Greece Hotels Travel - Signs of Life
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Manufacturer: New Yorker Video
Starring: Peter Brogle, Jannakis Frasakis, Achmed Hafiz, Katerinaki, Julie Pinheiro
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Average Customer Rating:  
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Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
Audience Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Binding: DVD
EAN: 9781567304152
Format: Black & White
ISBN: 156730415X
Label: New Yorker Video
Manufacturer: New Yorker Video
Number Of Items: 1
Publisher: New Yorker Video
Region Code: 1
Release Date: 2005-07-05
Running Time: 87
Studio: New Yorker Video
Theatrical Release Date: 1981-12
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Editorial Reviews:
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"Stroszek is an injured soldier sent to recuperate at a remote Greek island. There, he and his new Greek wife, Nora, serve as caretakers to an abandoned ammunition dump. The newlyweds adjust to their new life on this enchanted desert isle and attend to their simple duties, but soon, the heat, the exotic locale, and the suspicious, eccentric natives push Stroszek towards insanity. He finally snaps, tries to kill his wife, then plans to ignite the ammunition dump. Ultimately, soldiers swarm the area, trying to capture the psychotic Stroszek before he blows up the whole island. Signs of Life is the debut feature from Werner Herzog (Aguirre, the Wrath of God; Fitzcarraldo; Nosferatu), the director that both Milos Forman and François Truffaut have called "the greatest filmmaker alive today."
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Spotlight customer reviews:
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Customer Rating:
Summary: Terrific debut
Comment: No filmmaker's career has been more defined and structured by the musical choices he has made than German film director Werner Herzog; and this claim is evident from his first full length feature, 1968's Signs Of Life (Lebenszeichen), which he made when he was twenty-four and released when he was twenty-five, after writing the script when he was twenty-one, but getting the idea for it, he claims, when he was fifteen or sixteen. Oddly, the film also gives a story credit to someone named Achim Von Arnim. Nonetheless, it is an extraordinary film, not because it is so technically brilliant, but because it espouses such a mature artistic touch. A good counterpoint to this film would be Martin Scorsese's debut film, Who's That Knocking At My Door? Scorsese's film shows much talent, but it is the art of a young man, whose protagonist is suffering the angsts that all young men go through. By contrast, the hero of Herzog's debut film is suffering from something far deeper and more profound, the sort of psychospiritual ravages that beset one in a midlife crisis. Yet, it's not merely the crisis that the film's protagonist suffers through, but how it is represented that show why Herzog would become the most daring, if not also the greatest, filmmaker of the last forty years.
The film is very spare, in its dialogue, its visuals, its music, but like a Beckett play gone straight, this only heightens the attention needed to the smallest of details. And this is where the emotive brilliance of the Greek string music, as evocative as the zither used in The Third Man, comes in, even as it counterpoints against the images the film unleashes.... The reasons why Signs Of Life succeeds are manifold, but chief among them is that, even at an early age, Herzog presents the German soldiers as men, not rabid Nazi ideologues. All three were likely conscripted against their will, and seem to long for nothing more than the end of the war. Also, the black and white film captures many of the moments of reality that happen, which later films would capitalize on, and make a Herzogian trademark, especially Even Dwarfs Started Small. Yet, the film is still relevant because it blends music and imagery in ways very few films ever had, and backs up the later claim that Herzog made, that he's never made an error in musical selection for a film. Signs Of Life is the first proof of that claim, but thankfully not the last. Here's hoping that is one note whose resonance does not fade for a very long time.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Even a flawed Herzog film is memorable
Comment: I'm a great admirer of Herzog, but even I admit that the quality of his films is uneven. The thing, though, is this: even flawed Herzog films lodge in the memory. There's something about them that's captivating, even when they aren't quite successful. "Signs of Life," his first feature film, falls into this category.
Ostensibly, the film tells the story of a WWII soldier, Stroszek, who is stationed along with two other soldiers and his Greek wife on a sleepy Mediterranean isle and who eventually goes "mad" from the deadening inertia he finds there. Shutting himself up in the island's fortress, he shoots at the villagers and every night fires off rockets. He's finally captured and carted off to the looney bin.
In subsequent interviews, as well as the commentary accompanying the DVD, Herzog denies that Stroszek is mad. He is, Herzog says, the only sane person in the film, and is reacting to an insane situation in a perfectly rational way. He's showing "signs of life" in his rebellion against the world in which he finds himself. Could be. But there's no preparation of the viewer for this interpretation in the film itself. We see Stroszek (and his two soldier pals too) becoming increasingly wacky. The first half of the film is almost all subjective--we're inside Stroszek's head, and even the long and exquisite opening shot of the island's terrain is more mental than geographical. Then, without warning, Stroszek snaps and the second half of the film is totally objective, with no clue as to Stroszek's inner landscape. In fact, he doesn't even show up on the screen very much. It's as if we're watching a double feature.
The acting is quite good, but not so much by Peter Brogle, who plays Stroszek, as by Wolfgang Reichmann, who plays Manfred, one of Stroszek's soldier chums, and Athina Zacharopoulou, who plays Stroszek's wife Nora. Manfred is fantastic as the obsessive, germ and bug-hating soldier, and Zacharopoulou (who, so far as I know, never made any other films) performance, shy and tentative as it is, is touching.
Two-and-three-quarters stars.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Good, moving movie.
