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poster of The Enigma of Kaspar Hauser
Rating: 7.4/10 by 315 users

The Enigma of Kaspar Hauser (1974)

The film follows Kaspar Hauser (Bruno S.), who lived the first seventeen years of his life chained in a tiny cellar with only a toy horse to occupy his time, devoid of all human contact except for a man who wears a black overcoat and top hat who feeds him.

Directing:
  • Werner Herzog
  • Benedikt Kuby
  • Feli Sommer
Writing:
  • Werner Herzog
Stars:
Release Date: Fri, Nov 01, 1974

Rating: 7.4/10 by 315 users

Alternative Title:
The Enigma of Kaspar Hauser - US
Jeder für sich und Gott gegen alle - DE
O Enigma de Kaspar Hauser - BR
Every Man for Himself and God Against All - US
The Mystery of Kaspar Hauser - US
El enigma de Kaspar Hauser - ES
Kaspar Hauser - var och en för sig och Gud mot alla - SE
L'énigme de Kaspar Hauser - FR
Gåten Kaspar Hauser - NO

Country:
Germany
Language:
Deutsch
Runtime: 01 hour 49 minutes
Budget: $0
Revenue: $0

Plot Keyword: liberation, nuremberg, germany, curious
Subtitle   Wallpaper   Watch Trailer    

Bruno S.
Kaspar Hauser
Walter Ladengast
Professor Daumer
Brigitte Mira
Haushälterin Käthe
Kidlat Tahimik
Hombrecito, the Indian
Hans Musäus
Unknown Man
Michael Kroecher
Lord Stanhope
Henry van Lyck
Calvary Captain
Enno Patalas
Pastor Fuhrmann
Volker Prechtel
Hiltel, the prison guard
Gloria Doer
Frau Hiltel
Andi Gottwald
young Mozart
Wolfgang Bauer
country boy #2
Walter Steiner
country boy #3
Johannes Buzalski
Police Officer
Alfred Edel
Logic Professor
Franz Brumbach
bear showman
Wilhelm Bayer
employee of the captain
Peter Gebhart
man who finds Kaspar
Otto Heinzle
old priest
Reinhard Hauff
Bauer - role was cut
Philippe Mareuil
Doublure voix française de Michael Kroecher

CinemaSerf

Right - despite the fact that this is based on an actual man and actual events, it is pretty aptly titled. Werner Herzog takes a bit of a punt with his chronology of the life of Kaspar Hauser (a strong performance from Bruno S.) but there are very few definites here except for the fact that we know (or come to know) that he had spent most of his childhood chained to a bed in a cellar with his only human contact coming from a man clad in black who fed and watered him daily. Then he released him, barely mobile or able to speak, into 1820s Nuremberg armed only with the clothes he stood up in and a note for the local soldiers. The rest of the tale unravels via a mixture of a conversation from the man himself with housekeeper "Käthe" (Brigitte Mira) about his past whilst we also focus on how various elements of society try to ingratiate, capitalise upon and analyse the young man before his untimely death spawns an whole new slew of sometimes fantastic conspiracy theories. At times there's something akin to Dumas' "Man in the Iron Mask" to the thread - could he be the illegitimate son of a grandee, a rich and powerful person? Well there's the enigma - we didn't know then and maybe we never will know - and that's the concept that this film juggles quite entertainingly and provocatively. He can barely speak yet picks language up quickly and efficiently. Writing likewise. Might that suggest he comes from learned stock? We are presented with a man virginal in almost every extent - his lack of exposure to his own kind leaving him naive and vulnerable but also eager and not always endearing. His personality is an open book initially, but he colours it in quite quickly and that's as much due to those vying for influence as he gradually become more forthcoming. It all ends rather sadly, and inexplicably - so don't anticipate closure. It's a series of questions with not so many, satisfactory at any rate, answers. The production looks good, the story consistently paced and we are left with an intriguing conundrum delivered by a solid cast of character actors who encapsulate not just his predicament but their own agenda too.


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