The Unknown Soldier of German Cinema

Bruno S. was born in 1932 to a neglectful, abusive prostitute and led a life very much like the ones he portrays in the films The Enigma of Kaspar Hauser and Stroszek. Beaten into shock at the age of three and believed to be intellectually disabled, he was put into a mental hospital. He would spend the next 23 years in and out of institutions and jails. A self taught musician and artist, Werner Herzog saw him in the documentary Bruno der Schwarze – Es blies ein Jäger wohl in sein Horn (1970). Herzog became fascinated by...