

Just over a decade later, we have another one at the British Film Institute to mark his 80th birthday.

So, here is a reprise of my review...

The latest movie on my assault on my missing list was the second in the Werner Herzog re-releases - the bizarre true story of Kaspar Hauser. 

Hauser was abandoned in the city of Nuremberg after spending the first 17 years of his life in a darkened cell. 

In his hand was a letter addressed to a cavalry officer. 

In it, a man, purporting to be his father, writes that he had brought up Hauser but could not continue to look after him. 

Thus, after initial scepticism, the folk of Nuremberg took him in.

Herzog's film is typical of the director - partly engrossing, partly utterly baffling.

His choice of lead actor is typically off the wall: Bruno Schleinstein was rendered temporarily deaf after being beaten by his mother at the age of three and spent the following 23 years in mental institutions. 

He was 42 by the time Herzog made the Enigma Of Kaspar Hauser - very obviously more than twice the age of the character he was portraying. 

Strange choice as it is, I can see why Herzog made it - because Schleinstein has a look that makes him appear as if he is from another world. 

His eyes are wide, his hair unkempt, and his speech strangely stilted. 

Was that the way he played Hauser or his usual persona? I don't know. 

Hauser's true story is fascinating and has become famous throughout Germany and Europe. 

It is the perfect outlet for the Herzog/Schleinstein combination because the story is as off-the-wall as they are. 

However, you probably need to be a film buff to get the most out of it.

Reasons to watch: Classic Herzog

Reasons to avoid: Very weird

Laughs: None

Jumps: None

Vomit: None

Nudity: None

Overall rating: 7/10

Did you know? According to contemporary rumours, Kaspar Hauser was the hereditary prince of Baden, who was born 29 September 1812. 

The final word. Werner Herzog: "Kaspar Hauser tries to define what we are as human beings untouched by any environment, untouched by education as if a pure human being had fallen from outer space to this planet and come into existence here fully grown up.’ BFI

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