The 1977 movie "Stroszek" by Werner Herzog is a film peculiar in numerous

ways as it follows Bruno Stroszek (Bruno Schleinstein) from his helpless life
in West Berlin to Winconsin. Stroszek provides an outsider’s view of the
“American dream”, and specifically its oft-ignored uncertainty. To a man ill-
treated in his home country of Germany, the ideology of the American way of
life provides a final safety net of sorts for the salvageable aspects of his
optimism. When this net begins to fray, Bruno falls into a battle with the basic
frameworks of life.

"Stroszek" is a brilliant parodic take on the American dream, complete with

an auction (what Herzog refers to as the “poetry of capitalism”), a trailer, a
truck-stop, hunters, farms, a frozen turkey and ironic Americana music cues.
The film demonstrates Herzog at his most humorous, however darkly. At its
core, the film is somewhat sinister, and harbors a searing view of not just the
American dream, but all dreams; a look at the prison the world can be with
"the prison doors wide open, and we're not in Germany any more". The film is
clearly built around Bruno S., and while the film certainly contains mostly
invention, it succeeds as an articulation of this man’s soul, his hopes, dreams,
and his struggle. As always, Herzog is more interested in the usage of
fabrication in order to achieve a greater effect, an ecstatic truth. To him,
truth and fiction are one in the same when it comes to cinema.

The apperance of the never before mentioned man in a native indian

sandwich shop is very peculuar involvment. As Bruno pulls over the fastly
deterioting tow truck he took from the mechanic ,Clayton, he walks into a
store with his frozen turkey and shotgun in hand. In this store he is in
conversation with a man that speaks German and English to Bruno,
ruminating on his current circumstances. "So, your car is kaputt, and your
girlfriend is gone. Und dein house they have sold." To which Bruno dismisses
in his ever increasing cynical tone with "absolutely" agreeing with that he
shouldn't worry. This character is an invention of Herzogs artistic license, to
allow the audience to come to terms with Bruno's mentality before the final
sequence of strange events. It is also possible that is middle-aged german-
speaking man is a complete hollusionation of Bruno's, as in the short time
they are shown together no other character notices or serves him sitting at
the table.

It is important to note that Germany at this time was ungoing great

economic, social and cultural growth. The revivial of film in which Herzog
created 'Stroszek' itself is evidence of this such progress. German cinema
had not recovered from the height of it's achievements prior 1933, after
which the Universum Film AG (UFa) was corrupted into a Nazi propaganda
factory and was lost with the war. 'Stroszek' is notable as a film in the New
German Cinema movement as it does not flatter Berlin, instead inhabiting
characters such as an ex-criminal, a prostitute and two pimps, all of which
played by non-actors. However as much as Herzog shows Berlin as
unflattering as the fictional Railroad Flats in Winsconsin, it has a much less
evaporative atmosphere.

A poignant line of conversation near the end of the film summerizes the
underlying dependence on money. A native American waitress with broken
English passes the cheque over to Bruno, who states with a cracked smile
"My last three dollars" in german, then hands over wrinkled notes from the
prior bank/barbershop robbery. The waitress replies with a thickly accented,
well rehearsed script, "Thank you and please come again". The sardonic irony
of such small talk is not lost on the viewer. This quiet meeting of separate
cultures in a mutually foreign habitat exposes the brutally impersonal,
unsympathic nature of capitalism and the unrelenting necessity for trade and
commerce." Where in other circumstances it may act as a bridge between
cultures, here it is burying Bruno ever deeper into his cynicism and
compromising the native American culture to supply an income.

Stroszek, with a peculiar narrative, evidences the underpinning of American

culture and life on individual financial wealth. It is impossible to not feel pity
for Bruno, as the movie plays out we begin to understand Bruno, and it is
inherent in how this strange character behaves that he has little regard for
attaining money. "Nobody kicks you here. No, not physically. Here they do it
spiritually". Bruno plays glockenspiel and a various array of instruments in
courtyards in Berlin for little return, he is a man whom is engrossed with his
music and few possessions. "God knows what I would be without my Beo"
however, when Bruno's beloved talking bird Beo is taken away after arriving
in America, Bruno's mental health and emotional happiness begin to fade.

When stressed and speaking in his cynicial manner, Bruno, always uses third
person. This perhaps is to due to the fact he feels that "Bruno is getting
pushed aside as if he didn't exist" and needs to constantly convince to
himself that he is still a real person. During the deteriotation of Bruno's
happiness in America he even makes a sculptural representation of the inside
of his head. This sharp and jagged creation is a powerful visual depiction of
the internal troubles and problems a compassionate, patient, common-
sensical man incapable of rage or physical assertiveness struggles with.
"They're closing all the doors on him, and oh, so, politely."

Bruno has a great awareness, yet little motivation to change the financial
circumstances which bury him. He constantly complains and worries, but
without a conclusion or any determination to change. Through the middle of
the film we witness the banker walking into the mobile home with an
unconfortable swagger, negotiating a foreign language awkward conversation
to warn of an impending repossession. Bruno narrates in german to nobody
inparticular "I can't say I know the language well, but something smells
mighty fishy here." Bruno's strange personality allows him never to address
the unfolding problems in a logical manner

Against such an engimatic and depressing storyline the physical beauty of

the landscapes, the cityscapes and the squalid interiors holds stark contrast.
This visual lyricism, which at first seems at odds with the subject, eventually
becomes an accompaniment and further compliment of the erractic plot.
Also, a premature baby, hardly bigger than a man's hand, interrupts the film
halfway. It's capacity to hang on is nothing less than ferocious, and it serves
as motivation for Bruno to leave with Eva for America.

A bizarre menagerie of discordant images and blatant symbolism, the ending

to Stroszek is an amazingly poigant, captivating sequence. The trapping the
titular Bruno falls in to throws him into a loop, both literal and figurative,
which finally forces him into action against the thrusts of habitual duress.
While the powerful imagery of the dancing chicken encourages the viewer to
grasp control of one’s destiny, the film evidences to sidestep life’s inherent
repetition is also to follow one’s dreams (regardless of whether those dreams
unfold according to plan). Herzog presents a worst-case scenario, adding up
the tolls and subversive pressures of the daily grind.

An ambiguous note that leaves the conclusion open to interpretation is the

gun shot we hear at the end. As Bruno approaches the chair lift and ascends
into the midst of air all alone, in a vast area of emptiness, the camera moves
away, leaving only the audience to hear the sound of a gunshot. However,
the film ends without breaking the suspense and revealing to the audience if
Bruno shot himself or not.