How much Wood Would a Woodchuck Chuck

This subject was a wonderful little bit in Stroszek. It is quite interesting how Herzog is able to become completely transfixed by these peculiar cultural conventions as if willfully attempting to unravel a deeper primal layer in their social and performative aspects. I'm not sure how successful it is but the effort itself is strangely surreal and unique.

Equal parts hypnotic and monotonous. The performances of the cattle auctioneers akin to the Wodaabe in the full throws of the Yaake dance as depicted in Herzog's 'Wodaabe – Die Hirten der Sonne'. Or perhaps Huie Rogers preaching in 'Huies Predigt'. One marvels at the speed at which (barely) comprehensible sounds emerge from the mouths of the contestants. A strong man competition but with competitors orating instead of contorting bodies; 'Herakles' but in a different form.

The language of auctioneers creates such an unusual rhythm for Herzog. Had this been even slightly longer, I'd have grown tired, but I felt it was successful.

I kind of get what Herzog was going for here. Kind of. But was it really necessary to show us 20 or 30 minutes of raw auctioneering footage? I don't think so.

interesting at the start, and the vocal rhythms were pleasant for a while. the actual competition shows us their little stylistic quirks, but more than anything how utterly alike they - and by extension their cultures - are; this can only make me appreciate guys like steiner more. if i had to live in a place like this i'd probably off myself. perhaps that isn't what herzog might want me to take away, but it's what i was thinking constantly as the repetition inevitably became irritating and dull.

Pretty alright. An interesting subject for sure for I have a vague memory of these auctions as well but in the end the movie is really boring, something I wouldn't expect from Herzog.

Only Herzog would find cattle auctioneers worthy documentary subjects. Whether or not their speedy borderline incomprehensible delivery of numbers/bids really symbolizes the 'poetics of capitalism' as Herzog believes is up for debate, but this is a strangely fascinating world, and much talent is required to execute this absurd skill. By filming auctioneers competing in rapid succession, Herzog draws attention to their language's odd musicality as well as its structural logic.

Fun...yet pointless.

Easily Herzog's dullest film. Nice of him to give us another document of an odd, marginal culture, but even as a short this has an unfortunate tendency to wear out its welcome

Werner barely gets a word in edgewise, it's just speed-talkers in cowboy hats competing to see who can yammer up the price of a heifer the fastest. It is musical in a way, if country-drone is your thing

Herzog just lets his subjects be themselves - which makes for riveting cinema, if characters in their "native habitat" are your focus.

An appropriately Herzogian topic, but the last twenty minutes start to drag on.

Auctioneers should have been a hell of a lot more engaging, but waaaaaaaay too much time (the bulk of the film) is spent on the competition. It's surreal and hypnotic for about 10 minutes, then gradually tapers off to dullsville. By the end of it, I was skipping ahead.

Dope rhythms. Very danceable auctioneering. Hope someone samples this and plays it at a party. Also, isn't capitalism just ~wacky~

Even if the novelty of the auction chants hadn't worn off rather quickly, we're still not given too much to work with here. These sort of documentaries work best when the subjects' unique talent lends some interesting insights or worldview, but the auctioneers here have virtually nothing interesting to say.

:canada:

Strange.

I can see why Herzog would find the bizarre language of auctioneers fascinating, but if you can't get into that same mindset then it's just kind of boring.

A film about the world championship of cattle auctioneers. These guys talk really, really fast. Kind of reminds me of Huie's Sermon in that we're watching fast-talking dudes performing in front of a large crowd spouting off god knows what for forty minutes. Only this isn't nearly as interesting. Sure, it's fun at first, but it all gets boring pretty fast. This probably should have been a 20 minute film.

A classic Herzog documentary in that it does something more than document; once or twice is a poetic rumination on capitalism that is cuter and more endearing than it is deep, but most of the film is unbelievably musical and psychological through implication alone.

Can't really grasp why Herzog is so endeared to these little pockets of the US and their insular quirks. Initially found it strangely funny, but eventually got drawn into thinking about how unnecessary and totally ridiculous it is. He finds the rhythm and intensity of the auctioneering "frightening but quite beautiful at the same time". I don't see the beauty or poetry in it, and if anything, it just feels like a terrifying microcosm of accelerationism.

Go Bowmanville!

Very primitive.