STROSZEK might well be Werner Herzog's movie masterpiece. Certainly it contains material here which appears to me to be the natural high point of the director's career, some of the best cinema I've ever witnessed.

The story is centred around the titular character, played with relish by Bruno S. (THE ENIGMA OF KASPAR HAUSER) in what is undoubtedly his definitive performance. Stroszek is a musician, fresh out of prison and down on his luck, who decides to emigrate to the USA accompanied by a hooker and an old man (the latter being Clemens Scheitz, a frequent - and welcome - Herzog collaborator). They go in search of the American dream, but what they find is very different.

STROSZEK perfectly encapsulates Herzog's world view that the natural order of things is chaos and destruction rather than peace and harmony. Watching it makes for a depressing experience, at least for the most part, particularly because Bruno S. is such a sympathetic actor. The good news is that things change tack in the last 20 minutes, which is a mini-movie in itself, a glorious surreal comedy that gets weirder and weirder until the last, well, dancing chicken. The accompanying blues music just nails it. The ending of this film had tears of laughter streaming down my face while at the same time being completely profound and moving. It's a masterful moment that Herzog should be justly proud of and it closes a thoroughly engrossing film.

"Stroszek" is a German movie from almost 40 years ago and the second collaboration between Werner Herzog and Bruno S. Herzog initially planned to cast him as Woyzeck, but chose Kinski for the role. To make it up to Bruno, Herzog wrote this film here and it turned into one of his biggest successes with Bruno giving the lead character his uniquely memorable touch. He is a man who gets released out of jail and needs to stay away from the booze in order to lead a normal life again. After some violent trouble with a pair of pimps, Bruno, his girl (played by Eva Mattes, who got a German Film Award nomination for her turn) and a friend move to the United States of America. And for the rest of the film we see how life for Bruno and his guys is over there. Sadly, the American Dream is collapsing pretty quickly.

The film runs for over 105 minutes and I personally found the parts in Germany early on more interesting really. But that is not saying that the second half of the film wasn't good. I thought it was a very decent watch from start to finish and I find it a pity Herzog hasn't made more films with Bruno or that Bruno has not starred in other movies in the 1970s and 1980s. I definitely liked watching him. In here as well as in Kaspar Hauser from 3 years earlier. People may say that there is not really that much happening in "Stroszek", but first of all I don't think this is a valid criticism per se and secondly actually there is a lot happening. Life is happening. We see a man going for his dream, but sadly things don't go the way he hoped in the long run. I recommend "Stroszek"- This film is more proof of how good Herzog was in the 1960s. And for authentic and honest Bruno S.'s acting was at the same time. Go check it out.

In Berlin, the alcoholic street musician Bruno Stroszek (Bruno S.) is released from prison and while returning home, he invites the prostitute Eva (Eva Mattes) to move to his apartment and leave her two abusive pimps. His paranoid friend and neighbor Scheitz (Clemens Scheitz) has taken care of his apartment and his piano while he was imprisoned. On the next day, Stroszek plays accordion and glockenspiel on the streets to raise some money and when he arrives home, he finds Eva beaten and the two pimps humiliate him. The harassment continues and without any option, Stroszek, Eva and Scheitz decide to begin a new life in Wisconsin, where a relative of Scheitz lives. The trio of friends travels to the United States of America expecting to make money and accomplish the American Dream. Bruno works in a auto mechanic and Eva as a waitress in a diner, and they buy a prefabricated house despite the concern of Bruno with the installments. When the bank threatens to take the house due to delay in the payments of the loan, Eva enters in the prostitution again with truck drivers to raise the necessary money. Sooner Stroszek discovers in a tragic way the sad reality of the American Dream.

"Stroszec" is a powerful and realistic movie about losers and the American Dream. The screenplay is original and unpredictable like life is, with magnificent lines and Werner Herzog uses also amateurish cast leaded by Bruno Schleinstein from "The Enigma of Kaspar Hause", who is the unwanted son of a prostitute that spent a great part of his life in mental institutions due to the severe abuse and beaten; therefore, the actor has some problems indeed and the beginning of the film is very similar to his real life. The conclusion is open to interpretation and I believe that Stroszek shot himself. I do not understand the meaning of the dancing chicken; with regard to the frozen turkey, I am not sure whether it is a symbolism indicating that Stroszec wanted to return to his origins in Turkey since he is Turkish-German, or if it is Thanksgiving in USA at that moment and he ends alone without friends just with the turkey. My vote is eight.

Title (Brazil): "Stroszec"