Maybe I have a weird sense of humour but I thought the way Michael Shannon handled himself in this movie was absolutely hilarious: his contempt for the surroundings, his honesty and relationship with his mother/girlfriend reminded me somewhat of Peter Finch in "Network". Not sure if this was what Herzog was shooting for but possibly unintentionally the film is a brilliant parable of the search for meaning in our materialistic world.
The movie IS hilarious and intentionally so.
Most of Herzogs films are.
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yeah, pretty sure all that humor is definitely intentional
shareI'm glad it wasn't just me. I thought the whole thing was absurd, down to the way Michael Shannon delivered his lines, and I couldn't help but laugh despite it. I'm glad the humor was supposed to be intentional; that makes it a better film for me. I have no idea what any of it meant, but it was definitely absurd - yelling that he wants to order a pizza, reciting random Greek-inspired lines, nonsense, his hostages being the birds, the last line of the film...
sharethe lines "about he's throwing oatmeal at us" and just how clueless people aorund him act, makes this a great dark comedy.
too bad its misunderstood for what it is.
For the first half hour I thought it was unimaginably bad... But then I kind of started to understand what Herzog was doing with it. He was trying to portray insanity in a way that it's not usually portrayed in the movies. There have been tons of directors who have shown the comical side of madness. Think of movies like "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest" and "The Fisher King". But Herzog is one of the few filmmakers who will go so far as to make his insane subjects extremely dangerous and threatening; and somehow he uses this to make hem even more hilarious. Look at what he did in Aguirre: The Wrath of God. There's not really anything to like about Aguirre: He's an insane, murderous psychopath whose actions destroy himself and those around him. But somehow, Herzog uses this to make him funny and likable.
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hadnt tought about it, most crazies in film (non-villians) are not dangerous, it is a very original approach, and now that y ou mention aguirre i think woyzeck is more akin to this film than that.
shareYeah, the plot of Woyzeck (and the main character) are definitely more similar to My Son, My Son, What Have Ye Done. However, I think this film has more of a sense of humor like Aguirre. Especially with those terrific one-liners...
Overall, all three are pretty similar. They're all distinctly "Herzog".
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You indeed might call it an absolutely deranged black comedy. It's as if it has been put together by Brandon himself.
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