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The Enigma of Kaspar Hauser

The Enigma of Kaspar Hauser

1974
Drama
Biography
1h 50m
Herzog's film is based upon the true and mysterious story of Kaspar Hauser, a young man who suddenly appeared in Nuremberg in 1828... (imdb)
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The Enigma of Kaspar Hauser

1974
Drama
Biography
1h 50m
Your probable score
Avg Percentile 72.34% from 1294 total ratings

Ratings & Reviews

(1294)
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Rated 06 Feb 2007
85
87th
A wonderful and unusual film about an unusual figure from Germany's history. Bruno S. is fantastic as Kaspar.
Rated 07 Feb 2007
92
96th
Another excellent Herzog movie. Bruno S. is quite a find, I couldn't imagine anyone else doing this. What an odd and amazing story. It's very haunting and beautiful, and has a Zen quality to it. Also the application of the much-abused Pachebel's Canon is one of the best I know of.
Rated 21 Jan 2007
95
97th
Hauser's innocence is quite touching, something that is obviously connected to Bruno's real life. Of course all of the good things that are usually in Herzog's films are here, but it's the charming honesty from Kaspar Hauser that creates emotional impact. The ending is also among Herzog's best, really powerful.
Rated 14 Jan 2009
98
93rd
An important, unusual, utterly exquisit and painstakingly tight documentary about a local man disappearing from his hometown all of a sudden. One of Herzog's gems, and while it hasn't survived well after ages, It still recovers and it's worthwhile.
Rated 18 Aug 2007
95
96th
The story of Kaspar Hauser is absolutely incredible, and when Herzog directs the story his own way, you end up watching a masterpiece. Bruno S. is absolutely amazing as Hauser, considering a 42 year old is playing a 16 year old. The entire film is brimming with emotion. The character of Kaspar Hauser is so well done, that it felt like he was alongside me. I guarantee, from start to finish, you will not be disappointed.
Rated 13 Mar 2009
10
97th
As mysterious as it is intoxicating. Bruno S. is amazing as the troubled, traumatized Kaspar. This films didn't necessarily open my eyes as much as re-affirm my worldview. The work of a genius? More like the work of a great humanist.
Rated 09 May 2008
100
99th
An exquisit meditation on life, society and the fragile individual.
Rated 13 Jul 2007
4
83rd
Perfect subject matter for Herzog and this doesn't disappoint.
Rated 27 Feb 2012
84
88th
Long before Werner Herzog would spend 1/2 of his movies showing random shots of landscapes set to North African tribal music, he would spend 1/4 of his movies showing random shots of landscapes set to North African tribal music. Why the increase? Therein lies the enigma...
Rated 26 Aug 2007
85
95th
Fascinating. So what if it's slow - it's lush and gripping and flies by. Herzog finds just the right elements to convey his favorite themes and exploits them to the fullest. Hence his choice to do the story of Kaspar Hauser, but more notably his choice to cast the disturbed, traumatized non-actor Bruno S. as Hauser. This film is deeply contemplative but never jumps to conclusions. Herzog and Bruno would later team up again for the less cerebral, more heartfelt Stroszek which I love even more.
Rated 23 Nov 2008
86
98th
To be honest I was underimpressed by the first half of the movie. After the freak show is over Hauser becomes intelligable and speaks from the most basic human level. Then on is everything I like about Herzog. A case of the end that justifies the means. Kaspar the Dispossessed.
Rated 13 Dec 2008
88
95th
In my review I'm just going to parrot what some other users had to say: "contemplative", "haunting" and "zen-like" are all dead-on in my mind. The true story is even stranger than what Herzog presents here. Was Kaspar the product of royal inbreeding? We will never know...
Rated 02 Feb 2009
73
85th
This is how I imagine Ricky Gervais found Karl Pilkington.
