{"id":4966,"date":"2007-12-15T21:49:27","date_gmt":"2007-12-16T04:49:27","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=4966"},"modified":"2020-12-21T17:31:07","modified_gmt":"2020-12-22T00:31:07","slug":"mystery-of-kaspar-hauser-the-enigma-of-kaspar-hauser-the-every-man-for-himself-and-god-against-all-1974","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=4966","title":{"rendered":"Mystery of Kaspar Hauser, The \/ Enigma of Kaspar Hauser, The \/ Every Man For Himself and God Against All (1974)"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>&#8220;It seems to me that my coming into this world was a very hard fall.&#8221;<\/strong><\/p>\n<table>\n<tr>\n<td>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/12\/Enigma-Kaspar-Hauser-Poster.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/12\/Enigma-Kaspar-Hauser-Poster-214x300.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"214\" height=\"300\" class=\"alignleft size-medium wp-image-22557\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/12\/Enigma-Kaspar-Hauser-Poster-214x300.jpg 214w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/12\/Enigma-Kaspar-Hauser-Poster-91x128.jpg 91w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/12\/Enigma-Kaspar-Hauser-Poster.jpg 409w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 214px) 100vw, 214px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong>Synopsis:<\/strong><br \/>\nA mysterious young man (Bruno S.) named Kaspar Hauser arrives in a German village in 1828, where he&#8217;s cared for by a kind professor (Walter Ladengast) who teaches him to read, write, and play music.\n<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>\n<p>\n<strong>Genres, Themes, Actors, and Directors:<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Character Arc<\/li>\n<li>German Films<\/li>\n<li>Historical Dramas<\/li>\n<li>Werner Herzog Films<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Response to Peary&#8217;s Review: <\/strong><br \/>\nWidely regarded by many (including Peary) as one of Werner Herzog&#8217;s &#8220;most compelling films&#8221;, <em>The Mystery of Kaspar Hauser<\/em> is in the &#8220;same subgenre as <a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=28000\"><em>The Wild Child<\/em><\/a> and <a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=4675\"><em>The Elephant Man<\/em><\/a>&#8221; yet &#8220;completely different from those pictures.&#8221; As Peary notes, Herzog wisely refrains from positing the real-life <a href=\"http:\/\/www.answers.com\/main\/ntquery?s=kaspar+hauser&#038;gwp=8&#038;x=0&#038;y=0\">Hauser<\/a> as either a saint (a la the Elephant Man) or a Tarzan-figure (a la Truffaut&#8217;s &#8220;wild child&#8221;), instead portraying him simply as &#8220;an outsider, a naturalist, whose presence causes everyone to question their orderly vision of their world, their faith in God, [and] their orderly way of leading their lives.&#8221; The inspired casting of non-actor Bruno S. (a former mental institute inmate) as Hauser plays a key role in the film&#8217;s success &#8212; it&#8217;s remarkably easy to believe that Bruno <em>is<\/em> Kaspar, with his cynical yet child-like attitude marking him as one who is truly seeing life in a unique way. Several of his statements &#8212; such as when he remarks with sadness to Ladengast that hearing music &#8220;feels strong in his heart&#8221;, and wonders aloud why he can&#8217;t play piano with automaticity, the way he breathes &#8212; are heartbreaking in their naive wisdom. <\/p>\n<p><strong>Redeeming Qualities and Moments: <\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Bruno S. as Kaspar Hauser<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/12\/eokh-kaspar.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/12\/eokh-kaspar.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"1600\" height=\"1200\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-4969\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<li>Walter Ladengast as Hauser&#8217;s kindly caretaker, Professor Daumer<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/12\/eokh-ladengast.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/12\/eokh-ladengast.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"1600\" height=\"1200\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-4970\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<li>Kaspar trying to teach a cat to walk on its hind legs<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/12\/eokh-cat.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/12\/eokh-cat.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"1600\" height=\"1200\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-4967\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<li>Beautiful cinematography of German countryside<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/12\/eokh-cinematography.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/12\/eokh-cinematography.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"1600\" height=\"1200\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-4968\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Must See? <\/strong><br \/>\nYes, as the film which propelled Werner Herzog to international prominence. <\/p>\n<p><strong>Categories<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Historically Relevant<\/li>\n<li>Important Director<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Links: <\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/imdb.com\/title\/tt0071691\/\">IMDb entry<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/1975\/09\/28\/archives\/herzogs-every-man-for-himself-is-stunning-fable-full-of-universals.html\">NY Times Original Review (spoiler alert)<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.bbc.co.uk\/films\/2001\/08\/29\/the_enigma_of_kaspar_hauser_1974_review.shtml\">BBC Review<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.rogerebert.com\/reviews\/the-enigma-of-kaspar-hauser-1974\">Roger Ebert&#8217;s Review<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.tvguide.com\/movies\/enigma-kaspar-hauser\/review\/114094\">TV Guide Review<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&#8220;It seems to me that my coming into this world was a very hard fall.&#8221; Synopsis: A mysterious young man (Bruno S.) named Kaspar Hauser arrives in a German village in 1828, where he&#8217;s cared for by a kind professor (Walter Ladengast) who teaches him to read, write, and play music. Genres, Themes, Actors, and Directors: Character Arc German Films Historical Dramas Werner Herzog Films Response to Peary&#8217;s Review: Widely regarded by many (including Peary) as one of Werner Herzog&#8217;s&#8230;<\/p>\n<p class=\"read-more\"><a class=\"btn btn-default\" href=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=4966\"> Read More<span class=\"screen-reader-text\">  Read More<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4966","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-responses-to-peary"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4966","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=4966"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4966\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":58914,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4966\/revisions\/58914"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=4966"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=4966"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=4966"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}