Keanen's Film Blog

Stroszek is an undisputed masterpiece and one of my favorite Werner Herzog films. A depressing observation of the American dream, the weird and emotionally potent experience of watching the film makes it stand out from its later imitators.

The film is filled with inklings of what would be the driving forces of later films: accordions, hicks, truckers, and Native American tourist traps.

Harmony Korine’s work is littered with examples of what Herzog’s storytelling inspired, including cameos by Herzog himself. Though I don’t know what Korine’s thoughts are on Stroszek, it certainly seemed to influence his films from 1999 onwards.

The story of the titular Stroszek (played by Bruno S.) is an unconventional drama, more specifically a tragedy, though it feels less tragic and more odd. Stroszek is a mentally ill street musician who lives in a dumpy apartment in Germany with his slightly less eccentric friend, played by Clemens Scheitz. Stroszek woos a prostitute, played by Eva Mattes, and together they all emigrate to America.

This unconventional family ends up in Wisconsin, home of Stroszek’s friend’s nephew. Because rural farm towns exist outside time, the exact sequence of events is unimportant. Things that happen include Scheitz experimenting with animal magnetism, Stroszek’s trailer getting reposessed by a guy who looks like Bill Gates, and Pabst Blue Ribbon.

The third act starts with Eva running off to Canada with some truckers, prompting Stroszek to look for love elsewhere. After the trailer is hauled off, Stroszek and Scheitz rob a convenience store and take a frozen turkey. Scheitz gets arrested in a matter of seconds, and Stroszek takes the turkey and a rifle with him to an Indian reservation.

Stroszek parks his truck and locks the controls in such a way that it drives around in circles. It catches on fire. He goes into a ski lift establishment where there are dancing chickens.

Yeah. What follows is an ending that I don’t want to spoil for the reader. I have some theories about what it means and what Stroszek’s objective is, but you would probably disagree with my analysis. I think it suffices to say that he was looking to “get some” in an imaginary place atop the hill where the lift ends.

You don’t go up a hill for nothing. I’m not a very spiritual person, but despite what seems to occur, I really think in that in his own way Stroszek was preparing himself for a more adult-oriented sequel. Maybe I’ll be the one to write it.