Rated 09 May 2009
87
86th
Very strange, but in a fascinating way. Bruno S. does a perfect job in his role of being a very foreign man. It's at times sad, at times uplifting but knows it doesn't always have to feel serious.
Rated 07 Aug 2018
70
72nd
Both mysterious and otherworldly tale about a man learning to feel and aprehend things like other people -- but he ultimately has his own way to understand and see things. One of the most impressive physical performances of all time combined with Herzog's confident narrative about human nature, language as both prison and freedom and a satire on society rules over the individual. Very funny yet so painful like most Herzog's 70s films.
Rated 07 Apr 2009
89
93rd
Innocent, mysterious, and captivating. Bruno S. provides an amazing performance, and the subject matter is perfect for Herzog. A little slow at points, but mostly fascinating.
Rated 30 Mar 2009
82
72nd
Bruno S. is the perfect actor for Kaspar. The opening shot of this film is sublime, & I was touched by the moments of Kaspar's innocence. As usual, a haunting ending. However, the film as a whole was less than its parts.
Rated 07 Feb 2010
80
82nd
The Herzog brand of hauntingly obscure imagery is at full force here, but is also at its most profoundly allegorical. While I guess it moves slowly and its underlying message is a bit trite (in interviews this movie seems to bring out Herzog's inner hippie), the images are always provocative and emotionally rich.
Rated 07 Feb 2011
8
94th
Bruno S is such a fascinating, heartbreaking character, and he's pitch-perfect in the titular role of Kaspar Hauser. The story works on so many levels. His individual struggle with his own limitations and his larger battle with society at large are equally haunting and compelling. Here, Herzog is addressing something very personal, and while it isn't quite as affecting as Stroszek, a film with a similar focus, it's still beautiful and virtually flawless.
Rated 03 Feb 2007
85
73rd
The story of Kaspar Hauser is both bizarre and human. Bruno S. does a great job as Kaspar. The film is, as others have pointed out, a bit slow and not as extraordinary as, say, Aguirre, but I think it succeeds admirably on its own terms.
Rated 26 Aug 2007
93
90th
Kaspar Hauser is one of Herzog's most interesting movies and is surely among his best work overall.
Rated 14 Aug 2007
89
96th
A quiet and enigmatic study that I found very intriguing and haunting. Bruno S's eccentricities work very well for the character.
Rated 15 Oct 2013
80
69th
Schleinstein's performance is initially repulsive (I feared he'd gone full retard), but his halting, oblivious delivery becomes somewhat fascinating and endearing. The film is another victim of an ugly standard definition DVD transfer, but it has a certain beauty to it regardless.
Rated 29 May 2011
90
88th
its actually a very funny, yet touching yet artsy yet slow yet fast yet ducumenting yet character based movie.
Rated 20 Jan 2024
85
64th
Like in other Herzog epics, the theme here is how a human being and his milieu found each other in standing right up against each other, in the hilariousness, absurdity and tragedy of their discord. Herzog is a rare one with both the sensitivity to the violence of this tragedy, and the courage to not fall into the melodramatic opposition between nature and culture, between the innate and the acquired: one can see he hates neither side on appreciating how much fun he puts into his heroic films.
Rated 28 Aug 2011
71
49th
Herzog brought about a strong story about knowledge and being part of the society from the tale of a real life swindler. The real Hauser found a good story and rode it all his life. Herzog treated the story as if it were real and ended up saying something profound about our understanding of the world.
Rated 18 Nov 2011
86
94th
It's about Werner Herzog trying to figure out what makes a human being tick. That's really all you need to know.
Rated 22 Mar 2013
80
68th
Bruno S's performance is amazing as we slowly see him learn and be made to conform. Bruno's character allows us an innocent, non-judgemental perspective on those that take advantage of him whether for money, to impress others or to avoid embarrassment. Brief poetic lines suggest a spark of artistic genius in him, whilst brief moments of elegant beauty show the beauty of the world seen through this man's eyes.
