The Enigma of Kaspar Hauser

SYNOPSIS

Nuremberg in the 1820s is here seen through the eyes of Kaspar Hauser, the real-life noble savage who was dumped in the town square after a lifetime of isolation and sensory deprivation. Werner Herzog's fact-based drama, though ostensibly the tale of one man's response to civilisation, is more a film about individual awakening within a social environment than society itself. It's easy to be captivated by the eager expression of Bruno S - a non-professional actor who had spent much of his own life in and out of mental institutions - as he drinks in sights and sounds like a greedy, excited child and to sneer at the smug bourgeois attitudes of the townsfolk. Manipulative, yes, but undeniably powerful.