Heart of Glass (1976)

Heart of Glass (Herz aus Glas)
Directed by Werner Herzog
Written by Werner Herzog based on a screenplay and scenario by Herbert Achternbusch
1976/West Germany
IMDb page
First viewing/Fandor Channel on Amazon Prime

[on hypnosis] Herz aus Glas, yes, I did that film with the entire cast under hypnosis. And so I taught Tim Roth how to do it [in Invincible (2001)] and the funny thing was that the cinematographer was looking through the eyepiece and sitting that close and all of a sudden started to weave, and I grabbed him by the hair while the scene was still running and softly shook him. So yes, if the audience will be willing, it can be hypnotized from the screen. And that was what I actually had planned to do in “Heart of Glass”; I actually had the idea that I would appear on screen myself, and explain that I was the director and the scenes were shot under hypnosis. I have actually shown films to audiences who were hypnotized, including for example Aguirre, der Zorn Gottes (1972). — Werner Herzog

Automoton acting and a crazy story meet breathtaking cinematography and a wonderful Popol Vuh score.

The setting is a village in 18th Century Bavaria.  The village is famous for its incomparable vivid ruby glass.  Then the master glassblower dies and takes the secret recipe for the glass with him.  The whole town basically goes nuts.

Concurrently, we get pronouncements from the local prophetic shepherd.  These do not bode well for the village or the planet.

Well, if I had known this one was famous for the actors all being hypnotized I might have given it a pass.  They did seem unusually unexpressive.  The plot is all over the place and it doesn’t reach any sort of resolution.  It felt much longer than its 94 minutes.

BUT This movie contains some of the most beautiful, painterly cinematography, reminiscent of Barry Lyndon (1975), you could wish for.  The score, by Herzog regular Popol Vuh (Florian Frick), is interesting as well. I love a lot of Herzog movies but this one was, on balance, not for me.