Having fathered an illegitimate child with his lover, Marie, feckless soldier Franz Woyzeck takes odd jobs around his small town to provide some extra money for them. One job is volunteering for experiments conducted by a local doctor, who puts Woyzeck on a diet of peas. This serves to drive him close to madness, and the discovery that Marie is involved in an affair with the local drum major exacerbates the situation. Pushed too far, Woyzeck resorts to violence.
Acting
Kinski's vibrating stillness before the inevitable break
Direction
Herzog shot it in 18 days after wrapping Nosferatu
Cinematography
Flat, oppressive skies pressing down on human misery
Director
Werner Herzog
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Herzog made this immediately after Nosferatu using the same crew, shooting in just 18 days with almost no budget.
Büchner's unfinished 1837 play invented the working-class tragic hero—Marx hadn't even published yet.
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