Land of Silence and Darkness

Last updated
Land des Schweigens und der Dunkelheit
Silence and Darkness Cover.jpg
English Land of Silence and Darkness
Directed by Werner Herzog
Written byWerner Herzog
Produced byWerner Herzog
Starring Fini Straubinger
Narrated by Rolf Illig  [ de ]
Cinematography Jörg Schmidt-Reitwein
Edited by Beate Mainka-Jellinghaus
Music by J.S. Bach, Vivaldi
Production
companies
Distributed by Werner Herzog Filmproduktion
Release date
  • 1971 (1971)
Running time
85 minutes
CountryWest Germany
Languages German, German Sign Language

Land of Silence and Darkness (German : Land des Schweigens und der Dunkelheit) is a 1971 documentary film about deaf-blind people and their experience of life. The film was written, directed, and produced by Werner Herzog. Rolf Illig provided narration.

Contents

Plot

Herzog follows Fini Straubinger, a German woman who became deaf-blind early in life, as she visits with other deaf-blind people, and discusses their struggles living in the modern world. [1] In one scene from the film, the filmmakers visit a home for boys who were born deaf-blind, in another, Fini Straubinger and her friends ride in an aeroplane. In the final scene, a man examines a tree with his hands, and embraces it.

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Werner Herzog</span> German director, producer, screenwriter (born 1942)

Werner Herzog is a German filmmaker, actor, opera director, and author. Regarded as a pioneer of New German Cinema, his films often feature ambitious protagonists with impossible dreams, people with unusual talents in obscure fields, or individuals in conflict with nature. His style involves avoiding storyboards, emphasizing improvisation, and placing his cast and crew into real situations mirroring those in the film they are working on.

<i>The Enigma of Kaspar Hauser</i> 1974 film directed by Werner Herzog

The Enigma of Kaspar Hauser is a 1974 West German drama film written and directed by Werner Herzog and starring Bruno S. and Walter Ladengast. The film closely follows the real story of foundling Kaspar Hauser, using the text of actual letters found with Hauser.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Klaus Kinski</span> German actor (1926–1991)

Klaus Kinski was a German actor. Equally renowned for his intense performance style and notorious for his volatile personality, he appeared in over 130 film roles in a career that spanned 40 years, from 1948 to 1988. He is best known for starring in five films directed by Werner Herzog from 1972 to 1987, who would later chronicle their tumultuous relationship in the documentary My Best Fiend.

<i>Fitzcarraldo</i> 1982 film by Werner Herzog

Fitzcarraldo is a 1982 West German epic adventure-drama film written, produced, and directed by Werner Herzog, and starring Klaus Kinski as would-be rubber baron Brian Sweeney Fitzgerald, an Irishman known in Peru as Fitzcarraldo, who is determined to transport a steamship over the Andes mountains to access a rich rubber territory in the Amazon basin. The character was inspired by Peruvian rubber baron Carlos Fitzcarrald, who once transported a disassembled steamboat over the Isthmus of Fitzcarrald.

<i>Lessons of Darkness</i> 1992 German film

Lessons of Darkness is a 1992 documentary film directed by Werner Herzog. The film is an exploration of the ravaged oil fields of post-Gulf War Kuwait, portrayed in a manner that accentuates the catastrophic and surreal nature of the landscape. An effective companion to his earlier film Fata Morgana, Herzog again perceives the desert as a landscape with its voice.

<i>Even Dwarfs Started Small</i> 1970 film

Even Dwarfs Started Small is a 1970 West German absurdist comedy-drama film written, produced, and directed by Werner Herzog.

<i>Stroszek</i> 1977 film by Werner Herzog

Stroszek is a 1977 West German tragicomedy film directed by Werner Herzog and starring Bruno S., Eva Mattes, and Clemens Scheitz. Written specifically for Bruno S., the film was shot in Plainfield, Wisconsin, and North Carolina. Most of the lead roles are played by inexperienced actors.

<i>Nosferatu the Vampyre</i> 1979 film by Werner Herzog

Nosferatu the Vampyre is a 1979 gothic horror film written and directed by Werner Herzog. It is set primarily in 19th-century Wismar, Germany and Transylvania, and was conceived as a stylistic adaptation of Bram Stoker's 1897 novel Dracula, taking the title, setting and titular character's design from F. W. Murnau's 1922 film Nosferatu: A Symphony of Horror. The picture stars Klaus Kinski as Count Dracula, Isabelle Adjani as Lucy Harker, Bruno Ganz as Jonathan Harker, and French artist-writer Roland Topor as Renfield. There are two different versions of the film, one in which the actors speak English, and one in which they speak German.

