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Woyzeck

Woyzeck

1979
Drama
1h 22m
Franz Woyzeck (Kinski) is a hapless, hopeless soldier, alone and powerless in society, assaulted from all sides by forces he cannot control. (imdb)
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Woyzeck

1979
Drama
1h 22m
Your probable score
Avg Percentile 57.08% from 582 total ratings

Ratings & Reviews

(582)
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Rated 27 Oct 2013
7
92nd
massively underrated herzog is a bizzare piece on exploitation. kinski is mad, in part caused by the experimentation performed upon him by a slightly mad scientist, his subservience to a mad army general, and the rejection of his...well, not quite so mad wife. and we see what happens to the plain and normal. depressing, sympathetic, insane.
Rated 14 Aug 2007
82
93rd
Re-watching this in 2024, what struck me was the feeling that Kinski’s character seems to be trying to struggle with the other characters in order to fight his way out of the frame. Herzog: "Look at the scene where Woyzeck tries to flee from the drum major: he heads directly into the lens of the camera and at the last moment is pulled back [...] he is showing that there is a whole world behind, around and in front of the camera." Best scene of a man murdering a woman, up until FIRE WALK WITH ME.
Rated 24 Jul 2010
90
91st
There's not much of the beautiful cinematography you'd expect of Herzog here. It is, however, exactly what you'd expect of Kinski: a riveting, remarkable performance. His eyes, posture, and presence have such power behind them. The dialogue is excellent, with a hint of very dry humour adding to, without trying to lift, the mood. The score is perfect. It fits every scene so well, and is used fleetingly to really emphasize its power. Not Herzog's technical best, but one of his most engrossing.
Rated 10 Sep 2008
3
45th
Woyzeck is a great character; isolated, insane, yet very sympathetic. To those surrounding him he's nothing but a stupid soldier, a science experiment, or an inadequate husband. As he becomes more and more unstable he only gets more sympathetic, thanks to a performance from Kinksi that practically carries the movie. Herzog's direction is competent though not as pronounced, but it works well with a story far less ambitious than usual.
Rated 19 Jan 2009
68
30th
Pointless and boring. Apparently Werner Herzog decided instead of being a director, he would just let the camera sit in one place while he either napped or ate lunch in the hopes that the movie would make its self. WHO'S IN CHARGE OF TUNING THE VIOLINS?
Rated 30 Jun 2007
82
78th
The worst of the Herzog/Kinski movies, but that's not a bad thing. Kinski is terrific. I was a little let down with the photography, but I don't know whether or not I should blame it on the setting, but still very good, and the performances were terrific. It's a good length. Worth a look.
Rated 23 Jul 2009
96
95th
My favorite Herzog film. On first viewing I didn't quite grasp the dialogue, but over a few viewings it becomes clear that the dialogue is purposeful and important to the action. Woyzeck isn't sane but he has an order to his thoughts. This, combined with exhaustion, leads him to his action which is actually spoken about from the very first lines. In this way this movie is a circle.
Rated 02 Apr 2007
84
79th
Woyzeck seems kind of simple compared to the rest of Herzog's work. It's full of themes that are common with Herzog, but the presentation isn't as bold or interesting. It still has some really strong moments (all of which are heightened by the fantastic score), which still makes the film satisfying but not quite complete.
Rated 26 Apr 2012
30
12th
This movie should be called "Sit On A Motionless Master Shot For Five Minutes And Try To Resist Looking At Your Phone."
Rated 02 Dec 2009
8
80th
How it compares to the other Herzog/Kinski films shouldn't matter. A solid movie with yet another great Kinski performance.
Rated 29 Mar 2011
72
42nd
Kinski makes this movie watchable. His performance is brilliant. Unfortunately, nothing about the rest of the film even comes close to matching him. The direction feels restrained and stilted. The story feels random and meaningless. But when all is said and done the film does have a quiet melancholy charm about it that I kind of appreciate, but I just needed a little more to like about it.
Rated 12 Jan 2009
99
92nd
Kinski/Herzog como is dangerous !
Rated 28 Nov 2008
50
38th
