This is a great movie, and all the more impressive that it was basically made by a beginner. Some of the characters almost seem like real people from a Herzog documentary mixed in with the actors, the gypsy in particular. The music is also exceptional. I really can't get over how lovely the ending is. I'm not entirely happy that Stroszek's madman phase is all off-screen and explained via narration, and I'm not sure if it was concieved that way, but it works well enough.

"Stroszek's motivations are as enigmatic as those of the windmills: the emphatic reversal of Kubrick's nasty, gorgeous joke." - Eric Henderson

For a first film, this is quite remarkable, with lots of Herzog's trademark fascinating imagery. The fireworks shooting across the water, the hypnotized chicken, the gypsy's dance, the tiny wooden novelty owl... these are scenes that stayed burned into your memory long after the film is over. The cast consists almost entirely of non-actors, but you'd never know it from the performances. Great visuals, great music, great characters, great movie.

An exceptionally strong debut feature. Beautifully detailed shots focus on little oddities of life that Herzog finds so fascinating, and so do we. The lengthy pan over the vast landscape of windmills, for example, is stunningly hypnotic. We get many long shots of the fortress with the maniacal Stroszek being a small detail in the otherwise calm environment. It's a poetic contrast and something you wouldn't expect to see from a 25 year old shooting a debut feature with a stolen camera.

76.250

Throughout nearly the whole movie I wasn't sure where this movie was taking me; it's seemingly an endless stream of events, characters, and beautiful scenery that don't necessarily have much of a plot pulling it all together. But that's just what makes it so interesting, it's literally what the title depicts as cliche as that may sound, these are signs of life. It's an incredibly moving film in a way that does not rely on power but rather on the beauty of its characters and its photograp

Very moving, very powerful. Full of vivid imagery, humour, interesting and strange occurences and absurdism. The atmosphere is great too, the presentation of the fortress - with the decay, ruins and overgrowth (plus the great noises of nature) - is great. It's quite clear (well, atleast in Herzog's world) how madness is triggered in that environment. The soundtrack is also quite good, it's honest but still bold.

Remarkably deep film, not surprisingly, but one that needs to be studied rather closely in order to be fully appreciated. Its most powerful moments are also its most intractably personal; for Herzog, the sight of tens of thousands of windmills dotting the landscape must have immediately invoked some total plunge into madness, but for the viewer it serves merely as a marker or plot point.

It's incredible how confident a debut this is and how developed Herzog's style was even at this point. The little snippets of their day to day life are wonderful - Meinhard is one of cinema's great comedy characters - and Stroszek's descent into madness beautifully portrayed through windmills and fireworks. The score is gorgeous too.

Already has all of Herzog's trademarks: Odd situation, gorgeous photography, big stylistic debt to documentaries, and that gentle touch of surrealism. However, it's not fully mature: I felt that the narrated parts are a shortcoming, as they let on too much, too eagerly. They are Herzog telling you things outright that he doesn't know how to SHOW you. The movie also veers a bit too close to being allegorical for my liking - I hate allegories. Other than the very ending I really like it though.

Overall Enjoyment: 15/40, Plot/Themes: 10/20, Cinematography/Direction: 15/20, Acting/Writing: 10/20 This movie was confusing and I didn't come out of it liking it, but after discussing it with those who watched we ended up uncovering a lot. The movie definitely had a lot of depth, but I just don't know if I'd be willing to watch it again to discover it. It didn't pull me in enough the first time

# 924

Although the film didn't really do it for me, the ending in particular, it is a great first film and you can see a lot of promise here.