“Woyzeck” deals with a German rifleman, named Woyzeck, who, at 40 years old, is still at the lowest rank in the army, penniless and poor. He has a child with a young woman, out of wedlock, and gives her all his money, little as it is, to take care of the child.
Woyzeck is not a smart man, or, at least, he could be, if he wasn’t completely downtrodden. He does menial work for his captain, who often lectures him on virtue and life, gleefully sitting in a chair while Woyzeck rushes to shave his face. Meanwhile, a medical doctor is performing cruel psychological experiments on the rifleman, forcing him to eat nothing but peas, then showing off his irregular pulses to his contemporaries.
Through all of this, Woyzeck comes home, but cannot bring himself to stay with his wife, embarrassed to talk to her. He’s miserably poor and knows that there’s no redemption for him in the future.
Naturally, his wife, a lusty, fun-loving woman, goes to seek the attention of another man, which is the tipping point for Woyzeck.
Herzog’s film is thankfully short, as it lacks the power or the direction to captivate the audience. Instead, we’re treated to Kinski’s haunted eyes, meekly suffering in the lowly gutter of his station. He’s a footstool, and he knows it.
The film is a huge departure from Kinski’s other collaborations with Herzog, which usually featured him as frothing at the mouth, screaming orders. Here, though, we see Kinski as a frightened mouse, battered by the laughing paws of bigger animals. No examination of Kinski’s ability as an actor is complete without his tremulous role here.
There’s one scene that stands out, other than the terrifying ending: Woyzeck finds himself in a pub with the soldier that is sleeping with his wife. The other man is a drum major, with a proud blue uniform, built solidly like a tree. There’s an altercation and the drum major squeezes the breath out of Woyzeck, then picks him up by the scruff of the neck and the seat of the pants, like a rag doll.
Kinski always appeared larger than life, as Aguirre, or Cobra Verde. Here, though, to see him manhandled like a scrap of paper bending in the wind, has a sense of tired desperation and made me gasp for air. Even the greatest actors are nothing but a sack of flesh, which withers with time.
I say: Slow-moving and confusing, this may not appeal to everyone, but Herzog/Kinski fans will appreciate the slow buildup and fiery ending.
See it for: Eva Mattes plays Woyzeck’s wife – though she’s not a great beauty, she has a lusty, nubile look, making her situation with Woyzeck even more tragic.
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