''Signs of Life'' () is a

1968 Events January–February * January 1968, January – The I'm Backing Britain, I'm Backing Britain campaign starts spontaneously. * January 5 – Prague Spring: Alexander Dubček is chosen as leader of the Communist Party of Cze ...

feature film A feature film or feature-length film (often abbreviated to feature), also called a theatrical film, is a film (Film, motion picture, "movie" or simply “picture”) with a running time long enough to be considered the principal or sole present ...

written, directed, and produced by

Werner Herzog Werner Herzog (; né Stipetić; born 5 September 1942) is a German filmmaker, actor, opera director, and author. Regarded as a pioneer of New German Cinema, his films often feature ambitious protagonists with impossible dreams, people with unusu ...

. It was his first feature film, and his first major commercial and critical success. The story is roughly based on the short story "Der Tolle Invalide auf dem Fort Ratonneau" by

Achim von Arnim Carl Joachim Friedrich Ludwig von Arnim (26 January 1781 – 21 January 1831), better known as Achim von Arnim, was a German poet, novelist, and together with Clemens Brentano and Joseph von Eichendorff, a leading figure of German Romanticism. ...

Plot

During

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, three German soldiers are assigned to guard a depot of unusable munitions in an old fort in a small coastal community on the Greek island of

Kos Kos or Cos (; ) is a Greek island, which is part of the Dodecanese island chain in the southeastern Aegean Sea. Kos is the third largest island of the Dodecanese, after Rhodes and Karpathos; it has a population of 37,089 (2021 census), making ...

. One, Stroszek, has been given this tranquil role as he had been wounded. He has married a local woman who nursed him, Nora, and she lives with them and cooks for them. The men become increasingly stir crazy in their monotonous assignment, with almost no interactions, activities or duties. Stroszek behaves increasingly erratically and eventually starts shooting at people and threatening to detonate the depot.

Cast

* Peter Brogle - Stroszek * Wolfgang Reichmann - Meinhard * Athina Zacharopoulou - Nora * Wolfgang von Ungern-Sternberg - Becker * Wolfgang Stumpf - Captain * Henry van Lyck - Lieutenant * Julio Pinheiro - Gypsy * Florian Fricke - Pianist * Heinz Usener - Doctor * Achmed Hafiz - Greek resident

Production

The fortress which gives the film's main setting is a real 14th-century fortress built by the

Knights Hospitaller The Order of Knights of the Hospital of Saint John of Jerusalem, commonly known as the Knights Hospitaller (), is a Catholic military order. It was founded in the crusader Kingdom of Jerusalem in the 12th century and had headquarters there ...

. Herzog's grandfather, Rudolf Herzog, lived and worked for several years as an

archaeologist Archaeology or archeology is the study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of Artifact (archaeology), artifacts, architecture, biofact (archaeology), biofacts or ecofacts, ...

at this site, and published translations of the ancient Greek engravings which appear in the film. The old Turkish man who appears in the film with a written translation was the last surviving worker from Rudolf Herzog's archaeological project.Werner Herzog, audio commentary for ''Signs of Life'' DVD During several shots, Peter Brogle could only be filmed from the waist up after he had been injured in a tight-rope accident and spent several months in a walking cast. The man who appears as a pianist in one scene is keyboardist Florian Fricke of

Popol Vuh ''Popol Vuh'' (also ''Popul Vuh'' or ''Pop Vuj'') is a text recounting the mythology and history of the Kʼicheʼ people of Guatemala, one of the Maya peoples who also inhabit the Mexican states of Chiapas, Campeche, Yucatan and Quintana Roo, ...

, who composed and performed the music for many of Herzog's later films.

Themes

Many of Herzog's later films reference elements of ''Signs of Life''. '' Stroszek'' includes a scene with a hypnotized chicken, and the main character's name is reused in Herzog's film '' Stroszek''. '' The Wild Blue Yonder'' contains a shot of a valley of windmills.

Critical responses

The film was entered into the 18th Berlin International Film Festival, where it won the Silver Bear Extraordinary Prize of the Jury. The film won a

German Film Award The German Film Award (), also known as Lola after its prize statuette, is the national film award of Germany. It is presented at an annual ceremony honouring cinematic achievements in the Cinema of Germany, German film industry. Besides being ...

. ''Signs of Life'' has a 91% approval rating on

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review aggregator, review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee ...

References

External links

* {{Authority control 1968 films 1968 drama films German drama films West German films 1960s German-language films German black-and-white films Films directed by Werner Herzog German World War II films Films set in Greece Films set on islands Films set in the Mediterranean Sea Films shot in Crete Films about mental health Films based on short fiction Silver Bear Grand Jury Prize winners 1968 directorial debut films 1960s German films