This is not as unique nor as interesting as other Herzog/Kinski films. It's quality is more because of Kinski than Herzog, as the direction here isn't as pronounced as one might be used to; not bad, but not what you'd expect when you know what the man is capable of. Kinski saves it though, and carries the film on his own with an acting performance that comes to a fantastic climax in a brilliant scene towards the end, accompanied by a wonderful score. Good film, but not the best of Herzog/Kinski.
Rated 16 Oct 2013
70
41st
Extremely stagy, and I'm ashamed to admit I found the denouement (which is depicted in the poster for some reason!) more amusing than affecting. Bad prop work can be very distracting when it's right in the middle of a slow-motion frame! At times it looks amazing (the final shot is stunning) but at others the lighting contributes to its cramped staginess. This feels minor, though I obviously have no idea what I'm talking about, but it's a Herzog film, so it's worth watching.
Rated 16 Sep 2009
3
38th
It certainly has its moments (especially the ending) but even for a film that's only 82 minutes, it really drags its feet and feels like a muddled, disjointed mess. Kinski isn't bad but he isn't given much to work with either. I did enjoy the look of the film and the music is excellent, but it doesn't really come together that well.
Rated 08 Apr 2022
56
20th
It's mostly just the Kinski show, everything outside of his performance is forgettable. The extended slow-motion climax completely took me out of it.
Rated 13 Jan 2024
88
70th
Herzog's not a biography director, but several of his best films seem to fall into the proper category of epics, operating in a realm between ancient Greek tragedies and DON QUIXOTE: a man, fragile and passionate as he is, finding himself right in the midst of the brutal great forces of nature and human beings, he stands, he suffers, he penetrates, he goes insane, he falls. A master of founding human spirits in relation to the necessity and overwhelmingness of their milieu. And singular Kinski.
Rated 21 Nov 2012
85
65th
I wonder how Herzog could have pulled off all that existentialism without Kinski`s flawlessness.
Rated 21 Mar 2013
65
58th
Kinski kills it.
Rated 20 Nov 2013
8
80th
An odd film in which our main character is dehumanized and exploited by his superiors to the point where he simply loses it. The final moments by the river and in the bar have this twilight-hour feeling of magic and menace that I found transfixing.
Rated 06 May 2008
65
65th
A depressing little movie. A minor work in the context of Herzog's early filmography, but pretty decent and pleasant to look at.
Rated 24 Apr 2009
70
41st
Solid Herzog. You can tell it was thrown together quickly. If I have to come up with a flaw I'd say it's a tad boring, and if I had to come up with something really positive, I'd agree with the people who said the score.
Rated 25 Feb 2013
69
27th
unnecessary.
Rated 08 Jun 2009
8
90th
Kinski's acting style really moves this entire feature, and he does it with great effect. Even without any dialogue worth listening to, he is able to use mannerisms to develop Woyzeck into a very interesting and very sympathetic character. Herzog's trademark imagery is severely lacking, making this far from one of my favorites.
Rated 26 Dec 2009
96
99th
The first "arthouse" movie I ever saw. It blew my mind what a movie could be.
Rated 17 Oct 2010
60
50th
this movie sucks, however Kinski is God.
Rated 06 Dec 2012
37
31st
very theatrical. i found it more artificial than any herzog i've seen so far. some good payoffs, especially the ending.
Rated 15 Jun 2009
20
9th
If it wasn't for Herzog everbody would rate this as a crappy movie.
Rated 14 Jan 2015
81
66th
Not as outlandish as some of Herzog's other films, but stares as intensely (or moreso) at the dark hallow empty void of being a solider whose wife cheats on you. I'd go barmy, too! Kinski is pretty terrific in this -- like the film, his intensity is muted rather than let free, making this a more uncomfortable claustrophobic event. For a small, linear 80-so minutes, it makes for an enjoyable afternoon break.
Rated 31 Mar 2009
76
59th
You expect the climax, but it's still surprising how beautifully it's done & the denouement too (I always say "oh goody!" to myself as I wait for a Herzog ending). But the rest of the movie dragged for me and lacked Herzog's usual sparkle.
Rated 05 Oct 2013
77
55th
76.500
Rated 16 Sep 2016
70
58th
You push a Kinski too far, this is what you get
Rated 17 Oct 2011
