Herakles

Herakles (1960)

** (out of 4)

Werner Herzog's first film is about a young man who works out hoping to become very muscular one day. Nothing too interesting here.

Last Words (1967)

** (out of 4)

Another Werner Herzog short, this one I'm guessing was meant to be some sort of spoof about people and their last words but none of it is all that funny.

Unprecedented Defence of the Fortress Deutschkreutz, The (1966)

** (out of 4)

Herzog spoof of war and soldiers and the thoughts that creep into ones mind. There are a few funny jokes but again, nothing too interesting.

Precautions About Fanatics (1969)

** 1/2 (out of 4)

Herzog short is just one running gag about a fanatic at a race horse. A few laughs.

"Herakles" is a short insight into the Greek myth about Herakles. We observe hero while training. It is a silent movie and the only words are the subtitles, that are only questions whether Herakles will defeat someone (they are all connected with the myth).

What can be interesting is that Herakles is shown only physically, actually there is not much time to see his face and his surrounding is rather murky and dark. The questions are asked while Herkles is preparing as if there were some doubts. In the myth Herakles is rather a pure hero, here he gets a quality of uncertainty. He is shown as a motivated and strong, but rather human, however by that I do not mean that Herzog wants to attribute humanity to him. A hero is a man and a god, therefore it would be pointless.

I must admit that I am very careful while rendering Herzog's film. You cannot really say at what he was aiming. It is probably film done in result of experimenting with filming (it is his first film). Probably Herzog visualized his loose interpretation or rather his attitude towards Herakles. This film is not spectacular or meaningful, but is a gracious creation of imagination. The best thing you can to do is to enjoy it for yourself.

Ratner's Hercules is one of the best films since Snatch. This time, the quick scenes don't work too well, and not all the jokes hit the mark, but the pacing and the focus on the main story made this film a winner. Add to that a cast to cheer for, and The Rock as a believable protagonist, and this tale of the old Hercules myth is a movie not to be missed, especially as long as I did.

At first glance, "Herakles" is not exactly what one would expect to be Herzog's first film. If anything, it just feels like an experimental gay fetish video, but, right when I was about to rage over the lack of Kenneth Anger's co-director credit, Herzog's intent became more and more clear. This simplistic film directly references the classic Greek myth of Hercules, as well as providing some interesting commentary on the whole idea of the traditional "hero".

Visually, the film is often creative and nice, if a bit repetitive, but when realizing the subcontext, the film definitely gets more interesting. It certainly is nowhere near Herzog's best short film, but it still provides a decent and slightly thought provoking starting point for his soon to be absolutely legendary career.

Werner Herzog's first film.

Its ten minutes of muscle men pumping iron and flexing while Jazz music plays. Every now and then a title asks if this Hercules will perform one of the labors and we then cut to what that might mean in the modern day.

A curious beginning to Herzog's career. Considering the other films that the director has produced it seems very much out of place, although his use of music is very much in evidence. Its not much of anything mostly because it doesn't have time to be much of anything. I don't know if its really worth bothering with unless you're a fan of the directors work or manage to see it in conjunction to other early Herzog films (his website is selling his shorts collected)