HERAKLES

A montage of clashing pieces: original footage of bodybuilders (including the winner of the Mr. Germany competition) flexing their muscles, mixed with stock footage of a horrible accident at a car race, images of a city destroyed by an earthquake, a garbage dump…

Made by a 19-year-old Werner Herzog, this short is the earliest entry in the cinema giant’s filmography. An experimental collage that questions the relationship between masculinity, athleticism, and war with a playfully ironic eye, focusing on themes that would be further explored in his later work.