Greatest performance never talked about

Imo, Bruno S. gives one of the all time great performances in film in this movie (his work in Stroszek is up there as well). Why is this never mentioned when there’s talk about the great all-time performances?

Do people tend to downgrade his acting because he was sensed to be playing himself? – And if so, why?

Ive never seen Kaspar Hauser or Stroszek but on with the performances in Herzog films, what about those dwarves in Even Dwarfs Started Small. In all of the Herzog films that I’ve seen, I think he has the most control over his actors. I would say that about Maurice Pialat as well.

I agree about what you said about Herzog…am not familiar with Maurice Pialat :(

I would agree that Bruno S. gave two of the all time great performances, if I was sure he was performing. Having only seen him in the two Herzog films, I have no additional perspective on his personality, but from what I’ve read and from Herzog’s commentaries, I suspect he is not so much acting as being himself. This is a wonderful thing as Bruno seems to have been a one-of-a-kind. I love him in these two roles, but the blurring of fiction and documentary makes it hard to judge compared to more traditional acting.

The Enigma of Kaspar Hauser is, hands down, one of the greatest films I’ve seen in my short life. Bruno S. is perfect, and if he’s being himself, it only complements Werner Herzog as one of the great fiction/documentary filmmakers. I’m astounded when I watch Kaspar Hauser. It hits me harder than any of the Herzog/Kinski collaborations.

@poopbutt – definitely check out Pialat’s films. All the films that I’ve seen have been incredible. I think I have one more feature film of his to watch and that’s Van Gogh. And Gerard Depardiu is amazing in both LouLou and Under the Sun of Satan. I think Depardiu understood the most what Pialat was doing for acting as a whole.

Quite a few Australian films contain great performances that are blatantly ignored by the rest of the English speaking world. I’ve never worked out why Aussie films are discussed far less than those made by countries such as France, Germany, Italy and the United Kingdom.