Land des Schweigens und der Dunkelheit
Werner Herzog / DE, 1971 / 85 min.
Herzog’s third documentary focuses on people with both auditory and visual disabilities: people who live in ‘the land of silence and darkness’. Herzog follows 56-year-old Fini Straubinger, who seeks contact with the outside world through the manual alphabet.
What it means to not be able to either see or hear is made powerfully clear in Werner Herzog’s documentary about Fini Straubinger. She became deaf and blind as a result of a serious accident, and spent a long time in a specialist institution, most of it confined to a bed. At some point she decided to devote her life to helping fellow deaf and blind people, organizing gathering and fighting for more awareness. Straubinger is a true hero and Herzog would refer to her many times as one of the most important protagonists in his oeuvre.
Images © Werner Herzog Film
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Details
Director
Werner Herzog
Production year
1971
Country
DE
Original title
Land des Schweigens und der Dunkelheit
Length
85 min.
Language
German
Subtitles
ENG
Format
DCP
Part of
Werner Herzog
Eye Filmmuseum presents an exhibition and extensive film programme around the work of celebrated filmmaker Werner Herzog. With an unorthodox oeuvre of more than seventy features, documentaries and shorts, Herzog has fascinated audiences with unforgettable stories, images and characters for more than half a century. His films grant us insights into the relationship between people and the chaotic world around them, as well as into the endless indifference of nature towards human life.
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