Land of Silence
and Darkness
Picture: C+
Sound: B- Extras: C- Film: A-
Werner Herzog is a filmmaker that needs to be taken in
doses sometimes. This is not
necessarily meant to be an insult so much as an observation that his films are
designed in such that you really need to prepare yourself going in. You need to be in the right frame of mind to
truly absorb the material in a coherent and collect way, such is the case with
his 1971 documentary Land of Silence and
Darkness. A film shot in 16mm that
is probably one of the most depressing of any of his films in a positive way he
challenges viewers to think about what life must be like living in silence and
darkness as the case with our subject, a deaf and blind woman.
As if being blind or deaf wouldn’t be difficult to cope
with, imagine having both taken away?
The shear thought of that shatters even the strongest ego and Herzog’s
film is truly a powerful achievement that translates just as effective today as
it would have then. This is not exactly
a fun family night of entertainment, but rather an important document piece of
filmmaking that is reflective and poignant.
It is something to be seen most likely once and to be remembered
forever.
The film works on a level of experience as we attempt to
work our way into what life must be like in that scenario and after the film is
over it brings a whole new level of appreciation for those that are more
fortunate. New Yorkers DVD release of
this film ranks as one of their strongest titles and even though the DVD
suffers in quality based on the condition of the 16mm source, they did a good
job of getting the film to look and sound about as good as possible in that
particular case.
Working with what they could and on a financial basis the
16mm footage still holds up considerably well and the 1.33 X 1 image, while not
completely sharp and detailed, still exemplified some good color and
fidelity. The softness is the biggest
problem and at times the image can seem ‘smeary’, but overall still impressive. The Dolby Digital 2.0 works good, once again
the film is German so therefore the majority of Region 1 viewers will be
reading subtitles that are really sharp, bright white with a black outline that
show up incredibly well.
I am really enjoying some of the better work that New
Yorker is doing in the case with two of Herzog’s earlier pictures, Signs of Life (reviewed elsewhere) and
of course this film. While there are no
extras with exception of a 4-page liner note from Dr. Oliver Sacks and some New
Yorker trailers, this is still a highly recommended and important film to see
at some point. However, be prepared to
be humbled.
- Nate Goss