80
56th
It's hardly among Herzog's best (he's much better when he's shooting in the middle of the jungle rather than in the middle of a peaceful German town), but Kinski and the ending take it above average.
Rated 11 Aug 2013
45
27th
way too boring and over the top for me. I also didn't like how the dialogue was presented.
Rated 12 Nov 2014
82
85th
Great acting but frustratingly stagey until the stunning ending. Maybe that's the point though, Kinski's facial expressions certainly convey a sense of oppression and claustrophobia. The act of murder then seems like a transcendent release of all that energy.
Rated 09 Jan 2009
25
2nd
In the School but i was tired
Rated 22 Dec 2008
77
79th
Kinski is very fun to watch
Rated 08 Aug 2016
3
36th
klaus kinski is caught pissing on a wall by a doctor who had his 'nose out of the window to verify a sneeze hypothesis'. it's just that kind of movie.
Rated 06 Feb 2007
70
52nd
Not a favorite of mine, but I like the look and feel of the film, and music is awesome.
Rated 15 May 2008
90
91st
Kinski's facial expressions radiate a calm intensity setting fire on the screen; Herzog's peculiarly focused glance at his protagonist communicate intangible matters vaguely but persistently, suggesting the paranormal and phantasmal in Woyzeck's perplexed mental reality through some confidentially poetic dialogue(/monologues) and deliberately claustrophobic mise-en-scène. Kinski's face scream throughout, and Herzog know how to pay attention. Oddly lyrical and delicious.
Rated 16 Feb 2010
89
80th
Outstanding Kinski performance in an excellent screen version of one of the greatest of all German plays. It is economically directed, with deliberate slowness, but this is appropriate, since it allows us to concentrate on Woyzeck's disintegration, intensifying the pity and horror of this small tragedy.
Rated 02 Nov 2012
70
54th
quite a bizarre movie. theres nothing like the combination of slow motion, beautiful muisic and dramatic scenes as presented in the murder scene etc. the rest was really just a oddly presented, but straightforward story.
Rated 17 Jan 2011
78
61st
78.375
Rated 07 Feb 2007
61
18th
Klaus Kinski is given practically nothing to do except spew meaningless crazy gibberish. When the film tries to be funny it's worth only the mildest of chuckles, and when it tries to be serious it's laughably overdramatic. It's boring up until the last 5 minutes. There are very few of those Herzog "magic moments" here (Kinski running through the fields is the only one that comes to mind). On the plus side, it's got a lovely musical score.
Rated 19 Dec 2017
73
78th
Shot quickly after Nosferatu, Woyzeck probably would have benefitted from a longer shooting schedule, but there is a wonderful spontaneity to the performances that might have been lost under more 'ideal' conditions. Herzog's focus here is borderline Kubrickian: the slow mental unravelling of a dehumanized lab rat. The stagy approach others have complained about merely highlights Woyzeck's powerlessness. Kinski gives one of his best performances, but the film lacks the scope of their great works.
Rated 15 Feb 2009
71
43rd
Dull for Herzog. Has its moments though.
Rated 01 Oct 2018
50
33rd
A soldier's hellish descent into madness - humiliated by his boss, used in a scientific experiment by a doctor (basically forced to stay on a peas diet for months) and betrayed by his wife with a man in an uniforme. Herzog does his usual painting-like, impressionistic approach to open shots, but does little about characterization, as this plays basically as his torture porn -- it should be a compliment. Murder scene is cool, as well as the final shots -- reflecting on what to do with the knife.
Rated 11 May 2020
64
54th
Quite a strange film even by Herzog's standards, though that is partly because of the source material. Worth watching for the climactic murder scene alone, which manages to be disturbing, beautiful, and moving all at once.
Rated 24 Dec 2023
75
83rd
This is mostly sold on Kinski's performance and the general uncomfortable undertones it rides with. The movie is not particularly engaging with its use of wide shots and mise en scene is not much to look at but I think it maintains engagement just on how well it maintains its deprived tone and having that pay off in horrifically gruesome fashion. I dig that they didn't play too much into the aftermath, having the ending leave off on a bizarre conundrum of a conclusion.

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