"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.
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.