<i>My Best Fiend</i> 1999 German film

My Best Fiend is a 1999 German documentary film written and directed by Werner Herzog, about his tumultuous yet productive relationship with German actor Klaus Kinski. It was released on DVD in 2000 by Anchor Bay.

<i>Fata Morgana</i> (1971 film) 1971 West German documentary film

Fata Morgana is a 1971 film by Werner Herzog, shot in 1968 and 1969, which captures mirages in the Sahara and Sahel deserts. Herzog also wrote the narration by Lotte H. Eisner, which recounts the Mayan creation myth, the Popol Vuh.

<i>Wings of Hope</i> (film) 1998 film

Wings of Hope is a 1998 made-for-TV documentary directed by Werner Herzog. The film explores the story of Juliane Koepcke, a German Peruvian woman who was the sole survivor of Peruvian flight LANSA Flight 508 following its mid-air disintegration after a lightning strike in 1971. Herzog was inspired to make this film since he had narrowly avoided taking the same flight while he was location scouting for Aguirre, the Wrath of God; his reservation had been canceled due to a last minute change in itinerary.

Gesualdo: Death for Five Voices is a 1995 film by German director Werner Herzog filmed for ZDF television. The film explores the music of Carlo Gesualdo and the legends surrounding Gesualdo's personality, his cursed castle, and his murder of his wife and her lover. Between narration and interviews, several of Gesualdo's madrigals are performed. Herzog calls Death for Five Voices "one of the films closest to my heart."

Jörg Schmidt-Reitwein was a German cinematographer. He has collaborated with director Werner Herzog on a number of projects. Among his many collaborations with other directors, Schmidt-Reitwein is known for shooting Alan Greenberg's acclaimed 1982 documentary about Jamaica and death of Bob Marley, Land of Look Behind.

Game in the Sand is an unreleased short film written and directed by Werner Herzog in 1964. The plot concerns four children and a rooster in a cardboard box, and includes a scene where the chicken is buried in sand up to its neck. Very little information about the film and its production is known.

<i>Signs of Life</i> (1968 film) 1968 film

Signs of Life is a 1968 feature film written, directed, and produced by Werner Herzog. It was his first feature film, and his first major commercial and critical success. The story is roughly based on the short story "Der Tolle Invalide auf dem Fort Ratonneau" by Achim von Arnim.

<i>Handicapped Future</i> 1971 film

Handicapped Future is a 1971 documentary film by Werner Herzog about physically disabled children in Munich.

<i>Scream of Stone</i> 1991 film by Werner Herzog

Scream of Stone is a 1991 film directed by Werner Herzog about a climbing expedition on Cerro Torre. The film was shot on location at Cerro Torre, with several scenes filmed close to the summit.

<i>Nomad: In the Footsteps of Bruce Chatwin</i> 2019 documentary film by Werner Herzog

Nomad: In the Footsteps of Bruce Chatwin is a 2019 British documentary film by German director Werner Herzog. It chronicles the life of British travel writer Bruce Chatwin and includes interviews with Chatwin's widow, Elizabeth Chatwin, and biographer Nicholas Shakespeare, as well as detailing Herzog's own friendship and collaboration with the man.

The Client (<i>Star Wars</i>) Star Wars character

The Client is a fictional character in the Star Wars franchise who appears in three episodes of the first season of the Disney+ television series The Mandalorian. He is a mysterious, unnamed leader in the former Galactic Empire and subordinate of Moff Gideon, who plays a key role in setting the show's story into motion by hiring the bounty hunter known as "The Mandalorian" to retrieve a "50-year-old", yet infantile alien dubbed "The Child".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Werner Herzog filmography</span> Films by German filmmaker Werner Herzog

Werner Herzog is a German filmmaker whose films often feature ambitious or deranged protagonists with impossible dreams. Herzog's works span myriad genres and mediums, but he is particularly well known for his documentary films, which he typically narrates.

References

  1. Hoberman, J. (December 1981). "Alien Landscapes, V. 26". Village Voice . New York. p. 66.

Bibliography