“Eccentric German New Wave”

Stroszek – Werner Herzog (1977)

Although Werner Herzog is best known for his collaborations with Klaus Kinski (Nosferatu, Aguirre, Fitzcarraldo), his films with the actor Bruno S. are equally remarkable. Herzog has described Bruno as the greatest actor he ever worked with, praising the depth and humanity of his performances.

In Stroszek, Bruno plays a version of himself, a Berlin street musician who struggles with alcoholism. His character lives in his personal apartment, and he performs using his own instruments.  

Due to a lack of prospects in Germany, Bruno, his girlfriend Eva, and their neighbor Scheitz decide to move to America, where Scheitz’s nephew lives. The trio drive from New York to Wisconsin and settle in a mobile home on the cousin’s property.  

The America they encounter is colder, poorer, and more depressing than the country they had expected to find. Neither Scheitz nor Bruno speak English, and due to the challenges of integration, Bruno resumes his drinking. Eva finds work at a truck stop diner, but quickly becomes addicted to television and junk food.  

Stroszek is an outsider’s portrait of the Midwest; a film which is all the more relevant in the months following Trump's upset victories in the Rust Belt. 

The Bitter Tears of Petra von Kant – Rainer Werner Fassbinder (1972)

The Bitter Tears of Petra von Kant is the rare theatrical play which loses none of its intensity as a filmed adaption. This is probably because Fassbinder both wrote the play and directed the film.

Margit Carstensen delivers a riveting performance as Petra von Kant, a domineering fashion designer who is ruined by her obsessive desire for another woman. “Bitter Tears” is a film about power and manipulation, a psychological drama which pits designers against models, rather than criminals against detectives.

The film takes place entirely in Petra von Kant’s bedroom/apartment/studio, a single room covered by a reproduction of Poussin’s “Midas and Bacchus.” We are stuck in the room as we are stuck with von Kant, stuck with her obsessions, her desperation, and her need for attention.