Rated 16 Aug 2013
92
99th
Could be dismissed for a variety of reasons, but has such an astonishing gentleness and humanism that makes me not much mind whatever flaws. Even overcomes my snobbish aversion to that absurdly popular Pachelbel item. Werner very movingly explains in the dvd commentary the parallels btwn Kaspar's story and Bruno's. I could say that "Stroszek" is the 'better' film, but my score reflects the special place this has in my seat-of-emotion-organ. O fucking god this wrecks me and haunts me.
Rated 17 Feb 2024
75
77th
A bit meandering but Bruno S. is spot-on, and Kaspar's exchange with the professor in Logic is pretty amazing.
Rated 15 Jan 2024
95
96th
With an extremely challenging lead character, Bruno S. delivers an unforgettable, all-timer performance. Bruno S.'s own life parallels the character's awful upbringing or lack thereof in uncomfortable detail. It's a rare feat for a film to present a completely different way of looking at the world that is thoroughly grounded and believable. There's such beauty to how Kaspar sees things. There's much he doesn't know, but he's often the smartest man in the room in his own way.
Rated 01 Jul 2015
90
92nd
Haunted by that foggy hilltop. Love me this Herzie boxset.
Rated 15 Oct 2015
72
78th
Not for one second was I convinced of the performance of whoever played Kaspar. Some parts, such as the suggestion flowing from Kaspar, an idiot, asking critical questions about the nature and possibility of religion, were so contrived that it forced me to stop watching half-way through, full well knowing it would have likely picked up a lot.
Rated 19 Mar 2022
85
80th
Strong narrative/thematic parallels to The Elephant Man. I found Bruno's performance a bit ridiculous at times and the character's verbal progression uneven (not sure if a time-lapse training montage a la Rocky would help or hurt) but those are minor wrinkles. It still builds enough pathos to knock the wind out of you by the end. The photography deserves a higher quality transfer by now.
Rated 09 Aug 2020
75
59th
Visually enthralling, absurdly interesting, but otherwise i don't feel a desire to rewatch it. It felt like Ali: Fear Eats The Soul but detached
Rated 12 Feb 2020
80
72nd
A powerful enigma indeed. Here nature literally intrudes upon mankind, interrupting the ideological rhythm and forcing us to interact with total innocence in all of its inconvenience. Herzog does not formulate a grand conclusion here; his view on humanity is varied and complex with much room for further exploration. The film is a question, and I think that in itself is a admirably hopeful gesture from Werner.
Rated 14 Aug 2007
84
95th
On the duplicity of the Enlightenment, with numerous images that evoke European painting and convey the intertwined character of beauty and horror, dream and nightmare, awe and mundanity, the immensity of the infinite and the fact that it is contained here, in this world, of people and landscapes – in short, the sublime. And, as no one can fail to notice, featuring an incredible performance by Bruno S.
Rated 05 Jan 2009
82
81st
Great story and some awesome acting, it's facinating to watch a person in their "teens" (played by a middle-aged man) develop intellectually from an infant to an adult, but I can't help feel that this could have been done better, especially the ending.
Rated 21 Sep 2009
5
93rd
A strange story as its title suggests, if nothing else revealing of Herzog's cynicism with regard to society. Kaspar's integration is corrupt and mechanic, but he resists, and it becomes clear he is actually the most sympathetic and humane character in the entire film.
Rated 19 Dec 2009
80
80th
Fascinating story of the attempt to bring order upon a strange but likeable man. It's interesting to watch peoples reactions to Hauser's unorthodox thought processes. Herzog's direction and Bruno S.'s acting mange to perfectly portray this concept of a 'hard fall' for Hauser. The pacing is a little strange and some scenes are alienating but overall this is a success.
Rated 31 Mar 2009
95
93rd
Unusual and thought provoking. Herzog has a real talent for finding fantastic true tales.
