THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Tuesday, October 24, 1995 TAG: 9510240477
SECTION: DAILY BREAK PAGE: E1 EDITION: FINAL
COLUMN: Videomatic
SOURCE: Craig Shapiro
LENGTH: Medium: 100 lines
DON'T EXPECT a disparaging word from anyone around here:
Werner Herzog is one of the great directors of our time, a fearless and focused visionary who has committed to film some of the most haunting, absolutely unforgettable images ever imagined.
``Fitzcarraldo'' and ``Aguirre: Wrath of God'' are staff favorites. Both are set in remote jungles and star the late Klaus Kinski, Herzog's on-screen alter ego, as madmen unglued by impossible dreams.
One Videomatic groupie votes for ``Stroszek,'' which probes the American dream through the eyes of three German outcasts, and the mystifying ``Heart of Glass.'' Supposedly, Herzog had his cast hypnotized before the cameras rolled!
The omission in his extraordinary catalog gets corrected today with the release of ``Signs of Life'' (New Yorker), his 1968 debut film.
It's worth the wait, if only because of the opportunity it affords to witness a craftsman in the making. Darkly comic and subversive, it's also vintage Herzog.
Set during World War II, a paratrooper named Stroszek is wounded and taken to a hospital on Crete to recover. Later, he and two other soldiers - Meinhard and Becker - are transferred to Kos. Stroszek's Greek wife, Nona, accompanies them.
The island, which has never seen any fighting, is occupied by a 60-man garrison, but the newcomers are assigned to guard an abandoned fortress and an ammunition depot that is useless to the Germans.
Isolation and futility, favorite themes of the writer-director, conspire to drive Stroszek mad. At one point, when he's trying to paint a door with a hardened brush, the soldier worries aloud, ``It's been two weeks now. Soon we will have nothing to do.''
As he did in his subsequent films, Herzog creates a real sense of place. There are long, silent shots of the sparse landscapes and seascapes. Cats, dogs, birds and fish suffer in the heat. It's even made surreal because Herzog shot ``Signs of Life'' in stark black and white and used some narration.
And the movie is symbolically loaded. Meinhard devises an elaborate trap for cockroaches and shows Stroszek how to hypnotize a chicken - by holding the bird's head to the ground and drawing a line in chalk straight out from its beak.
It's our policy not to give away endings, so we'll stop here. But for Herzog fans in particular, and fans of on-the-edge film making in general, put ``Signs of Life'' on your must-see list. (Subtitled) Videomatic says: A
(CAST: Peter Brogle, Wolfgang Reichmann, Athina Zacharopoulou. UNRATED, language; 90 mins.)
MARK IT DOWN: ``Crimson Tide'' (Nov. 14), ``Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: The Movie,'' ``Congo'' (Nov. 21), ``Apollo 13'' (Nov. 28)
TOP VIDEOS (in Billboard):
Sales: ``Cinderella,'' ``Star Wars Trilogy,'' ``Legends of the Fall,'' ``A Little Princess,'' ``Playboy: The Best of Pamela Anderson''
Rentals: ``Pulp Fiction,'' ``Outbreak,'' ``French Kiss,'' ``Don Juan DeMarco,'' ``Kiss of Death''
The Couch Report
``Exotica'' (Miramax, 1995). A fancy strip joint is the common denominator for a broken father, an irritating deejay, a coquettish stripper and a smuggler of exotic pets. The idea is obsession, and there's an OK mystery at work here. If it just wasn't so self-consciously arty. The stilted acting and hushed dialogue are maddening. Hold the pretense, please. Videomatic says: C
(CAST: Elias Koteas, Bruce Greenwood, Mia Kirshner, Don McKellar, Sarah Polley. RATED: R for nudity, language; 103 mins.)
``The Cure'' (MCA/Universal, 1995). It's hard to fault a film so well-intentioned. Joseph Mazzello is a boy with AIDS; Brad Renfro is his neighbor, a loner who becomes his friend. Director Peter Horton (``thirtysomething'') gets off track and the characters are uneven, but it's undeniably touching, with something to say about friendship. Videomatic says: C
(CAST: Joseph Mazzello, Brad Renfro, Annabella Sciorra, Diana Scarwid. RATED: PG-13 for language, themes; 99 mins.)
Also: Jon Voight in the prison drama ``Convict Cowboy'' (R); comedy, in the loose sense, with Pauly Shore in ``Jury Duty'' (R) and Al Franken in ``Stuart Saves His Family'' (PG-13); ``Warren Miller's Vertical Reality,'' his 46th ski film (unrated); and three thrillers: ``Nature of the Beast,'' ``Cover Me'' and ``Blue Flame'' (all R).
Vids for kids
``The Santa Clause'' (Walt Disney, 1995). Tim Allen's movie debut is fine for moms and dads, too. He tosses off enough one-liners to give everyone the giggles, and he's a natural as a divorced dad who reluctantly becomes the new St. Nick. It's a clever little story about the power of believing, with decent FX and an attitude to keep it from getting too schmaltzy. Videomatic says: B (Due Wednesday)
(CAST: Tim Allen, Eric Lloyd, Judge Reinhold, Wendy Crewson, Peter Boyle. RATED: PG for mild language, but it's harmless; 97 mins.)
Next Tuesday: ``Batman Forever,'' ``Bar Girls,'' ``Rain Without Thunder,'' ``Swimming With Sharks,'' ``A Night of Love'' ILLUSTRATION: Werner Herzog's 1968 film "Signs of life" is finally available.
Herzog has created some of the movies' most haunting images.
by CNB