Stroszek (1977)

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General		Extras
Category	Drama	Audio Commentary-with Director Werner Herzog and Norman Hill Theatrical Trailer-in German with no English subtitling Trailer-Umbrella Entertainment trailers
Rating
Year Of Production	1977
Running Time	103:32
RSDL / Flipper	RSDL (71:09)	Cast & Crew
Start Up	Ads Then Menu
Region Coding	4	Directed By	Werner Herzog
Studio Distributor	Umbrella Entertainment	Starring	Bruno S. Eva Mattes Clemens Scheitz Wilhelm von Homburg Burkhard Driest Clayton Szalpinski Ely Rodriguez Alfred Edel Scott McKain Ralph Wade Michael Gahr Vaclav Vojta Yuecsel Topcuguerler
Case	Amaray-Transparent-Secure Clip
RPI	$24.95	Music	Chet Atkins Sonny Terry

Video		Audio
Pan & Scan/Full Frame	Unknown	German Dolby Digital 2.0 mono (192Kb/s) German Dolby Digital 5.1 (448Kb/s) German dts 5.1 (768Kb/s) English Audio Commentary Dolby Digital 2.0 (192Kb/s)
Widescreen Aspect Ratio	1.66:1
16x9 Enhancement
Video Format	576i (PAL)
Original Aspect Ratio	1.66:1	Miscellaneous
Jacket Pictures	No
Subtitles	English	Smoking	Yes
		Annoying Product Placement	No
		Action In or After Credits	No

    Stroszek is often rated as among the best of Werner Herzog's many films and documentaries. I believe that this film and Bruno S.' other film with Herzog, The Enigma of Kaspar Hauser are equal to Herzog's more noted films done with another similar idiosyncratic actor, Klaus Kinski, namely, Aguirre, the Wrath of God and Fitzcarraldo. They may not be as well known simply for the fact that Bruno S.' roles in The Enigma of Kaspar Hauser and Stroszek are not as emotionally intense as Kinski's performances in Herzog's films, nevertheless, Bruno S.' naive and simple acting style fits in well with Herzog's penchant for making films with and about eccentric characters.

    The film stars Bruno S. as Bruno Stroszek, an institutionalised man who has just been released from 2 years served in a Berlin prison. On his way out he is advised to give up on drinking, this he reacts to by immediately visiting a bar and taking in a prostitute who is down on her luck, Eva (played by Eva Mattes) into his apartment. Unfortunately, Eva's pimps pay Bruno a visit and the outcome is not good, faced with the dilemma of been threatened by standover guys, Bruno and Eva, together with his elderly, similarly eccentric neighbour, Scheitz (Clemens Scheitz), decide to emigrate to Wisconsin in the United States.

    This ode to the great American dream sadly soon becomes a parody of the great American nightmare as Bruno becomes depressed after realising that America is not a land of opportunity as he had thought, especially if you can't speak English well. He begins to drink, thus alienating Eva who returns to her old ways to get a living. Scheitz, in the meantime, convinces Bruno that life in the United States is a great conspiracy so the two of them hold up a bank, only to find it closed, so they rob a barber instead. Scheitz is arrested, Bruno buys a turkey and beer with his little money, just before setting his truck on fire and leaving it to drive in circles. Bruno crosses the street, then starts up some coin-operated attractions of animals dancing to music, and then catches a ski-lift (also going in circles) before we hear a loud shotgun noise. Is Bruno dead by the end of the film? Presumably, but what is it with this symbolic imagery of the American tradition of thanksgiving at the end of the film, when Bruno buys a frozen turkey and also passes by a Cherokee Indian. Also, what about the chicken dancing in circles in the fairground attraction and Bruno himself going on a chairlift in circles? I wonder if Bruno's love of musical street entertainment in Germany in the beginning of the film is ironically parodied in the the final scene with the dancing chicken?

    Ian Curtis, of Joy Division, apparently viewed this film prior to his suicide, and English playwright Sarah Kane's final play prior to her suicide features the lines "the chicken's still dancing/ the chicken won't stop." Indeed, the chicken does seem to just keep on going prior to the final fadeout, set to Sonny Terry's harmonica music, this scene will stay with you forever, you won't forget it!

Video

    The Region 4 Umbrella Entertainment release is an identical port of the Anchor Bay Region 2 release.

    The aspect ratio is 1:66:1, 16x9 enhanced for widescreen televisions. On a widescreen television this unique aspect ratio will actually have very narrow vertical bars on the extreme left and right of the main video image.

    The video transfer is slightly soft. There are instances of film grain evident, even though the main transfer has an average bitrate of 7.37 m/b per sec.

    Colour is distinctively bold and strong, even though the contrast is slightly muted.

    There are no significant film artefacts in the transfer which is excellent for a low budget film of the nature. (Apparently the movie was shot in Berlin and Wisconsin for about $US390000)

    Subtitles are provided for German dialogue only, the English parts of the film are left unsubtitled.

    The RSDL change occurs at 71:11 during a scene change. It is not very noticeable at all.

Video Ratings Summary

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Shadow Detail
Colour
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Film Artefacts
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Audio

    Even though there are three main soundtracks for this release, the DTS and Dolby Digital 5.1 tracks are not significantly better than the original Dolby Digital mono track. Essentially the main soundtrack was mono, with a lot of sequences in the film dedicated to dialogue.

    There are three main soundtracks. They are all in German with some English. The first track is A Dolby Digital 2.0 mono track encoded at 192 kbps, the second track is a Dolby Digital 5.1 audio transfer encoded at 448 kbps and the final track is DTS 5.1 encoded at 768 kbps.

    Dialogue is clear and audio is synchronised.

    Music is manly confined to Bruno S.' performances on accordion and piano and some blues-inspired music for the scenes shot in America.

    Surround Channel Usage is very limited, occasionally sound is mixed for the back speakers, but no very often.

    The subwoofer is not really used during the main Dolby Digital and DTS 5.1 soundtracks.

Audio Ratings Summary

Dialogue
Audio Sync
Clicks/Pops/Dropouts
Surround Channel Use
Subwoofer
Overall

Audio Commentary - with Director Werner Herzog and Norman Hill

Theatrical Trailer

Umbrella Entertainment Trailers

    Stroszek has been released by Anchor Bay in Region 1 in the United States and in Region 2 in the United Kingdom. The Region 2 release is identical to the Region 4 release. The Region 1 version of Stroszek has the same extras, with additional production notes and a biography on Herzog. It contains only the original Dolby Digital mono track. The image is presented on a single-sided DVD disc, despite this the Region 1 is actually slightly sharper and has less grain and compression issues than the Region 2 and Region 4 versions, despite an average bitrate of 5.11 m/b per sec.

    Written in four days by Werner Herzog specifically for Bruno S., as compensation for offering the main role of Woyzeck to Kinski, this film is unique and odd, but memorable. Think of it as the antithesis to the great American Dream. The iconic final scene will leaving you wanting for more and Bruno S.' naive performance will make you empathetic to the contribution he makes to his eventual outcome.

    Although this Region 4 release by Umbrella Entertainment is not as sharp as the Region 1 Anchor Bay release, the difference in quality is minimal and it doesn't really warrant getting it instead of the Region 4 version. Overall, this is a must-have for fans of New Wave German Cinema or of classic cinema in general, there are so few films like it. The burning truck going in circles and the dancing chicken, also going in circles at the end of the film, will forever frustrate those who detest unresolved endings in movies, but there is something new to be gained when your re-visit Stroszek with each additional viewing.

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Extras
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Overall