Signs of Life
Brief Synopsis
Cast & Crew
Werner Herzog
Peter Brogle
Wolfgang Reichmann
Athina Zacharopoulou
Wolfgang Von Ungern-sternberg
Wolfgang Stumpf
Film Details
Technical Specs
Synopsis
Stroszek, a German soldier wounded in combat, is sent in 1944 to a Nazi-occupied Greek island to guard an old fortress, accompanied by his wife, Nora, and two other soldiers, Meinhard and Becker. With nothing to do, they are forced to find ways to occupy their time. They paint their living quarters, acquire some chickens and a goat, and, discovering an ammunition depot full of explosives, make rockets. Becker begins to translate the ancient Greek texts carved in stone around the castle and learns that it was once occupied by pirates who were all hanged; Meinhard devises an elaborate contraption for catching cockroaches, which he executes in military fashion. A mysterious Gypsy appears and gives them a wooden owl whose eyes and ears are agitated by flies imprisoned inside. But the general tedium causes Stroszek to show signs of insanity, and he becomes visibly disturbed after hearing a pianist play Chopin. He then appeals to his commanding officer, who assigns him to patrol a nearby ridge with Meinhard. When they come to a field of windmills, Stroszek goes berserk, firing at the windmills; and Meinhard subdues him. Nora and Meinhard report the incident to the commanding officer, who decides to send Stroszek back to Germany. Feeling betrayed, Stroszek forces Nora, Meinhard, and Becker to leave the fortress and begins firing on the town, even threatening to blow it up. Though his rebellion ends in failure, his descent into madness has produced some "signs of life."
Director
Werner Herzog
Cast
Peter Brogle
Wolfgang Reichmann
Athina Zacharopoulou
Wolfgang Von Ungern-sternberg
Wolfgang Stumpf
Henry Van Lyck
Julie Pinheiro
Florian Fricke
Heinz Usener
Achmed Hafiz
Jannakis Frasakis
Katerinaki
Crew
Florian Fricke
Ina Fritsche
Martje Grohmann
Thomas Hartwig
Werner Herzog
Werner Herzog
Tasos Karabelas
Dieter Lohmann
Maxi Mainka
Beate Mainka-jellinghaus
Thomas Mauch
Friederike Pezold
Mike Piller
Herbert Prasch
Nicos Triandafyllidis
Bettina Von Waldthausen
Stavros Xarhakos
Film Details
Technical Specs
Quotes
Trivia
Notes
Inspired by a newspaper report of an apparently actual incident of the Seven Years' War. Released in West Germany in 1968 as Lebenszeichen.
Miscellaneous Notes
Winner of the 1968 German Film Prize.
Winner of the Silver Bear for Best First Film at the 1968 Berlin Film Festival.
Released in United States October 24, 1995
Released in United States on Video October 24, 1995
Released in United States Winter January 1, 1968
Feature directorial debut for Werner Herzog.
Shown at 1968 Berlin Film Festival.
Shown at New York Film Festival September 25, 1968.
Premiered in Berlin, West Germany June 25, 1968.
16mm
b&w
dialogue German
subtitled English
Filmed between June and September 1967.
Released in United States Winter January 1, 1968
Released in United States October 24, 1995
Released in United States on Video October 24, 1995
