Even Dwarfs Started Small

Herzog’s second fiction feature is an early exploration of the chaotic characters and stories that would come to personify his film career.

A community living in an isolated institution rebels against their director, taking him hostage and plunging the whole place into anarchy and destruction. Filled with some of the most transfixing and shocking imagery of Herzog’s entire career, this film still feels as dangerous and mesmerising as it did when released 51 years ago.

The production also provided one of Herzog’s most infamous on-set stories. After an actor was accidentally run over by a car in one scene and set on fire during another, Herzog declared that if the cast and crew could finish the film he would jump into a hedge of cactuses. True to his word, when filming wrapped Herzog did indeed plunge headfirst into a cactus, much to the bemusement of his cast and crew.

– Jacob Agius, Melbourne Cinémathèque, committee member