09/05/07 : The Enigma of Kasper Hausen

Another offering from the clubs 'director of choice - Werner Herzog' who once again did not fail to come up with the goods.

As seems to be the case with many of the Werners films its based on a true story. In 1828 a man appears in Nuremberg holding a letter that explains that he has been raised in captivity ( a darkened celler to be precise ) since birth and has never seen a tree, the sky or met another human being ( apart from his captor ) Whilst able to read and write he can only speak one sentence.

The film revolves around Kasper trying to 'integrate into society' with occasionally comical but usually quite tragic circumstances. The first line of the film was …do you hear that dreadful noise all around ? that’s the sound that screaming men call silence'.

As someone who thrives in company but feels a bit lost on my own - this line sort of appealled and has remained with me.

After doing some background reading I discoved that Werbner actually cast a non actor for the lead role - Bruno S, who had been institutionalised for 23 of his first 26 years, to convey the characters general awkwardness and unfamiliarity with the world.

After the main feature we watched another werner 'short' , a documentary called 'wings of hope' about the sole survivor of a Peruvian plane crash Juliane Köpcke.