Rated 14 Aug 2007
85
90th
null
Rated 25 Aug 2015
70
50th
Unexpectedly, Herzog takes the romantic perspective on The Enigma of Kaspar Houser, eliminating his ambiguous nature as a possible liar or swindler, and with this the audience is robbed not only of accuracy but of more perspective on this supposely admirable figure and his more complex life. Despite liberties, Herzog keeps Hauser as a teenager, yet he's played by a 40 year old man. The film spends too much time landscaping instead of characterscaping, and Kaspar's milestones are margianalized.
Rated 05 Apr 2009
90
94th
Fascinatingly bizarre. A very interesting story and Herzog is just the person to tell it. At times it's slow but it has a charm and mystery that draws you in.
Rated 04 Feb 2016
85
85th
In Herzog on Herzog (2001), he describes academia as "the very opposite of passion". This motif is present in a few of his films, but especially here. As Kaspar Hauser learns to communicate, he repeatedly struggles to express his inner feelings of despair ("nothing lives less in me than my life"). It is only when the community relinquishes this curious obligation to teach Kaspar how he *should* respond to the world around him that he finally appears to feel an organic passion for life.
Rated 09 Aug 2016
90
56th
Bruno S. gives one of the most authentic, astonishing performances I've seen in film.
Rated 10 Jan 2017
8
87th
Better than not believing in god is to have never known of him at all.
Rated 12 Jan 2017
65
36th
Herzog mediates on how society shapes you unfortunately it's just not very good.
Rated 16 Jul 2017
80
77th
Bruno is great as the title character. The story creates an airy, delightful mystery, keeping you curious where kaspars journey will go and herzogs eye provides beautiful scenery
Rated 25 Jul 2017
72
44th
An intriguing character study that feels appropriately studied at times. Hearing more about this man and his strange existence in Herzog's DVD commentary makes me wonder why there were so many more fascinating moments (especially at the beginning) left out of the film. A very interesting and fascinating watch with the excellent Bruno S. bringing Kasper to life, but the film sure is clunky, with some particularly haggard editing choices.
Rated 13 Dec 2017
85
97th
T.E.O.K.H is arguably the clearest expression of Herzog's beef with modernity. He fashions this peculiar story about a 'feral' man and the attempts to civilize him as a quasi-anthropological critique of culturalization and the new science with its emphasis on materialist reductionism to explain complex life processes. Bruno S is magnificent as Kaspar--it's an unselfconscious triumph of non-acting--and Herzog strikes the right balance between poetry and realism, humour and pathos.
Rated 12 Nov 2014
94
99th
Can't really rationally express how much this film haunted and mesmerized me. Somehow it combines all the strange poetry of Herzog's worlds and makes it so seamless and natural it chills you to the bone. Bruno S. is completely brilliant in the central role and pulls off the challenging contrast between engaging/distant with effortless grace.
Rated 18 Jan 2015
75
68th
Stunning in its own corny Herzog way. You'll lose your breath because of some of the compositions, and I really liked the way he uses a legend to make something half fictitious, half true. It works, and you're never reeeally in doubt about what's legend - and what's Herzog. Oh, and probably the coolest original title of history. Like, ever.
Rated 02 Apr 2019
60
26th
Kaspar Hauser: "It seems to me that my coming into this world was a very hard fall."
Rated 05 Apr 2019
100
96th
Herzog casts Bruno S. as Kaspar, a 40 year old street musician he had seen in a documentary. The casting is sublime. Bruno is no actor, but he inhabits the role of this deep deep stranger incredibly convincingly. His posture, facial expressions and odd mannerisms are those of a complete outsider, yet he's also deeply sympathetic and the viewer can identify with this sublimely alien presence.
Rated 01 Dec 2019
98
98th
http://dtcfdergisi.ankara.edu.tr/index.php/dtcf/article/download/5450/5272
Rated 19 Dec 2008
76
52nd
484
Rated 10 Aug 2008
79
61st
Herzog definitely has an eye for aesthetics and prefers to painstakingly make this the focus of his narrative--in other words this film is very slow. But unlike, Tarkovsky and Kubrick who usually manage to charge the atmosphere with emotions, this film concentrates too much on the real. It's beautiful and at times haunting, but mostly hollow.
