Stroszek

I liked Stroszek a lot more than I thought I would. Since the only thing I knew about it was that it was filmed very authentically and was more or less “real life,” I was honestly expecting it to be relatively boring. However, it ended up keeping my attention most of the time, although it was rather confusing at times.

It was very interesting to learn that Bruno S. was actually kept in asylums for most of his life and he had little experience with the outside world when the movie was filmed. Also that the old man was actually just a crazy old man who believed in conspiracies. Eva was actually an actress and not a prostitute, but she played it well. It is funny that Herzog pinpointed random people that he wanted in his film, like an MC that he heard one time, a Native American mechanic that he met once, and the world’s best livestock auctioneer.

Now that I think about it, the way I feel about Stroszek is similar to how I felt after seeing Boyhood. Boyhood was all made with real actors, but it has the same feel of just watching someone’s life happen before you. You may expect a film like this to be boring because the concept of “everyday life” does not seem that interesting. But then you realize that it is so intriguing to so closely watch someone else’s life unfold before you, because we are so used to just noticing our own lives.