Comment: Ultimately, I was deeply moved by this film, though I think this might be a director's movie, rather than something your average movie audience would enjoy. The narrative is extremely slow, which is deliberate, given it's actually a story point in the film. To be honest, I was ready to give up on the movie about two-thirds of the way through, then Stroszek wigged out and I decided to hang in there. I was glad I did, because when the end comes you absolutely feel what drove Stroszek mad and it's such a release! It's really powerful. Then you get to ruminate on dust to dust and the meaning of life and signs of life, etc. It took a while to get there, but I thought it was clever. In the end, it felt to me a film every aspiring director should see.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Looking For Signs of Life
Comment: If there was any doubt concerning Werner Herzog's innate personal aesthetic, it should be dispelled with one viewing of his first feature film---1967's Signs of Life. Already evident at age 24 are Herzog's attractions to all things bizarre, visually extraordinary, and narratively subliminal as well as to a loose interpretation of an already loose screenplay---usually his own! As has been mentioned in previous reviews, this aesthetic is apparent in most all of Herzog's subsequent and more renown efforts; but Signs of Life especially foreshadows Aguirre: The Wrath of God with its themes of isolation and resultant "descent into madness". There's also the catch-as-catch-can cinematic style which utilizes available objects and ad hoc events as significant symbols and narrative devices. Scenes aren't necessarily staged and shot with editorial continuity foremost in mind; hence, interesting narrative non sequiturs result. The difference here is that there's an utter lack of physical progression such as with Aguirre. We are emotionally stuck with the characters as much as they are physically stuck in their situation.
We have an injured World War II German Wehrmacht soldier sent to the beautiful remote Greek island of Kos to recuperate. He, his Greek soon-to-be wife, and two other soldiers are stationed at the famous medieval fortress there to guard a munitions depot. An historical backdrop would have been helpful for those viewers not thoroughly familiar with the situation as presented. What we can garner from visual cues and the languorous actions of those involved is only that there's a war going on someplace far, far away. Opposing Greek partisans make their presence known by secretly creating a large crown made of rocks on a distant hillside, though the German commanding officer dismisses it as merely an affirmation of the reason they're stationed there. Wehrmacht soldiers openly commiserate with the villagers. Discipline is lax throughout the ranks. Everything seems peaceful, friendly, idyllic...and boring.
Lest I ruin it for potential viewers, I'll simply state that things get interesting with the acceptance of a routine patrol mission to break the monotony. An ironic madness ensues whereby the village and military outpost are suddenly in danger as a result. The irony is felt in the half-hearted urgency reflected in the military command, the sprawling evacuation of the villagers, but especially in the surreal black & white images we see---some of which are haunting in the context presented---as well as in a simple and pensively beautiful Greek melody played on strings.
Signs of Life is probably a "must-see" only for fans of Herzog; saying it's one of his best is certainly overstating things. Others should see it with the knowledge that it was made by a young "New Wave" German filmmaker with minimal formal film schooling, a stolen camera, an award-winning screenplay, a shoestring budget, and a committed group of actors and participants. You may never look at windmills the same way again!
p.s.: The DVD is of fine full-screen quality with very legible white English subtitles and can be viewed with the director's ruminative running commentary.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Good film; problematic DVD
Comment: First off, I want to say that I'm a big fan of Werner Herzog. Between 1972 and 1982, he was one of the best directors in the world, coming up with such unique masterpieces as "Aguirre," "Kaspar Hauser" (or whichever title you prefer), "Nosferatu" (the remake), and "Fitzcarraldo." As his feature-length debut, "Signs of Life" never quite reaches the sublime heights of those later movies. For one thing, I find the narration a little clunky, as if Herzog were still clinging to the last vestiges of traditional plot development, and lead actor Peter Brogle lacks the electrifying presence that Bruno S. and Klaus Kinski bring to Herzog's later films. Still, this film points the way to Herzog's later masterpieces, and it undeniably possesses the same eerie atmosphere and languorous beauty that we associate with his movies. I'll also single out Wolfgang Reichmann's performance as Meinhard as being particularly good. All in all, I give this film 4 stars, but I recommend that movie buffs new to the world of Herzog start with his collaborations with Kinski (which are available in a nice boxset from Anchor Bay) and then work backwards to "Signs of Life."
I've deducted one star from my rating, however, because of New Yorker Video's rather problematic DVD. On the surface, it's a very appealing release: the print they used is beautiful and nearly flawless, and they include a director's commentary with Herzog himself, who is always interesting to listen to. But for some reason, New Yorker has NOT given this film a progressive transfer -- in other words, instead of capturing each individual frame of the film (24 per second), they've simply transferred it all at once (rather like a videotape). To be honest, it's about as good a non-progressive transfer as you can get, and people with regular tube TVs probably won't notice any problems. But for those with projectors and high-resolution screens (heck, even if you toss it into your PC and watch it on your monitor!), you're going to notice a blurriness during horizontal movement that people call "combing." In my opinion, non-progressive transfers are simply unacceptable in 2005, especially since many of us will soon be upgrading to higher resolution TVs. I simply don't understand why New Yorker continue to go the non-progressive route, but I'm pretty sure this will be the last New Yorker DVD I buy until they get their act together.
Finally, I also wish that this DVD had included the two short films that Herzog mentions in his commentary as tying in thematically or stylistically with "Signs of Life": "Last Words" and "The Unprecedented Defence of the Fortress Deutschkreuz." I haven't seen either, but based on the commentary, they sound relevant. Along with the non-progressive transfer, their absence represent exactly why companies like New Yorker fall so short of the standards set by Criterion, despite making such interesting and worthwhile films available.
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