Rated 11 Oct 2020
60
35th
I guess we can call it confirmed that I watch Herzog's films not for his directing, but for Kinski's acting, without which I found this one tedious. Long scenes with theatrical acting, all to convey what in the end is a fairly simple thought.
Rated 31 Jan 2021
3
33rd
Unusual, charming sometimes, but unsatisfying as a film. Worth seeing just for Bruno S's performance, though.
Rated 01 Mar 2008
77
63rd
# 462
Rated 15 Aug 2022
83
80th
Intriguing, well done version of an historical mystery still unsolved to this day. While there is considerable debate about whether Hauser was a fraud, the movie takes his story at face value. It has some interesting parallels to The Elephant Man in how Hauser is treated by various groups and people and various other themes, though Hauser is different in many ways to John Merrick. Very enjoyable.
Rated 24 Aug 2022
24
10th
For people that love Herzog.
Rated 20 Aug 2023
76
88th
Slow but rewarding. Allround great cast and characters. Much warmer film than it may appear.
Rated 14 Aug 2007
70
26th
An uneasy film to watch...almost like watching a horror flick.
Rated 17 Feb 2012
9
86th
I'd recommend Herzog's 1971 documentary 'Land of Silence and Darkness' as a companion piece.
Rated 21 May 2010
91
97th
Absolutely incredible.
Rated 07 Jun 2010
96
99th
Contains one of the most heartwrenching performances I've ever seen. Bruno S. is just stunning in this role. I don't even have the words to describe the peculiarly touching tone that he hits playing the tragic and mysterious character of Kasper Kauser. Herzog is able to draw so much profound substance from the character. First I pitied him. Then I began to admire him. By the end of the movie, I loved him. One of Herzog's best films by far.
Rated 12 Aug 2010
8
88th
This is such a bizarre (almost surreal), and fascinating tale, and dare I say it, it's very enigmatic. Herzog again flirts with man's attempt to order the chaos of the world, this time through his attempts to understand his primitive, misunderstood origins (in the reclusive, estranged Kaspar). This is an almost frightful, but certainly unnerving character study of the socialization, then resistance of man's subject. It's not hard to see where the most "humanity" and "reason" lies.
Rated 21 Aug 2010
87
98th
I don't think I fully comprehend what this film was about, and you may well label me as ignorant because of it (i've never been good with symbolism). What I do know though, as I write this mere minutes after it has finished, is that I am going to be thinking about it for some time to come, to find its meaning. And isn't that the sign of a great film?
Rated 17 Jan 2011
88
87th
87.500
Rated 03 Feb 2011
73
77th
I don't care for slowness as long as it's beautiful, and Kaspar Hauser definitely is a beautiful film. From time to time there are landscape shots, which are so soft and look like impressionist paintings. They are absoloutly astonishing and although the whole movie is great, I spent most of the time waiting for them. Bruno S. is amazing. It has this strange, cumbersome periodic feeling that is sometimes interesting but mostly not. Wonderfully poetic.
Rated 06 Feb 2011
93
99th
Herzog may have given the true Kaspar Hauser the benefit of the doubt of some of the situations towards the end, but it doesn't matter. Wonderful film with a wonderful score, about a truly peculiar story with an amazing performance by Bruno S.
Rated 24 Feb 2010
9
91st
An incredible story that is the always capable hands of Herzog. Bruno S. without acting experience is marvelous and its unfortunate that he only stars in two films.
