Horst in Translation (filmreviews@web.de) "Stroszek" is a German movie from almost 40 years ago and the second collaboration between Werner Herzog and Bruno S. Herzog initially planned to cast him as Woyzeck, but chose Kinski for the role. To make it up to Bruno, Herzog wrote this film here and it turned into one of his biggest successes with Bruno giving the lead character his uniquely memorable touch. He is a man who gets released out of jail and needs to stay away from the booze in order to lead a normal life again. After some violent trouble with a pair of pimps, Bruno, his girl (played by Eva Mattes, who got a German Film Award nomination for her turn) and a friend move to the United States of America. And for the rest of the film we see how life for Bruno and his guys is over there. Sadly, the American Dream is collapsing pretty quickly.The film runs for over 105 minutes and I personally found the parts in Germany early on more interesting really. But that is not saying that the second half of the film wasn't good. I thought it was a very decent watch from start to finish and I find it a pity Herzog hasn't made more films with Bruno or that Bruno has not starred in other movies in the 1970s and 1980s. I definitely liked watching him. In here as well as in Kaspar Hauser from 3 years earlier. People may say that there is not really that much happening in "Stroszek", but first of all I don't think this is a valid criticism per se and secondly actually there is a lot happening. Life is happening. We see a man going for his dream, but sadly things don't go the way he hoped in the long run. I recommend "Stroszek"- This film is more proof of how good Herzog was in the 1960s. And for authentic and honest Bruno S.'s acting was at the same time. Go check it out.

Leofwine_draca STROSZEK might well be Werner Herzog's movie masterpiece. Certainly it contains material here which appears to me to be the natural high point of the director's career, some of the best cinema I've ever witnessed.The story is centred around the titular character, played with relish by Bruno S. (THE ENIGMA OF KASPAR HAUSER) in what is undoubtedly his definitive performance. Stroszek is a musician, fresh out of prison and down on his luck, who decides to emigrate to the USA accompanied by a hooker and an old man (the latter being Clemens Scheitz, a frequent - and welcome - Herzog collaborator). They go in search of the American dream, but what they find is very different.STROSZEK perfectly encapsulates Herzog's world view that the natural order of things is chaos and destruction rather than peace and harmony. Watching it makes for a depressing experience, at least for the most part, particularly because Bruno S. is such a sympathetic actor. The good news is that things change tack in the last 20 minutes, which is a mini-movie in itself, a glorious surreal comedy that gets weirder and weirder until the last, well, dancing chicken. The accompanying blues music just nails it. The ending of this film had tears of laughter streaming down my face while at the same time being completely profound and moving. It's a masterful moment that Herzog should be justly proud of and it closes a thoroughly engrossing film.

gizmomogwai Stroszek, directed by Werner Herzog, features Bruno S. who previously starred in Herzog's The Enigma of Kaspar Hauser. The actor's speaking style and mannerisms are much the same in both films, but ultimately this film falls short of the earlier one. In it, Bruno Stroszek is a German alcoholic who, released from prison, takes in a prostitute. If they're lovers, it's hard to tell, because what we see makes their relationship seem totally platonic. They are targeted for harassment, and seek a better life by moving to Wisconsin- even though Stroszek doesn't speak English. The prostitute works as a waitress, but falls back to her old patterns and abandons Stroszek and the elderly German man they were living with.There are certain messages in this film, and a probably important one is that it's hard to run away from trouble. Moving to a new city, or country in this case, doesn't always do it. When the prostitute leaves Stroszek for Vancouver, leaving him with a mortgage and no income, you know he's screwed. Beyond these elements, Stroszek is a movie with character but is not altogether impressive. Bruno Stroszek is interesting, but not as extraordinary as Kaspar Hauser. Ultimately, it leaves me a little underwhelmed.

cgodburn Stroszek is one of the best films about the American Dream ever made, which is odd because a German made it. Why is it so well made? Because right up until the psychotic, chicken dancing finale, Stroszek tells the truth about middle America from an outsider's point of view. The world that these people live in feels real and the people that inhabit the trailer filled landscape are accurate depictions. That's probably because Herzog cast non actors to play the American roles and shot on location in Wisconsin. The story, about the son of a prostitute who escapes his past from Germany and moves to America with his uncle and whore girlfriend is secondary to the great depictions of American life. Political discussions with the locals about Nazi Germany and American business contracts are scattered throughout the film. The trailer that Stroszek and his girlfriend live in is deplorable, and the job that he has as a mechanic isn't exactly what Stroszek wanted or what he was promised. While in Germany, the three main characters are told that America is the land of opportunity, a place where roads are literally paved with gold. These tales are reminiscent of the ones told to many immigrants at the beginning of the last century, only to arrive and find that America isn't exactly what they imagined.The contrast between the mid-west and Germany is a nice touch as well. Herzog could have had the main characters move to an urban environment such as New York, but it would have been too difficult to truly see the differences in the ways of life. Also, major urban environments are a very small percentage of land in this country and to apply the American Dream to a city only would be unfair inaccurate to the rest of America's population. The ending is insane, so insane in fact that the lead singer of a major rock band killed himself shortly after seeing the film. That's not to say that Herzog made him do it, but one can certainly see how the ending could send an unstable person over the edge. Until the crazy tourist trap, chicken sequence Stroszek is truth. It is truth about how people treat one another about about the myths we tell ourselves. The American Dream is an escape, but is that escape better or worse than what you came from?