Rated 14 Feb 2010
80
68th
This story, which I had never heard of before, is absolutely captivating. It took me several sittings to get through the movie, even though I was memorized by Kasper Hauser while when he was on screen. This makes this film hard to rate. I loved that Herzog didn't try to romanticize Hauser the way that that those in the 19th century did. If there was any hint of idealizing Hauser as a "noble savage," Herzog tears it to pieces in the final scene of the film. My God, how depressing.
Rated 26 Jun 2011
85
90th
Bruno S. is a peculiarly charming and engaging presence in this interesting real-life tale. And there are some really striking images and wonderful scenes. For example the image with the swan, the boat and the still pond. Or the scene where Kaspar starts to cry when he's with the baby, or when he relates the story about planting his name in the ground. I really like Herzog for his ability to actually get at that "ecstatic truth" at various points in all of his films that I've seen.
Rated 15 Jan 2010
74
48th
524
Rated 30 Nov 2011
75
50th
#491
Rated 19 Nov 2014
85
75th
Aha yine Herzog. Universitede bunun uzerine tez kivaminda odev de yazmistim. Dikey sosyal hareketlilik. Siz tutun adamin birini kucuklugunden beri bi kuleye kapatin seneler sonra Almanya'nin bir koyunun meydaninda birakip gidin. Konusma bilmeyen o adam sonra 10 parmaginda 10 marifet birine donusuyor. Konu guzel, anlatim biraz agir. Sevmeyebilirsiniz. Bence sahane film. Sana puanim 85 kanka.
Rated 11 Jun 2012
94
89th
Jeder fur sich und Gott gegen Alle is a film of sensationally ethereal imagery. You can't help but love the peculiarly mysterious yet philosophical character of Kasper Hauser. This estranged so-called "noble savage"is able to cogitate more abstractly than some of these aristocratic logicians/mathematicians. He even was able to admit there was much that he didn't understand, and that he never would be able. It's not quite a surreal piece but the scenes Kasper's dream sequences were enigmatic.
Rated 16 Sep 2009
79
31st
There's something that I find incredibly tedious about Herzog's films, but the world would not be the same without him. This was slow moving, but interesting in a way that's very hard to pinpoint. subtly deep, but if you're a thoughtful person then you'll find it clearly deep. Read up on the lead actor (Bruno S.) beforehand & this will be a lot more fascinating to watch.
Rated 04 Apr 2013
85
59th
Both of Herzog's films with Bruno S. are good films because of Bruno S. He's unhinged in a way no other leading men - not even Klaus Kinski - have ever been. Stick anybody else in the role of Kaspar Hauser and this movie would be much more forgettable. Beyond that, it's a great story, filmed in Herzog's typical dreamy period piece manner.
Rated 14 Aug 2013
80
95th
Excellent.
Rated 06 Aug 2009
71
35th
wtf
Rated 17 Aug 2013
90
69th
kasparin hikayeleri
Rated 05 Oct 2013
87
91st
86.500
Rated 06 Jul 2009
60
57th
Interesting to watch, but not a master-piece for me
Rated 25 Nov 2013
7
92nd
while there was a slight lack of narrative focus toward the end (and a weird beginning too), this is a rather brilliant story of the long-secluded kaspar and his explorations of society as he learns things that were previously withheld from him. the way different sorts of people observe, mock, empathise, socialise, or patronise him is very interesting, as are his reactions to assumed social conventions. herzog is a master of turning a compassionate eye to the misfits of our world.
Rated 25 May 2014
95
97th
kritik der reinen Vernunft
Rated 08 Sep 2014
80
77th
The lyricism in this film is entrancing in spite or because of its oddity. A marvel!
Rated 26 Feb 2010
85
57th
Herzog is true to form, painting a vivid tale suffused with poignant imagery and the protagonist's introspection. It's by no means Werner's best, but it is quite easy to sympathize with Kaspar and the film reveals the subjectivity of human interpretation regarding our developed and environmentally influenced worldviews, so doubtless there are some clever and thoughtful themes to be mused over. Beautifully shot and framed as Herzog's standards required, while being entertaining and complex.

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